History:
Musician and visual artist Julian Bozeman moved into the 9th floor loft that would become Dreamers Welcome in 2011. Back then, 475 Kent Ave. was famous for housing artists who, in the 90s, took over the industrial and dilapidated spaghetti factory and turned it into DIY lofts for the bohemian set. Since the day Julian moved in, his loft was a crash-pad for artist and musician friends coming through town for shows.
In 2014, Julian married the artist Sarah Conarro, who moved into the loft with her two children from Alaska. The loft’s nickname “Dreamers Welcome” solidified more and more as a space to host their artist friends and friends’ friends and beyond–a creative crossroads for fellow artists to meet, make, and dream together.
The existence of Dreamers Welcome was challenged between the years 2017-2022 when a real estate developer bought 475 Kent Ave with the intent to evict artist tenants and turn the building into luxury housing. Sarah and Julian hired a lawyer, and fought to stay in their loft, all the while continuing to host artists, holding tight to the ethos of the DIY artists who turned the building into an affordable haven for creativity.
Julian and Sarah won their court case in 2022 are fully dedicated to keeping Dreamers Welcome a resource for artists, musicians, and writers who, like them, have leaned on the support of fellow artists to create, live, and perform. As a family home and shared artist studio, Dreamers Welcome is a rare gem–a place for Sarah and Julian to live a community-centered artistic life while offering space, time, and friendship to other artists in need.
