Elsewhere

Elsewhere is a magical little place in the middle of Greensboro.
It used to be a thrift store many many years ago for 4 generations, then for what I understand, it was abandoned and they decided to reopen it as a museum.
The concept is pretty neat, they invite a group of artists to collaborate and create installations using the toys/​clothing/​fabrics and other old stuff currently in the building, so every time you go you will have a different experience.
They ask for a $ 1+ dollars donation to enter, which is nothing compared to the fun that it is to explore it. You will have a crazy nostalgia attack when you see bins and bins full of your favorite toys growing up.
When I arrived, everyone was super friendly. It’s important to mention that they have some really cool dinner events every week. Check it out!

This place is amazing! I could have stayed for hours! There was so much to do and see. I was able to help a volunteer make a quilt and observed the resident artists work and make their dinner, which was interesting. I loved all of the details. There is nothing like this place, it’s almost like a playground for adults and kids. It’s slightly different every time you visit, which is really neat. I can’t wait to go back and bring friends! It has something for everyone!

I recently took ten kids on a field trip to Elsewhere and was blown away by every single aspect of the experience. From the planning to the execution, the staff was accommodating, professional, and thoughtful. The kids got an experience they couldn’t have had anywhere else, one that was both enriching and tons of fun.
And it was practically tailor made for the kids. I had been teaching them music lessons for several weeks, and I was able to talk at length with a curator about what the students had been learning, and she put together a brilliant plan that allowed the students to use the skills they had already developed while exploring new applications for them.
It was three hours of non-​stop fun. If I ever have to plan an event for a group of students again, I will call Elsewhere before I even consider other options. And in the meantime, I look forward to being able to drop in one afternoon and just look around.

You can’t buy anything there and the people are rude. They call it a «museum», but to call it that would be like calling a hoarder’s house a «museum». The people that own it inherited the place and incredibly they get non-​profit money from Greensboro to keep this junk store running. On the plus side you can play a fast game of «Hipster Bingo» there.

This is an ever changing, live museum… it is very interesting! Kids LOVE this place because they can interact and become part of the museum. It is also cool because all they ask for is a donation when you walk in the front door. If you have the time, you should definitely check it out.

I never knew Greensboro has such a fun and funky art scene but this place is it for sure. I went with some friends to their Spirit festival and it was like stepping into a dreamworld of inspiration. The property is old yet timeless and with so much vintage and antique around you can feel transported to another era but the quirky modernity of it all brings you back. It’s like stepping in and out of eras. Surreal and so very masterfully artsy.
There were tons of textiles, nostalgia, avant-​garde exhibits that were placed so that it flowed in a way that didn’t feel like a studio instead of an experience. They had various bands that evening, food and drink and ways to get involved in the action. Most of the artists were dressed up in vintage clothing and as they mingled you felt like you had stepped back in time. Definitely a lot of Spirit here.
Lots of nooks and crannies and rooms to explore and an outdoor little patio area and dancing some really fun Irish jigs kept us on our toes all night.
Would definitely check it out with or without an event.

It’s just the coolest, quirkiest place! Once known as a collection, (and in this day and age, more likely known as hoarding), one lady’s lifelong acquisitions are turned into a Living Museum. What does that mean? You can interact with all the pieces, and rearrange them, leaving your own interpretation of an exhibit, or unique stamp on the place. If you’re not sure what to make of the jars of marbles, stacks of toy trucks, or bins of Christmas ornaments, turn to the exhibits that are set up to encourage play. My parents and I loved the musical instrument corner — various instruments, and pots and pans, are strung from the ceiling. The entire floor is covered in bouncey balls. Take a ball, throw it at a drum, a gong, a xylophone, and make «music.» The Living Library also had a build-​a-​story-​book section. Little surprises like costume pieces, and chalkboard challenges are hiding in every corner. We spent about 30 minutes in here, but you could easily spend longer exploring and playing. And the interactive exhibits change. To me, this is the perfect kind of place for a first date. It’s just $ 1 donation to get in too!

What a fun little place to visit! I drove past it on Elm street and I couldn’t help but be drawn in visually by the eye candy of this place. I hit the breaks and immediately parked my rental so i could satisfy my itching curiosity. Plenty of street parking made it easy to pull over on a whim!
When i walked in, i wasn’t sure if this place was a coffee shop, or a thrift store, or a restaurant, you just can’t tell until you ask. Luckily, ladies in the front were ready to give me a thorough explanation.
Elsewhere is a living museum; meaning, everything inside used to belong to an old lady (who i believe is already dead). you donate $ 1 to go inside and then you are allowed to interact with everything you see. You can pick up books, play with toys, play the musical instruments, move things around. You name it! you can do it!
Piles and piles of random tid bits and jurassic technology lurks around watching you from infinite shelf space and hidden corners. Broken 1950s television set houses a 1970s typewriter. Toy cars are piled together, toy phones are displayed artistically. Fabric is color coded and so are books. Let your imagination run wild here and don’t be afraid to touch and feel and see everything that is around you. Trust your inner artist to be moved by the environment and then move the environment to leave a little piece of your voice in here. Move a little toy gun from the green toy section and put it on top of a book in the library. Or rip a page out of a book, write on it and place it inside a typewriter. You can do all of this in here!
I believe this place also doubles as an art/​center/​school where they invite an artist in residency to teach workshops and classes at different times of the year.
This reminded me of a few things:
1) The 2009 Exhibit at the MOCA in NYC: «Waste Not» by Chinese artist Song Dong, about his mother’s hoarding behaviors after her husband’s passing.
2) The City Museum in St. Louis, MO
3) The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, CA.
4) A really cool antique/​thrift/​flea market
I really enjoyed stumbling upon Elsewhere. A creative way to turn junk into art and let you, the visitor, interact with your chaotic surroundings!

Wandering downtown Greensboro with no plans in mind (and being from out of town, not really sure what’s what), we stumbled upon Elsewhere. I wish I had more time to spend here, but unfortunately only was able to do a fairly quick walk-​through. An almost overwhelming ‘art building’ where nothing is for sale and you wouldn’t want it any other way. Elsewhere is both thought-​provoking and entertaining and is always changing and evolving. You’ll leave with a smile on your face.
I’m extremely glad/​lucky to literally have stumbled on to this. If you’re a fan of art or just looking for a little out of the ordinary adventure, make it a point to stop by Elsewhere and get lost.

Previously a thrift store, where you could hardly haggle out an affordable price for anything. Thus, the collection grew and grew, never servicing the customers as much as the archive which would later become Elsewhere. Years later the collection of «thrift» items has become an artist’s playground. Clothing, musical instruments, toys and electronics all become the objects of creation and exploration. Only one rule has remained from thrift story history to date: what enters the building never leaves and lives on forever in this eclectic collection.