Sunshine this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 87F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..
Scattered thunderstorms, especially late. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Autumn Brown and Mike O’Donnell, Upland Brewing Co. employees, will help the company to run The Depot in the NoCo Arts District for a year. They will put on different events, hosting musicians, artists and food vendors.
Autumn Brown and Mike O’Donnell are excited Upland Brewing Co. is getting more involved in Jeffersonville after opening a restaurant in the city last year.
The four shipping containers at The Depot will be used to host different local artists, from jewelry makers to woodworkers. The containers are temperature-controlled with lighting and hardwood floors.
Autumn Brown and Mike O’Donnell, Upland Brewing Co. employees, will help the company to run The Depot in the NoCo Arts District for a year. They will put on different events, hosting musicians, artists and food vendors.
JEFFERSONVILLE — This weekend will kick off The Depot’s Sunday Series, a combination of food, music and art, with a pop-up event presented by Upland Brewing Co.
The event will be the first put on entirely by Upland since it got the keys to run The Depot in the NoCo Arts and Cultural District for a year.
Since it opened last November The Depot has hosted just a few events, including Depot Days and the NoCo Arts Market. The entertainment venue is at 628 Michigan Ave.
Mike O’Donnell, general manager at Upland, said they are ready to get started and give people a reason to go out to the arts district.
For the Sunday Series, Upland will feature food vendors and local musicians and allow artists to showcase their work in the shipping container rooms.
O’Donnell said that the containers are temperature-controlled, allowing them to be used all year round.
The four shipping containers at The Depot will be used to host different local artists, from jewelry makers to woodworkers. The containers are temperature-controlled with lighting and hardwood floors.
The four colorful shipping containers have a glass window facing the courtyard and line one side of The Depot. The inside contains blank white walls, lights and hardwood floors — a blank canvas for artists to set up shop and showcase and sell their products.
Upland intends to have a variety of craft vendors rotate through the shipping containers for the Sunday Series. The series is expected to last until Oct. 2 and may continue on afterward weather permitting.
O’Donnell said they have also considered having local artists do live presentations of them creating their products in the shipping containers.
For the Sunday Series on July 3, O’Donnell said they are planning an acoustic act to take The Depot’s stage. The event will last from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. each Sunday and is free.
Upland is planning to create a kid’s zone at The Depot, with different kid-friendly lawn activities to partake in while parents are listening to the music and grabbing a drink.
In the concession area, another building made of a shipping container, there are table tops and a bar that can be separated into a 21-year-old-only bar area and an underage area.
At the bar, Upland will offer four beers on tap, including their brews Breaking Away, Dragonfly IPA and Champagne Velvet.
Along with beer and other drinks, the concession stand will sell The Chocolate Moose, an ice cream brand based in Bloomington that Upland sells at all of its locations.
Autumn Brown, banquets and events manager at Upland, said that by using these events to offer a different way to get people into the NoCo area they can then introduce them to the NoCo Arts Center and Maker 13.
“Just get some more push for people to come down here, see what other programs they do and what stuff we put on. And, if they ever want to get involved or they’re interested in doing art they know where to go now in Jeff,” Brown said.
The idea of having some kind of permanent arts market in Jeffersonville also appealed to Brown.
“I like all the street markets and stuff over in Louisville, and I think it would be great to see some like that over here in Jeff,” she said.
When The Depot was still coming to fruition, Mayor Mike Moore said that it was always his intent to ensure that there was a source outside of the city government to handle The Depot’s events.
“I did not want Jeffersonville to be in charge of labor and food and alcohol, so having an outside source take that responsibility is gonna be one less burden we have to worry about,” Moore said.
The city received about three or four requests for proposals from businesses wanting to run The Depot, but they decided to go with Upland.
“Upland is locally owned and they have the financial means to make it work and having their own brewery, where they can bring their own product into there,” Moore said.
“Upland’s got a great name in our community and I think they’ll do well.”
One of the reasons Upland proposed running The Depot is because they wanted to become more involved in Jeffersonville, O’Donnell said.
“Upland as a company is all about being a part of the local community,” he said.
Upland Brewery Co. originated in Bloomington but opened a facility in Jeffersonville in 2021 at 707 W. Riverside Drive.
Being so busy with the opening and running of a new store, O’Donnell said they haven’t quite had the time to get involved in the community.
“Now that things are going well with the restaurant and we start branching out, we just want to be a part of the community, because we feel like it’s a big miss if we’re not,” he said.
Besides an event quota, the city has not placed many restrictions on Upland as they run The Depot.
“The city’s basically given us free rein. They just want us to use it and just get all the local community out and enjoy the space,” O’Donnell said, “The biggest thing that they want to do, and we want to be part of as well, is just interacting with the community.”
Autumn Brown and Mike O’Donnell are excited Upland Brewing Co. is getting more involved in Jeffersonville after opening a restaurant in the city last year.
With their time at the Depot, O’Donnell said that Upland plans to continue the City of Jeffersonville’s mission to encourage residents to eat and shop locally.
O’Donnell said that they are also open to allowing The Depot to be used as a venue, for receptions, employee appreciation gatherings, etc.
Anyone interested in using the venue, performing music or showcasing their art at The Depot can contact O’Donnell by email at modonnell@uplandbeer.com.
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