Imagine…..

Strolling down Liberty from Main Street ………

Feel the pleasure of entering the greenway

Listen to music play

Hear the voices of children

See an artist sketching

Watch a potter throwing a pot

Marvel at dancers rehearsing in a studio within your sight.

To find out all the details about the plan for 415 Washington Street, click here: 415WashingtonRFP.
or read the summary below!

THE VISION

We envision a gathering spot for locals of all ages—artists, learners, teachers, neighbors. We envision a spot that will attract visitors and future locals to the city by what this offers. Our proposal seeks to weave the people through the site by innovative use of the greenway, parking, passive and active use, public art, and creative rain water management techniques that mix art and environmental stewardship.

It creates a vibrant central location for culture and recreation in the downtown. The center for the arts will connect the community with the arts in formal and informal ways and provide a destination for the community and visitors from the region to engage in and enjoy the arts in many ways.

The visual arts, theater, dance, music and literary arts will have a facility that fosters collaborations between individuals and organization.

PROPOSED USES

The Art Center proposes uses consistent with its current facilities as a center for the visual arts. There will be the following:

• An exhibition gallery for professional artist exhibitions
• Two galleries for community artist shows and art center constituent shows
• Gallery Shop space that represents gift type original work for sale
• Teaching studios, several of which will be multi-purpose, one dedicated to children, one for jewelry and one for clay (pottery, tilemaking and sculpture).
• Office space for 12 Art Center staff, volunteers and interns
• Meeting rooms space for use by Art Center staff, teachers, board and volunteers.
• A café is planned for inside the building. The café will serve the needs of students and groups gathering for activity and will also be a community venue.
• Larger public space for such things as theater and dance rehearsals (whose performances will be in other locations), recurring gatherings of groups like the Ann Arbor Friends of Traditional Music and Dance and for one-time gatherings that are social in nature.

The site is also designed for outdoor events or events that can flow from inside to outside. The Art Center has an earned income stream from space rental. Weddings, private parties, corporate events and trainings are a few examples. It is anticipated that these will continue at the new location.

The new center will accomplish a long standing goal of the City of Ann Arbor to address a significant need for art space in the community. Its 2005 widely publicized artists’ space survey received responses from producing organizations, individual artists and arts/cultural educators. Survey respondents indicated a desire for over 50,000 square feet of space to meet the needs of these small organizations and individuals. One of the greatest desires was for space that facilitated collaboration and conversation among artists. This project as proposed would accomplish this among many other goals.

The existing industrial buildings make a great studio and teaching spaces—tough, raw surfaces, abundant natural light, large open volumes—an artist’s dream come true. It will add to Ann Arbor’s already outstanding reputation and as a cultural mecca.

Current plans offer two types of studio space:

• Short term rental for artists to offer lessons or complete a specific project. For example, a violin teacher who wants a room two afternoons a week or an artist who has a commission and doesn’t have workspace to stage the development of the commission.
• Studio Space

This is what the Art Center at 415 W. Washington can bring to this community.

By its very nature and location 415 W. Washington provides a rare opportunity to create a very special place in Ann Arbor. A true community art center that provides art experiences, teaching and learning about the arts and the environment. A project that imagines being a testimony as to how carefully considered design for site, building and program along with strong partnerships can create such a spot.

Do you like this idea?  Let us hear from you!

To find out more about our plans for the space at 415 Washington Street, click here:  415WashingtonRFP.

Why does the Art Center want the 415 W. Washington property

Ann Arbor is thought of as a place that supports the arts and artists. That’s true. But, the organizations and people are all spread out. Because the Art Center wants to consolidate all its programs into one space; because there is interest in studio/rehearsal space and because 415 is a big property, we are willing to provide our assets to meet our needs and those of small organizations and individual artists at W. Washington. We want to facilitate a cultural center in addition to a visual arts center. Imagine the site as a beehive of activity–people coming and going at different hours from morning until late evening. Adults may drop in to the galleries, come to shop or come to classes. They may be dropping off children for classes, or it might be a gathering of the Fiberarts Guild, Ann Arbor Women Artists or the Spinners Flock, all of whom currently meet at the Art Center. We anticipate both rehearsal/practice space for performing artists, meeting space for artists, office space for organizations, and our own studios having open hours for people who are not enrolled in programs but want access to workspace.

Can 415 possibly be an improvement over the beautiful historic building on Liberty?

There is no replacing store front visibility right down town for retail and exhibitions. However, one of the things we have learned with multiple years of surveying customers is that we are a destination. People come intentionally to see exhibits. Our preliminary plans will make the area so active that we believe more people will know about us and come to see exhibitions and shop. It will still be a destination.

415 will be a definite improvement from an instructional point of view. Because the building will be gutted and rehabed and because the spaces are so large, teaching studios will be well equipped and larger. Liberty does not have the advantage of wide open space and is constricted by a load bearing wall dividing the building. We also won’t be retro-fitting anything. 415 is a gut and rehab, so we will in many senses be starting from scratch.

The Art Center owns two buildings, why purchase another?

Two locations were created when the Art Center’s expansion necessitated moving some courses to a new location. In 1986 it was North First, then Ann Street, then 220 Felch. While the expansions served student and instructor interests, the energy was dispersed. 415 puts everything back on track!

Consolidating all programs under one roof is the goal that 415 helps fulfill. When a visitor or someone coming for a course can also visit the galleries, shop, visit with students in other courses or talk to staff, it is simply a more interesting dynamic. In addition, artists will be able to interact more often when they are all under one roof–instead of two. And, with space for performing artists and groups to meet, there will be a wonderful co-mingling of the arts.

Where are people going to park?

Parking is a sensitive issue for everyone in Ann Arbor. We’re not used to walking a few blocks when it comes to getting to stores. The 415 site can handle some amount of parking, and we are addressing that in the RFP. We think it is important not to crowd the neighborhood, but we cannot accommodate every potential visitor on the site. People in our courses walk from 4th and William and 1st and William now, and there is parking equal distance from 415. Even at the Art Factory not everyone can find a space on the site.

How can you afford to do this?

Many years ago Art Center supporters were very wise in purchasing property. The organization has been able to weather rising costs and has assets with which to plan for the future. At present there are many options for financing this project. Time will tell which one is best for the current and long-term interests of the organization. Anyone interested in helping make this dream come true is invited to contact the development office or the president.