Modus Locus
This is my second written piece for the Powderhorn Business Reflections program. On March 3, 2017 I interviewed Ephraim Eusebio, owner of Modus Locus.
Ephraim Eusebio is a man with a vision.
In 2013, he purchased a derelict building at 35th & Bloomington that had housed a failing dollar store. Gutting the building, he renovated it in three sections. The west end is a restaurant space (recently La Ceiba), upstairs is an apartment, and the central space on the corner became Modus Locus, a community “flex space” that Eusebio has dreamed of creating for 25 years.
What’s with the name? According to Eusebio, “Modus means mode, or way of being and doing things, and Locus is the location where that could happen.” And what can happen here? Pretty much anything.
So far it has hosted gallery art shows, fashion shows, pop up shops, yoga and Qigong groups, and two Eat for Equity events that raised over $2,400 for the homeless. Student art from South High will be featured in May. A show of pagan artists is planned for this fall, and next winter perhaps a show of artists who work with light.
An artist himself, Eusebio has painted scenery for the Guthrie and the Children’s Theater, done puppetry with BareBones Productions, and played in numerous bands. He also created the grass-covered van we see around the neighborhood.
The $25/hour rental rate makes Modus Locus affordable for almost anyone and anything. Eusebio envisions meetings, classes, film screenings, and photo shoots. He also hopes to offer more hours for free “drop-in and chill” time.
To Ephraim Eusebio, Modus Locus is “the place to be yourself.”