Sanch and Pat began their collaboration at the end of last year when Pat hosted The Coy launch party, they developed the idea for the arts space early in the year and once they found the empty warehouse (next to the Traders on Lonsdale Street, Braddon) their vision had a home. Together with the help of tens of local artists and creatives in July they ran a successful Kickstarter campaign which raised $17,380 of their $10,000 goal.
Just a few days before their first event, Omar Musa's book launch, they were hit with a stop work notice and all their work was ground to a hault. The very next day the story was in the local media, social media and even the talk of politicians. In a rollercoaster that lasted 42 days the team worked closely with the government to overcome the issues.
Although the path to The Chop has been longer and far more complicated than the team had ever anticipated, the two stuck with it, not just for themselves, but for all the artists they wanted to showcase and support with the bar.
The first event they were about to hold all cosy up in their own warehouse was the debut exhibition of local artist James Smalls "I'm kind of a Small Deal". The exhibition was held Friday, the night before their actual launch party; which saw those lucky enough to get a ticket, party hard with some of the best acts in Canberra as well as Koolism's, Hau Latukefu getting on the mic with Suavess and Hayds.
During the exhibition, Smalls showed a range of works, including street art, prints, spray, paint, stencils, sculpture, line work, and on canvas, skateboards, and some kind of magical hybrid of spray cans and toy guns. Smalls work showed his range of talent, far greater than what's you usually stumble across on the street.
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