In Providence, Rhode Island, back in 2003, a strange and wild art project got started when Adriana Valdez Young heard a radio ad about the new Providence Place Mall. The ad went on about how amazing the mall was and even joked that someone could live inside it. Most people laughed at that idea, but a group of eight local artists decided to see if it could be real. Among them was Michael Townsend, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design who had just lost his creative home after the demolition of Fort Thunder, an artist loft and music venue. That place had been a symbol of the city’s creative soul. When it got torn down to make more commercial real estate and new buildings, it felt like a betrayal to performers and artists everywhere.
They came up with a plan that sounded like a prank at first but turned into something serious. They found a 750‑square‑foot unused corridor buried inside the structure of the mall. This secret room was tucked away near stairwells, emergency exits, and the upper floors next to the parking garage, and it was perfect for hiding their work. No one saw them carrying cinder blocks, carpets, furniture, or a PlayStation into the space. They brought in old couches, rugs, lamps, shelves, and art supplies they bought from the mall’s stores or thrift shops. Sometimes they’d start cooking in the food court to get a receipt, which they could use if anyone questioned them.
Every little detail helped turn the secret space into a surprisingly cozy home. They carried water for cleaning and drinking, plugged in lights using extension cords and the mall’s wiring, and even used a waffle maker. The artists built walls out of cinder blocks and even installed a door with its own key just like in a real apartment. They didn’t just want to sleep there. They wanted to create an art space, a clubhouse, a home, and a protest all in one. They saw it as a way to fight against the gentrification happening in Providence, to reclaim space after losing Fort Thunder, and to show that creativity doesn’t only belong in galleries or museums.
Even though their hidden apartment was deep in the building, it wasn’t always peaceful. There were times when alarms went off and mall security showed up. The artists learned to let the alarms ring until the guards left, and they went back in once it was safe. Some of their possessions even went missing, probably taken by mall staff. They say security guards began using the space when the artists weren’t home. They decided it was safer to visit only after the mall closed, and they kept going back for years. They stayed in the apartment on and off, sometimes for three weeks straight, combining sleeping there with work at other places.
They filmed everything as well, using cheap Pentax Optio cameras purchased at the mall’s RadioShack. They even hid them in Altoids tins so they wouldn’t be noticed. The footage was grainy and shaky, but it captured real moments like them hauling in cinder blocks or sneaking out luggage of dirty concrete and going back in with furnishings. These videos would become the backbone of the documentary, later on.
The hidden apartment project lasted four whole years. Over that time they almost finished building in plumbing and installing a wooden floor. They added keys to their little door and came close to having a bathroom and kitchen, but never quite completed those features. Eventually, however, they got too brave. In 2007, Townsend brought a friend to show off the space during hours when the mall was closed. That was the moment they triggered a motion sensor. Mall security showed up, arrested Townsend on trespassing charges, and sealed off the apartment forever. He later pleaded no contest, got probation, and was banned for life from Providence Place, though that would change years later.
For fifteen years, their secret remained more of a curious rumor than confirmed truth. Then in 2019 filmmaker Jeremy Workman met Townsend while traveling in Greece. Townsend had been approached by many filmmakers before, but Workman was the first who could tell the story with honesty and depth. Workman realized this was more than a weird prank. It was a story about art, resistance, home, community, creativity, and how much place can mean in a city. Workman decided to make a documentary and brought everyone back together to film interviews, explore old feelings, and watch the footage they had shot years ago.
The documentary called Secret Mall Apartment premiered at SXSW in March 2024. It did so well that SXSW added an extra “buzz screening” because so many people were talking about it. The 91‑minute film mixes the shaky old footage from the mall apartment with interviews with Townsend, Adriana Valdez Young and the other seven artists, along with wide shots of Providence and scenes of them in modern life. The film soundtrack was done by Claire and Olivier Mancho. Critics praised it. The Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday said it was an “unbelievable true story” that dove into ideas about capitalism, housing, and creativity. A critic at Architectural Digest said it was a cool reversal of consumerism that brought deeper meaning to space. The Daily Beast’s film critic called it thoughtful, moving, full of heart, and said it made you rethink how space and art can work.
The film went on to win awards at Cleveland International Film Festival, IFFBoston, deadCenter, Sidewalk, Calgary, newportFilm, and more. It started showing in theaters in Los Angeles on April 4th, 2025, and in other cities like Providence and New York.
In a poetic twist, Providence Place Mall lifted Townsend’s ban in 2025 so he could attend screenings of the film, including one at their own theater inside the mall. When he returned to see the spot, he said it looked almost exactly the same. He could still see little reminders of their hidden life there .
The story of the secret mall apartment isn’t just an odd prank. It’s a protest against pushing out artists, against owning every inch of commercial space, and a way to say creativity matters. The warehouse Fort Thunder was gone but they found a new home and purpose. People who watched the film or heard the story said it was powerful and emotional. On Reddit, a fan called it “a fantastic love letter to Providence and [against] gentrification.” Others said it made them feel seen as artists and citizens who care about keeping space alive for imagination.
Today malls all over America are closing or turning into office buildings or apartments. Providence Place itself has been struggling. It’s under receivership and its owners are debating how to save it by making it partially residential or entertainment space. In that context, this one project from 2003 seems like a sneak peek at how malls might be used differently. It showed that empty or forgotten spaces can hold real lives, real art, and real homes.
Michael Townsend has continued working on creative projects. He’s known for his tape art, like big murals he made in hospitals or to help honor 9/11 victims by placing tape silhouettes of people around Manhattan. But the secret mall apartment was something legendary. It gave artists a way to say reclaim space that doesn’t require permission. When they built walls in a mall, they built meaning, too.
That project and the film about it ask big questions. What is space for? Who decides if a hallway can be a home? How can art push back against forgetting communities and bulldozers? For high school students or anyone who feels like they don’t belong, it proves that imagination, sneaky planning, and passion can turn ordinary places into something amazing. That mall hall became a living room and a studio and a protest all at once, and now it’s a movie that might reach many thousands of people.
The secret mall apartment really shows how art can reshape the world piece by piece. It proves that even a hidden room in a shopping mall becomes powerful when you believe space should be more than just stores. Stores close down, buildings fall empty, but creativity lasts. So maybe the next time someone jokes about living at the mall, we should listen a little closer and ask what else might be possible.
The story of the secret mall apartment isn’t just an odd prank. It’s a protest against pushing out artists, against owning every inch of commercial space, and a way to say creativity matters.