The all-ages DIY arts and music space has a new home at the renovated Four Star Theatre, less than two miles south from The DAAC’s original location on S. Division Avenue. The story at Local Spins.
A Larger, Unique Space with Potential for Bigger Events: The DAAC’s new home at Four Star Theatre.
The DAAC is no stranger to moving day.
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With its long history as an all ages DIY event space in Grand Rapids, the volunteer-run, non-profit venue originally known as the Division Avenue Arts Collective has made its home in a variety of unique brick and mortar locations around the city, bringing with it a vibrant culture of community and artistic expression wherever it goes.
Since 2022, it’s been housed at 1553 Plainfield Ave. NE in the Creston neighborhood, but when that building changed ownership and the DAAC’s lease wasn’t renewed, it left the organization looking for new quarters yet again at the end of 2025. It found its new home at the renovated Four Star Theatre, 1944 S. Division Ave., less than two miles south from the DAAC’s original location at 115 S. Division Ave. — a space it was forced to vacate back in 2013.
“The DAAC’s mission is aligned with the Four Star Theatre’s in cultivating space for musicians, artists and community,” said committee member Mika Reed. “It’s many times the size of the current space and that opens up the potential for larger shows and bigger events that would not be possible in the Creston location.”
First constructed in 1938, the Four Star building’s brick facade stands a few feet away from buzzing traffic while a weathered marquis hangs overhead. There aren’t any shows on this particular day, so the scene is mostly quiet.
On the interior, a cavernous ceiling is adorned with a circus of lightbulbs. The stage sprawls out from beneath a layered red curtain. A flock of disco balls lurk overhead in the shadows.
“It’s definitely exciting in a couple different ways, and challenging in a couple different ways. We get to face being in a larger space. In my eyes this is the perfect opportunity to grow into doing more events, larger events and provide the same kind of safe space, while inviting more of the community out,” said volunteer and booking promoter Lorne May.
“We’re losing live stages left and right. This remains a place where people can express themselves freely without the undue pressure of drugs and alcohol and do so safely. For me that’s the music and art side of it. I think that’s an incredibly important thing specifically for this community. To have an accessible, inclusive, all-ages venue space that brings people from different backgrounds together.”
Though its walls have shifted many times, each space has offered its own unique character, and displayed the organization’s grass-roots resiliency. As an all-ages, volunteer-run non-profit venue, The DAAC hosts a wide range of concerts, workshops, listening parties, improv sessions, yoga and artist markets, among other enriching and inclusive activities.
From 2003 through the summer of 2013, the venue operated out of the Heartside Neighborhood for 10 years. It later spent a short time amid the rustic and resonant old Church building on Rumsey Street, with its long wooden pews and warm ambience – a structure that’s since been torn down entirely. Then there’s the most recent occupancy, a cozy studio style space tucked into a non-descript corner off of Plainfield Avenue within the bustling Creston neighborhood.
“I think although we were doing cool stuff out of the other space on Plainfield, the size was also limiting in some ways to the scope of things that we could do,” Reed said.
“There’s a lot of possibilities here. It’s a very cool looking space from the inside. The stage is pretty unique. It’s definitely exciting. I look forward to seeing what we can do and come up with here, and to hold another space for events in the community, especially in a new part of this community.”
‘A VERY ECLECTIC, UNIQUE SORT OF SPACE’
With each move, The DAAC has remained committed to its vision of cultivating a sense of community by creating a platform for the arts. It currently has “a flexible agreement with the owner of the Four Star Theatre to operate out of the space,” Reed noted. “The DAAC community will also be helping with projects around the theater and shaping the future of the space.”
While The DAAC will work closely with the theater, actively hosting regular community events and concerts out of the historic space, the Four Star Theatre will remain autonomous with its own bookings.
As a frequent collaborator with The DAAC, improv instructor Bobby Phillips is particularly excited about the new space’s potential as a multi-layered playground for theater.
Multi-Layered Playground: The Four Star Theatre (Courtesy Photo/Yeah Media)
“Seeing the first couple events they’ve done in that space is really exciting. It’s a very eclectic, unique sort of space. And it’s huge. There’s a lot of room to move around,” says Phillips, who runs improv and other multimedia work out of the umbrella Yeah Media.
“The freedom you’re given when you have multiple levels and different layers and textures of the stage is inspiring. It just makes those performances so much more memorable when you can walk around up on those platforms and interact with the environment. A lot of the stuff that I do in my class is free-flowing where I ask people to explore space. So the more interesting the space is – the different levels that you can climb on, stand on, lean on – the better. That only adds to the experience.”
Phillips will host improv workshops through The DAAC on April 7 and 14 as part of an eight-week series of workshops at four area venues. Registration can be found at yeahmedia.art.
Other upcoming events include the “Really Really Free Market” on February 28, offering eccentricities of all sorts, such as tentacle dresses, artwork and headwear of all shapes and functions. That evening, Bronze Nazareth, Saint Martyr and more will perform. Tickets start at $15.
A hardcore show takes over on March 22, featuring Anaconda Vice, Pure Bliss, Two Piece, Recount, SOUTHOVER and Decay. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. The show is all ages and alcohol/drug free.
Get more information about The DAAC online at thedaac.org.
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