All in One: A Small (Re)Format

From Top Left: Small Format’s co-runners Luna, Tripp Hopkins, Atlas Alvarado Estrada, Tameka Eastman-Coburn and Eli Kauffman. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

How Did Small Format Come to Be? 

I signed the lease in 2020, pre-pandemic, and the idea was to create a multi-generational space that was for and by queer folks that was not centered around alcohol consumption, and that allowed for us to evolve past what I like to think of as a ‘second closet’ that we’re stuck in. We don’t have a lot of spaces where we can come during the day; all of our spaces exist at night. It’s like our second closet in so many ways. I knew that there was a need to cultivate something that allowed a little more gentleness; a space for folks that are perhaps in recovery, are differently abled, younger, or not necessarily plugged into nonprofit sector stuff that just want to explore what it means to be in a creative queer community.

I worked as a gallery director in a past life and I’ve been excited to show artists I was working with out of like, New York and Boston and traveling showcases. And then, Providence is really lucky to have so many good local artists. We center the queer experience, too, so we’ve had people all across the rainbow and back showing here.

And then what brings people together better than breaking bread? We have snacks, coffee and yes, cocktails. Don’t get me wrong, I actually love making cocktails. I love flavors. And our community is full of so many different kinds of flavors. How can we bring it all together? That’s what a good cocktail is. That’s what a good community is.

How is Small Format Evolving? 

It was always meant to be a collective space. Right now, we’re doing the biggest push for change, which involves me stepping down, or really stepping over, to create the opportunity for Small Format to be a worker-owned business. We’ll create the programming together, be responsible for the highs and lows together, and so on. It’s  really exciting; there’s so much more richness. It also allows other people to add their resources —  we’re all actually able to support this being the best space it can be. That’s something that I could have never done by myself.

And there are physical changes, too. We’ve been doing so many back-end things. Our kitchen is going to have new equipment and we came up with a new menu. We put in new flooring, there’s a new accent wall and we have new benches. And it will just continue to grow in the coming months.

Will You Still Host Queer Events? Yes, we just restarted our monthly the queer book club in May, and then our queer knitting circle meets every Sunday from 3–5 p.m. Also, on the first Sunday of the month we have a teacher come in and you can learn to knit.

In June, we’re hosting Dykes, Dogs and Daddies which is a sweet even. We get sponsored by a dog treat company — we really love some furry friends over here. There’s also going to be somebody who’s doing boot buffing, a leather workshop and rope tying workshop. And we always host the Dyke March afterparty here.

And then outside of that, people can also expect we’re going to start expanding to doing outside parties, and markets and things like that. So there’s definitely some cool stuff coming up!