At new expansion in Minneapolis’ Prospect Park, Modus Locus spreads its wings

I wasn’t necessarily planning on celebrating cannabis legalization on Aug. 1, but ended up partaking in the festivities anyway. I wanted to check out the opening party for Modus Locus’ new expansion space on University Avenue. The gallery, whose original location is on 35th Street and Bloomington Avenue in Powderhorn, has taken on the much larger warehouse space for events and programming. The gallery was introducing its new space to the community when it became legal for people over 21 to possess and use all forms of cannabis recreationally in Minnesota.

The Modus Locus Expansion Space (MLX), located in the Art & Architecture building on University Avenue in Prospect Park, is a vast space with high ceilings and character. For the opening, a DJ spun tunes, and couches and comfy chairs were assembled in different lounge areas, and quirky installations, including a vintage camper, made for photo-ready experiences. An aerial artist performed a short set, a long table food was spread, and several tables were devoted to serving beverages.

MinnPost photo by Sheila Regan

For the opening, a DJ, above, spun tunes, and couches and comfy chairs were assembled in different lounge areas, and quirky installations, including a vintage camper, made for photo-ready experiences.

Not alcoholic beverages, mind you. This wasn’t a liquor affair, and there was no wine or beer to be had. Instead, I wandered up to the counter and ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail with honey, vanilla, and tropical fragrances from a local non-alcoholic shop called Marigold. The bartender asked if I’d like a dash of THC, and I decided to go with the flow. Another vendor at a different side of the party sold a hemp-infused beverage called Plift, and there were other options as well.

Welcome to the future of events in the Twin Cities — perhaps.

Ephraim Eusebio, the director and curator of Modus Locus, says creating a space for authentic engagement that wasn’t centered around alcohol was one component of the vision of MLX. “Having it be a place where you feel like you can be yourself and feel comfortable and safe,” he tells me in a phone interview. “A place that people can feel like they can belong and be protected.”

Eusebio isn’t much of a drinker himself. “You know, I’m 53 now, so I just decided it’s not a focus of my life, as much as it had been in the past,” he says. “It’s a toxin for me more than a medicine. And I don’t like the way it feels like when I’m wasting half a day because I’m nursing the effects of a night out. For me now. It’s kind of a waste of time and money.”

MLX isn’t specifically a sober venue, but Eusebio and his partners aren’t planning on obtaining a liquor license. “If somebody wants to have a party here, and they want to have alcohol, we would suggest that they choose from one of our preferred vendors, who is a licensed bartender that can work off site,” he says. “The events we throw are not going to have alcohol as a component I don’t think.”

Eusebio says a series of conversations with a group of collaborators informed the decision to create MLX. Among them are Paloma Rodrigues and Coco Hohman, both experienced event designers, as well as Melissa Ruebl, who Eusebeio has been friends with for 15 years, and Eusebio’s daughter, Lily Eusebio.

“It was kind of a dream team of people,” Eusebio says. “It felt like it was the move to make.”

MinnPost photo by Sheila Regan

An aerial artist performed a short set during the opening of the Modus Locus Expansion Space.

The timing seemed right. Eusebio’s day job is working as a real estate agent, and runs his business out of the original Modus Locus gallery building. With the recent downturn in the housing market, Eusebio has found he’s had more time to take on a big project. “Truthfully, I’m a realtor by trade and I enjoy it but I think ultimately, I’ll get back to my arts roots and express this probably equally or more,” he says.

He has a background in visual art, majoring in studio art at Knox College. When he moved to the Twin Cities, he worked with Barebones Puppets starting in 1995. Later, he’d find work at painting shops and at the Children’s Theatre Company, and became an assistant lead scenic artist at the Guthrie in 1999. “I just tried to get back to my own practice, but it’s been kind of sporadic. I’ve been mostly action painting with DJs and musicians since 2007 or so,” he says.

More recently, Eusebio discovered he likes designing spaces, like MLX, as well as the Graffiti Garden outside of the Powderhorn Modus Locus. He also recently collaborated with artist Al Wadzinski on a public art piece, and created a number of the paintings, plus a disco ball, skull and heart that were on view for the MLX opening.

In a way, MLX offers a pathway forward for Eusebio interests in art and real estate, and community. He embraces the term “gentefication,” which he calls people-focused development.

“It makes space accessible for different businesses who can’t afford a brick and mortar,” Eusebio says. “The development that I’m looking at is to create an intergenerational multi-generational, artists co-op with performance space, and production space with access to green space, and nutrition,” he says.

For MLX, the plan is to create an active space for art and community. “We’re dreaming up creating lounges because the space swallows up a lot of people and then people find interesting little vignettes as we call them to hang out in. In the future, MLX will be a center for mixers, conversations, art exhibitions and film screenings. And Eusebio is open to hosting ceremonies for “life and death and everything in between,” he says.

Meanwhile, the Powderhorn Modus Locus remains active, showing the work of Andrew Moore through Sept. 9 as well as being a site for events, like the upcoming Music at Marvin’s on Aug 18. If you’re interested in checking out the new MLX space, you can contact MLX for a tour.