If you ask any musician in Athens about Nuçi’s Space, the odds are very high that they have a connection of some sort to the nonprofit—it could be as simple as renting gear and rehearsal space, or as meaningful as getting their start playing music as a kid through Camp Amped and getting mental health care during their lowest point in life. On the corner of Oconee and Williams streets just outside of downtown, Nuçi’s Space has been bolstering the local music community and saving lives for 25 years.
When the health and resource center for musicians opened, CEO Bob Sleppy says that there was only one similar organization in the country—the SIMS Foundation in Austin, TX—but now there are hundreds. For a nonprofit whose vision is to end suicide, this brings exciting new possibilities in establishing a safety net for musicians.
“I feel like there’s an opportunity for us to look outside of Athens, not necessarily to franchise, but to figure out, how do we build relationships with outside organizations and learn from what they’ve done, and also teach what we’ve learned? And so we can build a stronger network for musicians, like if they’re on tour,” says Sleppy. “Building a stronger network of organizations and people that are willing to help, not only their local music scenes, but more national.”
Chris Bilheimer
With 25 years of experience and knowledge to share with fledgling organizations, Sleppy is also eager to learn how others are building on the concept and making it even better. Sleppy says that nonprofits are often so strapped for resources and cash that they don’t often get to work together. One of the biggest changes at Nuçi’s Space, taken to prepare for this future of possibilities, was Sleppy taking a sidestep as CEO to make room for Debbie Watson as executive director. He says while he’s a bigger picture kind of person, Watson is skilled at detailed planning and organization. This decision was made, he says, to help the team concentrate on developing relationships with these outside organizations.
Focusing on its homebase, in a town that has been facing a lot of growing pains, Nuçi’s Space will launch a needs assessment survey next year to get feedback directly from the community about where people are struggling and how the center can better help. Sleppy says that the needs that arose during the pandemic revealed a shocking truth of just how many people in all kinds of areas and roles are a part of the Athens music industry. So the more people who participate in the listening outreach, the better the services and programs are that the space can provide.
However, in everything that Nuçi’s Space does, it is essential to Sleppy that its employees and the community not forget the vision and values of the late founder Linda Phillips. The space was opened after Linda’s son Nuçi Phillips, a musician with a long battle with depression, committed suicide, in hopes of preventing other families from dealing with similar situations.
Bob Sleppy and Linda Phillips
“There’s only three of us here now that even knew Linda. We have a staff of 20 people, but only a few of us ever even knew Linda, so I feel like a big part of the job now is to continue her legacy and build upon that culture and help people understand why Nuçi’s Space exists in the first place,” says Sleppy.
As times change and the stigma around talking about mental health slowly dissolves, there are new approaches to keeping the mental health conversation going. Sleppy says you don’t have to be a mental health professional to make a difference, and the goal of the Nuçi’s Space staff is to be welcoming and a safe space that helps them connect a person to the services they need. Organic relationships are made through building trust and encouraging people to take the steps they need or try something different.
2001 Staff Photo
“Our values and motives are pretty simplistic, but I think they’re powerful when they’re compounded by the entire community, because we wouldn’t have lasted this long without that support. What I’m hoping [the anniversary concert] next Friday is, is everybody coming together and realizing we all did a pretty amazing thing, and it couldn’t have been done without everybody involved. That’s what I really want to celebrate,” says Sleppy.
The 25th Anniversary Benefit Concert taking place next Friday, Dec. 12 at the Georgia Theatre features a phenomenally talented lineup of musicians connected to Athens, who really represent on their own just how impactful and meaningful Nuçi’s Space is to the community. There will be performances by Faye Webster, Kevn Kinney, Patterson Hood, Willow Avalon, Kyshona, Claire Campbell, David Barbe, Annie Leeth, Elf Power, Modern Skirts and The Cut-Outs House Band featuring Dan Nettles, Andrea DeMarcus, Seth Hendershot and Erik Olson.
Patterson Hood and David Barbe in 2003
“Of course, it’ll be nice to raise a little bit of money, but it will be a very fun, great time to just come together,” says Sleppy. “Selfishly, I just want to be surrounded by everybody in the community that helped us get to this place.”
“To tie back to Linda’s legacy of being bold enough and creative enough to do something that hadn’t been done before, there wasn’t a model for us to copy from when we first started. We just knew there was a need, and we tried to fill it.”
1999 Pre-Construction
For more info about Nuçi’s Space, its programs and the benefit concert, visit nuci.org.
WHAT: 25th Anniversary Benefit Concert
WHEN: Friday, Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m. (doors)
WHERE: Georgia Theatre
HOW MUCH: $119.44
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