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MILFORD, Ohio — Lifelong Milford residents and graduates of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Chris and Lindsey Clements have dreamed of building their own art studio for years, hoping to help build a thriving art scene in their own backyard.

When the opportunity arose to rent out a hundred-year-old barn on the edge of town, they jumped at the opportunity, enlisting their friend and self-taught artist, Noelle Dumont, to help make their dream a reality.

“Wanted to open a place for endless ideas,” Dumont said.

The trio spent two years converting the former woodworking shop into a unique, colorful space that pays homage to the building’s history. The result is the PAUSE OFF studio and gallery.

“It has a sense of excitement that not every building has,” Chris said. “It’s built so much for the community that many don’t even know about. We want to build things in here where we give back to the community in a different way.”

Even the name, PAUSE OFF, is meant to evoke that spirit of constant activity and creation. 

“If you’re not paused, you’re playing,” Lindsey said. 

First opening to the public this spring, the building houses five artists, four of whom are from Milford. At the entrance is the gallery space, then as visitors continue on, they’ll find a mix of artist studios and historic equipment from the barn’s woodworking days fitting in seamlessly with the new artistic aesthetic. 

Dumont and Lindsey have forged their space on the bottom floor. Closest to the barn’s entrance, their spaces are awash with bright color. Dumont’s intricately organized by shape and color, mirroring the quilts and textile art she creates in the space.

Lindsey’s wide open space offers room for her sculptures, with a towering material wall full of color and texture to draw from.

“This is a very interesting space, a lot of people who aren’t artists come into this and leave feeling more creative than before,” Dumont said. “So that’s what we want to give people, a good experience here.”

Chris built his studio on the top floor, where he says the natural light offers a perfect environment for painting.

“We saw so much potential and openness,” he said.

Besides building a space for themselves though, all three artists thought it was important to make PAUSE OFF accessible to the public. 

“I feel like, you know, Cincinnati has Pendelton and Solway,” Lindsey said. “And so our small town needed some contemporary community space.”

The artists opened their first public gallery in May, serving as a welcome to the neighborhood and an invitation to connect with the community. Chris said he’s been pleasantly surprised at the interest so far.

“We had people that were really genuinely excited and really wanted to support us but also wanted to be around art,” he said. 

They’re currently in the midst of exhibiting their second, a show made entirely of work from woman artists called “Body.”

“When Roe v. Wade was overturned, we just decided this was a good time to showcase the women around us,” Dumont said. 

The group hopes to host monthly shows through the warm weather months, eventually transforming into an art center that will offer classes and summer camps. 

PAUSE OFF is located at 24 Wooster Pike in Milford.