This month marked the fifth anniversary of Lawn Gnome Publishing and Bookstore, a staple of grassroots culture for many in the downtown area.
Sitting on wooden benches on the front lawn during a weekday, Lawn Gnome is unobstructed by the swarm of students, suburbanites, artists and locals that converge here every First Friday. Billie Holiday softly howls from the porch, and excited voices emanate from inside the boutique.
Aaron Hopkins-Johnson is the owner and founder of the DIY bookstore and publishing house, which has been especially popular among the ASU student population due to its close proximity to campus.
Lawn Gnome began as a publishing house in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2004. In 2008 Hopkins-Johnson started his own DIY bookstore while living in the now-closed Firehouse Gallery artists' commune.
After running Lawn Gnome out of the small space for a few months, Hopkins-Johnson decided to make a move to expand his business, and Fifth Street seemed like the spot to be.
Today Lawn Gnome serves as a prominent community art space for students and locals by lending itself to artists as a platform to express themselves. Every First Friday, Lawn Gnome hosts a comedy show which features local stand-ups.
Stand-up comic Lou Moon has been performing at Lawn Gnome for years and working as an employee since October.
“I would come down here every once and a while for other stuff, but I really started coming down here when I became a stand-up comedian, and I started doing the Monday open mics,” he said. “That’s one of the best things about this place. Everyone sort of has a voice here; if you’re a visual artist, if you’re a comedian, if you’re a musician, if you’re a poet.”
Lawn Gnome also hosts open mics, poetry slams and music acts on a weekly basis. Local band Snailmate played at a celebratory show on Wednesday, Feb. 1, kicking off a week's worth of free events as the store celebrated its fifth anniversary on Fifth Avenue.
Musician Chase Marquez, from the local band Lil Trip, played Lawn Gnome for the first time four months ago.
"I've been going there for about a year now to see different local bands perform. It's a venue that's open to all different kinds of music and people," he said. "I've always felt comfortable expressing myself at Lawn Gnome."
Lawn Gnome also re-purpose old books that aren't going to sell into other works of art. Hopkins-Johnson said the recent growth of students in downtown Phoenix has brought more book exchanges as people have brought in their old textbooks. The Lawn Gnome staffers have done just about anything you can imagine with them.
According to Hopkins-Johnson, they "turn them into purses, turn them into journals, turn them into stash boxes — all kinds of weird stuff."
With the recent relocation of Jobot, many are concerned for the future of the Roosevelt Row businesses. Though tensions are high around fears of gentrification in the neighborhood, Hopkins-Johnson said he’s prepared for change if it’s necessary, but that in the meantime he isn’t too concerned.
“Unless a lot of things change, I don’t think we’re going anywhere anytime soon,” he said, adding that the landowner of Lawn Gnome doesn’t anticipate selling the property anytime soon.
Correction: Due to a reporting error, the address of Lawn Gnome Publishing and Bookstore has been updated.
Reach the reporter at parkermshea97@gmail.com or follow @laconicshamanic on Twitter.
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