lester's is nice
First and foremost who the heck is Lester and why did you choose that name? It kind of reminds me of Lurch from The Munsters or like a creepy uncle, but it also makes me want to hang out there all the time so I can say I'm at Lester's. Oh, sorry if it's like your dad's name or something- I really do love it. Lester's is actually my middle name, and yes it's also my dad's middle name, haha. I also liked it because it's a name that's a bit antiquated. The space is sort of a mix of the old and the new, a contemporary vibe with some warmth so I felt the name added to that.
Can you just give me the basic facts, where you're from, what you're doing/have been doing in Miami, how'd you end up in Wynwood? I grew up in Massachusettes and spent most of my life there, attending college in Boston where I met my wife and then moved to Miami. I'm an artist and my wife runs a local gallery on 23rd st. called Diet. Most of my time in Miami has been spent living and working as an artist, and now I manage that time along with running Lester's.
How did you think this up, I know of spaces like this in other cities and there's so much going on in the Wynwood area that we really need a place to sit with a coffee and a laptop, pick up a good publication and soak it all up, but there's gotta be more to the story than that. So, what's the story? Basically I had many conversations with friends and fellow Miami art world folk and everyone always mentioned this lack of a venue in the city where the creative community at large could hang out at and utilize in different ways. There seemed to be a need for something that I felt I could provide so I did it.
Lester's is a "multifunctional venue" can you name a few of the multiple functions you imagine? We do many things at the space. Up to this point we've done dj's, readings, lectures, bands, trunk shows. I've always sort of thought of the space as a creative venue that happens to sell things in order to keep the doors open and pay the bills. There's really no limit to what we'll do here. We're also toying with doing some live theater and maybe a set of writers workshops.
I'm a huge magazine junkie and I'm super stoked to be able to swing by and grab an n+1, Purple, and Gentle Woman right in Wynwood instead of scouring the web or only getting it when I'm New York. Do you feel like people in Miami don't really read enough so you'd give them an awesome curation of cool pubs or that they just weren't accessible enough or did you just put out stuff you liked and hoped other people liked it too? Basically, thanks, but why'd you do it? I try to bring things in that aren't available here in Miami already. I'm a fan of all the publications I carry so I guess one of the first criteria is that I have to like it. I love magazines too and I just wanted to see the Miami crowd get regular exposure to some of these things that I love and usually only get in New York.
I've never, ever have heard of anything quite as delicious as your peanut butter and jelly sandwich (media noche bread with peanut butter and homemade guava jelly). What was the menu concept like? The PB&J has been on my table since I was a kid so i new I had to have one on the menu. The concept again was to just keep it simple and pick a few quality things that people could grab for lunch or to munch on.
So you are an artist as well, what kind of work do you do and are you planning on hanging it/is it already hung all over Lester's? I make all kinds of work. At the moment it tends to be mostly sculpture and video. I think I'll leave the showing of the work to my wife at Diet though.
Coming up: September 27 Sketchy Miami Workshop with JeanPaul Mallozzi (and we have a big interview with the folks behind Sketchy coming up so check back soon).