Our Story
The Nave sits on the traditional and current homelands of the Eklutna Dena’ina, who have been the caretakers of the land, water, plants and animals of the area for thousands of years. Through intentional programming and curation, The Nave offers the community a place to recognize, honor and promote Alaska Native culture and values. The Nave is open to all and we welcome events of all shapes and sizes.
The building is owned and operated by Cook Inlet Housing Authority, an Alaska Native organization committed to building and strengthening our community by fostering opportunities to gather, learn, create and explore.
The Nave is the story of an evolution of a building and the role of community, culture and art in building strong connections, neighborhoods and communities. The purpose of The Nave is to support, celebrate and strengthen community by connecting people and ideas.
Where it all began….
The building has had many names and uses since the 1950’s, including being home to several different church denominations. After the last congregation moved out, Cook Inlet Housing Authority (CIHA) purchased the building, and slated it to become a parking lot for two adjoining properties for their future space needs. Over time, as CIHA increasingly began to formalize their work in community development, place making and place knowing, the building housed some of those initiatives and became home to some true community and culture building opportunities. In the earliest days of this work, some of the artists who used the space began to refer to it as the Church of Love and the name held on.
The Church of Love transforms into The Nave.
With the major renovations and full commitment of Cook Inlet Housing to transform the building into a community and cultural hub, a new and significant name was warranted.
One of the prominent features of the building, and most church buildings, is the large gathering space used to bring the congregation together into one place. This space is called the nave. It is a magnificent space and generally has been the most inspiring space, as people have experimented with different uses of this old building. Merriam Webster’s dictionary also provides a definition for nave as “the hub of a wheel,” which seems a most fitting way for us to weave together the past, present and future life of this wonderful building. We welcome you to The Nave, a community and cultural hub.
Launching a new name also gave the opportunity for a logo, to help people find and identify the new space. The logo was inspired by the original stained glass feature of the church building. It depicts three brush strokes arranged in a triangle like the stained glass window and pulls out three bold colors from those pieces of stained glass. The three strokes represent the pillars of community, culture and art which help to define the current use of the space.
Renovations
The past six years have given Cook Inlet Housing great insight into the potential for a sustainable Cultural and Community hub right here in the center of the Spenard neighborhood. In that short time, the Church of Love, now The Nave, hosted a variety of shows, meetings, markets, camps, parties, galleries, plays, concerts, artist studios, artists in residence and more.
The next step of this great journey has just been completed: a major renovation to bring our beloved 1950’s building up to code, to provide accessibility so that the entire community will have better access to this incredible asset and to provide better egress and much needed safety upgrades.
This process required time, patience and money. The CIHA team worked with architect Chris Cole at 61North to come up with a design that reflects the building’s history and creates space for its future. The team has also worked with partners to procure the necessary funding for a major renovation. Thanks to ArtPlace America, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), The Kresge Foundation, The Atwood Foundation, The Rasmuson Foundation, The Richard L. and Diane M. Block Foundation, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Dean Weidner, The CIRI Foundation, and CIHA , for believing in the potential of this old building in this historic neighborhood!
Sustainability
Private event rentals help to sustain this community and cultural hub, allowing The Nave to offer cultural events at low and no-cost to attendees throughout the year. Private rentals also allow The Nave to offer reduced rental fees to non-profit organizations.
Athabascan Fiddlers Dance hosted monthly with a potluck
The old church building did not meet today’s codes for safety and accessibility. The renovation added space at the front of the building, additional points of egress and allowed for the addition of an elevator to make the building accessible.
Because the building will emerge from this renovation as The Nave and no longer is a church, the steeple will be replaced with an art installation created and installed by local artist Chad Taylor and his company Intrinsic Landscapes. Stay tuned for this exciting project.
The old building needed upgrades to insulation, air flow, heat and other energy efficiency upgrades.
The building got a major facelift with upgraded exterior finishes!