We’re big fans of community arts & music venue The Knockdown Center. You may have learned about The KDC through Bushwick Daily’s dedicated posts- a Rubulad party we attended in early 2012, or the Drone Festival where our eardrums went pleasurably numb, or the announcement that world-famous artist MIA will be performing there in a few weeks. But music and parties aren’t all the Knockdown center is about. In fact, along with their legalization over the next month, they are establishing a respectable arts curriculum that will have most Brooklyn galleries gawking. The Knockdown Center is shaping up to be force to be reckoned with. Read on to see how you can get involved.

First off, some statistics about the KDC: It was built in 1903. It’s 50,000 square feet large. It’s situated on 3 acres of land. It’s technically in Maspeth but about a mile walk from the Jefferson L. It’s determined to be unprecedented venue for arts and culture in Queens, and they need your help to do so.

The family-owned factory has a fantastic story behind it. Built in 1903 as a glass factory, the space transitioned to a door-making factory midcentury. The center gets its name from an invention that took place within its huge, glass walls. In 1956 the The Knock-Down Door Buck, or K-D door frame, that was invented onsite by Samuel Sklar. What exactly made this Knock-Down door so important?