Two dentists have transformed their office into an art gallery and workshop after discovering their creative side during lockdown.
Hoxton Creative Hub, which opened on 12 October, is the brainchild of Dr Dan Shaffer and Dr Wayne Hirschowitz. Two years ago, they leased the building on Charlotte Road to use as a shop and office for Active Aligners, their invisible braces company. “For the first year the shop was fantastic,” Dr Hirschowitz explained. “Then Covid hit.”
As a result of the national lockdown, their dental practices temporarily closed in March. At first Dr Shaffer wondered “When you’re stripped away of your titles and doctor such and such, what’s left?” However, “when science was taken away from me over lockdown, this amazingly huge artistic surge came through.” He up-cycled rubbish, built a domed swimming pool out of broomsticks and more.
Eventually, his mind turned to the office. “How about we make stuff here?” he thought. “We showcase stuff, we bring in local artists, we rejuvenate the area.”
When Dr Shaffer first told him the idea, Dr Hirschowitz thought his colleague was “absolutely nuts.” Soon after, he pulled him in: “I’m out of my comfort zone, but I’m loving it.”
The gallery displays Eva Edery’s glasswork and Lisa Patnick’s paintings. In the workshop, Dr Shaffer does woodwork. The artists and their exhibitors share a passion for environmentally friendly materials.
Recently, Dr Shaffer’s father told him that his grandfather had a cabinet-making company “around the corner” from the Creative Hub. “I’ve ended up here, doing what my grandfather was doing, on his work bench. You could not write a script like this”.
For more on Hoxton Creative Hub, visit www.hoxtoncreativehub.com.
