Many questions have been raised about the striking murals painted along the exterior of the old Macy’s in CityPlace. The small sign adorning the entrance reads “CULTURE LAB,” but it does little to explain what the new space entails. The Muse spoke to Sasha Jozefczyk, Director of Marketing and Experience for Culture Lab, to gain insight about the new exhibition space.

What is Culture Lab?

We had, obviously, a former department store in this location before. [Related Group, the company that owns CityPlace] wanted to activate it and bring in the community so they can experience something unique in the arts and culture realm. It’s going to be transformative. We could potentially have events here; we could have performances. We’d love to have Dreyfoos involved. We’re also working with lots of local organizations like the Cultural Council, the Norton Museum of Art, etc.

What was the inspiration to create this space?

What we are doing is thinking about what draws people to the city? What makes a city successful? Well, what makes an urban destination successful are arts and culture, so moving forward, our goal is to have these complementary experiences that the public can come out and enjoy. We had an empty space, and we thought, “What better way to activate the space than to invite the public in and do something really cool and unique that isn’t found anywhere else?”

What exhibits can we see now?

So what we did is transform the exterior, and artist Michael Craig-Martin did the amazing panel artwork that you see on the outside. It speaks to you on the different images of consumerism and every day images. It’s the largest, and his first installation in the U.S. On the inside, on the second floor, we have a sound installation by a sound artist Stephen Vitiello. There are three different sections: there is a narrative, there is an audio piece, and then there’s a visual story, like a subliminal images video piece.