Kingston is a city blessed with a multitude of community and art spaces — it’s one of this area’s aspects that entices and welcomes creative thinkers and their ideas on such a consistent basis.

“Holding Space Place” is one of the newest additions to this genre of Kingston businesses. Located Downtown at 34 Broadway, it is a woman-owned art and community space whose bright and colorful interior design is designed to be “a little escape” from the hustle and bustle of our sometimes-tenuous lives.

Co-owned by Kingston-based artists Bridget Badore and Christine Bergeron, Holding Space Place was born from their idea to open a business with three distinct aspects. The first is the main area, which also functions as a gift shop supporting local artists. Next is an art gallery showcasing local art. The third is an event space. This multifunctional community space provides opportunities for local artists and educators, musicians and many other event-makers, geared towards Kingstonians of all ages.

The story behind how this business came to be is an interesting one. “A funny little kismet, a month-long story of a boulder falling down a hill,” Badore told Kingston Wire. Put into laymen’s terms, Badore had an art show at Chicory Naturalist on Broadway where she was selling work from over 20 local and international artists as part of an online collective she runs. She voiced her desire to open her own space to Chris Baker, owner of Chicory Naturalist, who encouraged her to pursue this dream.

Bergeron, owner of Peace Love Vintage on Broadway, joined forces with Badore and they soon landed their current space at 34 Broadway, formerly home to Mostafa’s Barbershop.

Badore is a professional photographer, whose extensive portfolio can be seen on her website or her Instagram account. Inspired deeply by her late father who gave Badore her first camera when she was 15, she sees her craft as being “rooted in sentimentality, nostalgia, community, and trying to make sense of the world.” She’s from a small town near Syracuse and went to the School of Visual Arts in New York City before landing in Kingston in 2021, following a job opportunity.

The business seemed like a sign to Badore from her father, who, she said, reached out to her through an instance where his name appeared to her, and from a vintage tray that Bergeron brought to her covered in wild strawberries. “One of my only memories of my dad was picking wild strawberries when I was a kid.” From there, everything fell perfectly into place.

Besides owning Peace Love Vintage, which has been open for over a year, Bergeron said she was intent on opening Holding Space Place with Badore because “I really love meeting people and making connections that we are ultimately going to have in the space,” she told Kingston Wire. “I always wanted to have something where people could watch movies, play games, or anything as a community, so when I met Bridget these two places were up for rent, and we said let’s do it. My idea for the space is to eventually show old movies and getting people out in the winter.” Bergeron has been living in Kingston for three years now and said she loves the sense of community that resounds throughout the streets and each day in her business.

Considering Bergeron also runs her vintage clothing store full-time, Badore will be the face of Holding Space Place, along with handling logistics, branding and aesthetics. The store has a very retro pop-art feel, with eclectic yet tasteful interior design.

The space opened Dec. 7, and has hosted several events so far, including a book signing by Sophie Taylor, a Hudson-based writer and illustrator on Dec. 10, a Hanukkah singalong on Dec. 13, and a creativity workshop run by Alex Testere on Dec. 14. These are just inklings of what the space has in store for Kingston, as Badore and Bergeron plan to host workshops of all kinds for artists looking to refine a craft or learn a new one.

Beyond events, the space also sells art by 15 artists, with local artists including Callie Mackenzie, Taussen Brewer, Pupa Lamb, Olga Joan, Karlie Flood, Lauryn Fenigstein, Sasha Sun, Johnny Owens, Lisa Belli, and Ash + Chess of Uptown’s Everywhere Shop.

Holding Space Place is open from Thursday-Monday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and some Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the same hours. For a look at their calendar online, they have posted a helpful guide on their Instagram account. To learn more about the business and any upcoming events, sneak peeks of their gallery and more, check out their website.