From bookshelf to cabinet: Quint doing his magic

The bookshelf in the midst of deconstruction.

The use of the space before cabinet installation.

The space as it was used for an event held over the summer.

With newfound inspiration and a little funding, Quint Gregory, the director of the Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture, pounced at the opportunity to install new display cabinets within the Collaboratory in the summer of 2024.

With the help of some friends and carpenters, he removed the center bookshelf and reframed the side shelves to fit in the dimensions of the incoming cabinets onto the back wall.

During a small period of time, the empty space of the back wall was utilized for a pop-up event led by Mohammed Al Masoud Ag Amid promoting "Ag Timidwa" (the Art of Frienship), a documentary celebrating Timidwa culture and craftsmanship.

Check out the trailer for the documentary here!

Quint adjusting lighting strips on top of the new cabinets.

Once fall rolled around and the new set of interns arrived, Quint continued with the installation by establishing shelf sizes and installing controlled LED lights.