The Bakery moved into a project space above ground at Underground Atlanta in late 2019, while it was under the ownership of WRS. As with 825 Warner St, a complex originally built as a commercial bakery, the team elected to keep the name New Square but give it new life. The building was 10,000 SF and had previously been a clothing store, a sporting goods store, and a restaurant.

New Square was a jump toward reengaging with Downtown and was set to be a stopgap between our exodus from 825 Warner St and our journey to whatever was next. In the early months of 2020, as we began to fill our now expanded campus - stretching from SW Atlanta to South Downtown - with innovative and collaborative programming, we were also gearing up for a fundraising launch to help us transition into a more permanent space. Even with rising rents, we were determined to keep the dream alive. We had a packed spring events calendar and we were full of optimism. And then the pandemic hit Georgia and we shuttered 825 Warner St for good on March 15, 2020.

In it’s shortlife, November 2019 - March 2020, we produced several events at New Square. We debuted the space with a time-based art bar called bakie's kansas city (bkc) in partnership with curatorial platform Altered Means, producing five days of art and programming at bakie's kansas city, ranging from a film screening and poetry night to karaoke hosted by yours truly. 

After bkc we continued to host a range of programming including community theatre discussions and DIY music shows. My favorite production was The 2020 LXXX You Awards: A Valentine's Day Soirée because I love holidays and I love love.

Although the full vision of New Square was never realized, it remains one of my favorite projects. I had a blast helping bring New Square to life.