RICHMOND — What once was home to a Richmond cannabis dispensary has now been made into a community space featuring a pop-up nine-hole mini putt course hand-crafted by local artists with the inner child in mind.
Tucked under a mural that encourages to “keep hope alive” near Interstate 80’s Central Avenue exit in Richmond is a mini golf course that was dreamt up and built by husband and wife team Julian Bergstein and Elaina Mastrilli, with support from Ben Grambergu, the mind behind Exit Now, an arts and community events space.
“People are coming to Richmond to have fun and are transported to someplace nice,” Bergstein said. “It’s nice to be a part of that.”
The course on Pierce Street, featuring challenges approachable for all age levels, takes a make-your-own-adventure style to the classic family-friendly activity. A windmill at the first hole can be left still or sped up to increase friendly competition. Hole five’s swinging column has proven more challenging for adults than children, and hole nine evens the playing field with a Plinko style finish, leaving the final score up to chance.
Vibrant colors and interactive features are meant to transport those who visit the course into a boardgame, Mastrilli said. Each hole is meant to be fun and engaging, a bit challenging but not frustration inducing.
“It’s meant to be part of a community space. Anyone can come and play. We wanted it to be affordable and accessible,” Mastrilli said.
In total, players are meant to be able to finish the course in about 20 to 30 minutes. It’s self-service, with a QR code at the front gate and a gumball machine dispensing golf balls at the start, allowing visitors to enter and play at any time between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. seven days a week.
From conception to installation, the course took just a few months to develop, Mastrilli said. The couple, mini putt aficionados themselves, had long dreamt of building a course of their own and Grambergu had been on the hunt for some type of engaging activity to bring to the space.
As an artist who dedicated 16-hour days to crafting the course, like a piece of interactive sculpture work, Mastrilli said seeing people putt the holes has been both terrifying and exciting.
“It’s the ultimate payoff for any creator,” Mastrilli said. “Art is a language. When someone gets it and vibes with it, you feel seen and validated.”
For Grambergu, Exit Now has been a passion project. The venue at 3223 Pierce St. is meant to be a community space where neighbors from different backgrounds can enjoy entertainment, explore new things like vegan food during a monthly food truck event and appreciate an art gallery curated by Jacob Clark, an East Bay artist whose work is also featured in the space.
The vision first came to Grambergu “like a fever dream” in 2022 while at Burning Man, an annual desert event focused on art, community making and self-expression. But plans really got going during an April 20 cannabis event at 7 Stars Holistic Center, a cannabis dispensary that was once located in the same building at Exit Now.
“I wanted to bring some of that whimsy to our own backyard,” Grambergu said, crediting his landlord and bosses, Zee Handoush and Joe Dayem, co-founders of 7 Stars, for helping him get his vision of the ground.
The putt putt pop-up is scheduled to be deconstructed by Oct. 31 ahead of winter rains. Depending on demand, Grambergu said that date could shift. Once broken down, Gramsbergu said he could see the course potentially popping up in different places like a brewery or community space.
As for the future of Exit Now, Grambergu said he plans to find new creative ways to use the space. He imagines a free tool library out front, arcade games inside, more art and food events and other activities that encourage people to put their phones down and connect.
“I can’t wait to see what comes next and who else this inspires,” Grambergu said.
