Queer cooperative offers art, coffee, cocktails, and lots of community
The Trans, BIPOC + Intersex-inclusive Progress Pride flag flies, fittingly outside Small Format on Wickenden Street in PVD. The queer cooperative, which numbers five workers, runs a gallery and exhibition room with rotating art showcases and handmade local artisan goods.
On display are artworks, sculpture, ceramics, prints, paintings, candles, and cards all made by members of the queer/trans community, says founder Tameka Eastman-Coburn.
Every Thursday through Monday, the co-op also offers daily espresso service, specialty lattes, baked goods, sandwiches, cocktails, and mocktails.
Eastman-Coburn opened Small Format in October 2020 in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. To say times were tough would be an understatement. Small Format made it through until 2024 and, after closing its doors for five weeks in March 2024, it reopened as a worker-owned co-op. Eastman-Coburn stepped aside as boss and curator and became one of five equals. “I had always intended this space to be for us, and by us,” they say. “There is an unbeatable richness to everything that is done collectively.”
Small Format’s name is taken from the photography term for a picture that is about the size of a postage stamp. “With a small format photo, you create an image of this moment, and it’s distilled in time,” explains Eastman-Coburn, who has a background in photography.
“It is a bit small in there,” they chuckle softly, pointing at the storefront. “For me, the name also means creating and celebrating the small moments and joys that make up our lives. These small moments we all can create together.”
A lot gets packed into that small space. So much so that Eastman-Coburn uses the sociological term “third space” to denote what Small Format is all about. “It’s a space to gather, outside of home and outside of work, to explore the concept of self and who we want to be. Where we can learn together, experiment, and ultimately become the people we are willing to be,” they explain.
It’s a space by and for queer folks, where they can thrive through freedom of expression, and connect and engage. “We’re centering cultivating queer creative community,” they emphasize.
Small Format is a founding member of the Co-Op Foundation of RI, a coalition. “Many other co-ops are involved and truly leading the way in creating a more inclusive and sustainable small business economy in RI,” they say.
Eastman-Coburn brings their experience in political campaigns and work for such organizations as Planned Parenthood and the Toxic Waste Action Center to their endeavors at Small Format. They have also worked as a director of an art gallery, bartender, as a farmer, barista, and photographer. “My background is a little bit of everything, and I think that’s represented here,” they say.
On top of that, Eastman-Coburn is a DJ and has worked in curating multi-citywide immersive art, music, and nightlife experiences showcasing queer + trans artists. They call themself a “selectress, not a DJ per se.”
Small Format is at its busiest during the weekend, which for the co-op runs from Thursday through Monday. Every Sunday, there’s the Queer Knitting Circle at Small Format. And on the last Monday of the month, it holds the RI Queer Bookclub.
Pointing out that a number of restaurants are typically closed on Monday, Eastman-Coburn said the co-op decided to remain open on that day to take up the slack, and change people’s relationships to the idea of hating Mondays. “We have a saying,” they relate, “It’s always Friday (in mood) on a Monday here.” Small Format is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday unless they are hosting a special event.
“We’ve hosted Cocktails with the Artists, which is a networking and social event. The holiday season is big for events around Small Format! Last year, Sandra Claus even stopped by to do holiday pet photos during our annual artist market called Homo for the Holigay,” they say, smiling.
Small Format does a full month of Pride events each year that ranges from Harm Reduction Trainings to Drag Reading Hours for the kiddos.
In early May, it hosted Critfest Folk Punk Show for the benefit of Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island.
“For us, it’s all about what’s wanted, and what’s needed, in the community,” Eastman-Coburn explains.
The co-op’s events can be viewed on its website smallformat.one
