The government auctioned off the old federal INS Building just in time for the recession. Then the new owners, a real-estate partnership, had a brilliant idea: Bring in artists! Since July, the huge 1931 brick building has been colonized by painters, glass blowers, metalsmiths, and even a dance company or two. And theres room for dozens more in the old brick pile, which is being rechristened this weekend as INSCAPE, with studio tours, performances, music, booze, and more. The event is called Passages, and its being co-curated by Ladan Yalzadeh, whos also creating an oral history project with guides to share their immigration stories from the buildingincluding her own. I was one of those people, she recalls. In 1995, I was granted my citizenship in Room 121. I got my American passport and was free to move about the world, which was not the case with my native Iranian passport. After this weekends festivities, featuring some two-dozen artists, Yalzadeh hopes that, We could have not just little artists studios, but an entire arts center. On the bill are dance performances from Manifold Motion and Danse Perdue, art installations from Sol Hashemi and Helen Gamble, then live music (at 8 p.m., 21 and over) from Gargle Blasters, Ashcomb, Phase 3, and Prints of China. And be sure to venture up to the third floor, where those madmen from Hazard Factory are running the final weekend of Smash Putt, a mini-golf/cocktail extravaganza ($11-$15, drinks extra, 21 and over). BRIAN MILLER
Sat., Oct. 16, 12-11:59 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 17, 12-6 p.m., 2010
