EMMAUS, Pa. — When Rodale Publishing was sold, the idea to expand some of the facilities into a community hub was born.
While that hub is still a good way out from full capability, it hopes to bring the technology and community center of the future for all ages.
- JuxtaHub is beginning to offer workshops and digital experiences using what organizers believe to be the mass media of the near future
- Current plans are to build out artist studios, a woodworking maker space, a theatre, classroom spaces, commercial kitchen capabilities and more
- Leaders of the project say they hope to build a creative community for all ages
Enter JuxtaHub, a nonprofit that calls itself a "hub for an inclusive cross-generational arts community, fostering collaboration through the visual, performing, digital and culinary arts, and fueling a thriving creative economy."
Organizers are building and developing the space on South 10th Street in Emmaus, next to Furnace Dam Park.
Over the next few years, plans are to build out artist studios, physical and digital maker spaces, a theatre, classroom spaces, commercial kitchen capabilities and more.
Founding board member John Oetting says when Phoebe Ministries bought the Rodale warehouse that now contains JuxtaHub, the owners were enthusiastic and cut them a deal on a low-cost lease. JuxtaHub began moving into the space in late 2019.
“Most exciting is really the synergies of that, where I've got artists upstairs and I've got a theater next door and I've got a digital maker space," Oetting said. "What if those three people or those three entities get together?”
Oetting, a retired senior technical staffer for AT&T, says much of the focus will be on innovative technology like virtual and augmented reality in the "digital maker space and metaverse lab." Currently, the company is hosting workshops for different groups to demonstrate those technologies, still limited logistically in the space until further renovation takes place.
JuxtaHub President Shea Zukowski says they hope to build a rich community in the Emmaus area for all ages.
“We hope that people can come here and engage in our resources, whether they want to make something themselves or experience something somebody else has made,” Zukowski said.
"It's a whole new deal, this is the new community center concept," Oetting said. "What do kids do and hang out? They all lie at home. We've learned from COVID that's not particularly healthy, so how are there new ways to start to engage?
"This is the way to do it; you get a whole bunch of program areas together, you get people coming together."
Already forming local collaborations
A special project between JuxtaHub staff, the Emmaus Arts Commission and Emmaus High School students will be featured at the Emmaus SnowBlast arts festival, set for March 4.
Ninth-graders involved in the Jasper Learning Initiative (a more hands-on alternative curriculum path at the high school) design and development course worked with JuxtaHub to develop augmented reality presentations for businesses participating in the festival in the area near the Emmaus triangle.
Festival attendees will be able to scan QR codes to view the 3-D creations of the students, which can be positioned how you'd like them in the "real world" through a smartphone camera — and even posed with.
Teacher Chris Kollar says working with JuxtaHub fits the hands-on nature of Jasper's instruction. It allows students to not just be involved in the development, but also to take initiative in connecting with and forming partnerships with local businesses.
"When you do things in life, you just really learn it better," said Kollar. "[Unlike] if you sit there and just try to watch someone else do it and say, 'Alright, we're taking a quiz.'"
He says the roughly 30 students involved had to be conscious of limitations like download speed when it comes to cell service, devices and file sizes. In addition, Kollar said, with Oetting at JuxtaHub, students were able to connect with the chief technical officer of Worldcast, the platform on which they built the augmented reality presentations.
Organizers at JuxtaHub say partnerships like this are what they hope to foster in the future, bringing different groups and people in the community together to work on innovative and creative projects.
"Why I got involved was a way to use some of the skills and experiences and contacts that I had, and bring them into a rich environment like this, and help ultimately pass the mantle to the next generation to be ready to lead in this next generation of mass media for society," Oetting said.
JuxtaHub has also curated a collection of local artists' work, on display at Yergey Brewing in Emmaus.
Opening doors to community and innovation
Zukowski, president of JuxtaHub and a former Rodale employee, says while there are other organizations with similar missions, for the Emmaus area, "this type of resource doesn't exist for people who live in this community."
"we hope that people can come here and engage in our resources, whether they want to make something themselves or experience something somebody else has made."JuxtaHub President Shea Zukowski
"If you think about our proximity being right across the street from Chestnut Ridge and being within walking distance of the high school...we hope that people can come here and engage in our resources, whether they want to make something themselves or experience something somebody else has made," Zukowski said. "Having that exchange among a plurality of people makes for a rich community."
She says that JuxtaHub looks to host artists' courses and provide rental space for various events and initiatives at a "very reasonable hourly rent."
Currently, the digital maker space and building partnerships remain the focus.
Zukowski says while opening up fully is still down the road, she hopes that JuxtaHub can continue to build a presence at events throughout the community.
Juxtahub is offering open hours for its digital maker space and tours of the in-progress facilities by appointment.
