The recent morphing of a garage into an art classroom is another coup for the arts community in the village of Chelsea. And it's certainly what aspiring potters and sculptors have been waiting for.
Next week, the
Chelsea Center for the Arts will begin holding classes in the new room, converted from the garage portion of its circa-1923 brick building at 400 Congdon St.. New plumbing, heating, air conditioning, walls and ceiling, electrical, and lighting were installed. A windowed garage door lights the space.
"What makes it so nice is that it can be open. We have a garage door... that can be fully opened up to our secured garden area in the rear of the building," says Lisa Baylis Gonzalez, the center's executive director. "It's going to be a great open space, a great open studio, in the summer months, in the nice months."
The $30,000 project was funded with a grant from the Worthington Family Foundation. The center now has a pottery wheel and kiln in the classroom addition – amenities it lacked before. Open studio time will be available, and Baylis Gonzalez anticipates class sizes of about eight students each.
"This is certainly a project that we needed to add classes and hopefully add programs like crazy, which will hopefully lead to more staff time as we build the program," Baylis Gonzalez says.
Source: Lisa Baylis Gonzales, executive director, Chelsea Center for the Arts
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
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