Published: Monday, June 5, 2006
Everett inks Artspace deal
Garage site will house artists, studios
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Mike Benbow / The Herald
The city’s Hoyt Avenue parking garage near the Monte Cristo Hotel will be renovated into studio-equipped apartments for artists.
EVERETT - The Everett City Council recently agreed to a 100-year lease with Artspace to put a regional arts center in place of a city-owned garage in downtown Everett.
Having a downtown site for Artspace means as much to this project as a painter having paint, backers say. It means further revitalization of downtown. It means a convenient location for the artists and their families who will live there. It means bringing art and culture to the center of the Everett community.
"It will be as energy generating as our events center," said Lanie McMullin, the city's executive director for economic development. "In terms of economic development, it's a huge project in scope and outcome."
Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said projects such as Artspace "have proven to be economic engines and create a positive domino effect for future revitalization."
What's planned at the site of the city-owned garage at 2919 Hoyt Ave. is a building that will provide 40 affordable apartments for artists and their families on the upper floors, where artists can have work space in their homes.
The building will also house a street-level visual arts education center owned and run by the Arts Council of Snohomish County.
This means the arts council can offer year-round arts programs, said executive director Judy Tuohy. The council's goal is to have its educational programs at the new site to more than likely double or triple the community arts classes it offers.
The arts center will allow established artists to conduct master-level workshops as well as art classes and continuing education for local teachers, students and the community, Tuohy said.
The Minnesota-based Artspace Projects, the nation's largest nonprofit arts developer, will manage and maintain the building. The spot is just north of the Monte Cristo Hotel at Hoyt Avenue and Wall Street.
"I love the site," said Cathryn Vandenbrink, Artspace regional director. "It's such a wonderful location."
Now comes the job of designing the Artspace building, which will be done over the next year or so with input from the community, Vandenbrink said.
The project should break ground in 2008 with a grand opening planned for 2009.
Though the formal start of a philanthropic effort to raise about $6 million for the project will begin in early 2007, fundraising has already begun.
Stan Price, owner of Covenant Glass Art and a local glass artist, and the arts council brought together 35 artists for a group project: Each artist was to think of their idea of a home and translate that idea into a painted glass or fused glass tile. The diverse group included the past 13 arts council "Artists of the Year."
Those tiles were framed in wood and assembled into a glass "quilt." The "Glass Quilt" was recently sold to an anonymous donor for $20,000. The quilt is on display at the Snohomish County Administration building on Rockefeller Avenue, and the donor has promised to give the quilt a permanent home at the new Artspace building.
Price got involved in the quilt because after getting the last of his three children off to college, he felt he had the time to do something to help.
"It's a great example of an old barn-raising community effort to make something special," Price said.
Arts reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
Mike Benbow / The Herald
The city's Hoyt Avenue parking garage near the Monte Cristo Hotel will be renovated into studio-equipped apartments for artists.
Having a downtown site for Artspace means as much to this project as a painter having paint, backers say. It means further revitalization of downtown. It means a convenient location for the artists and their families who will live there. It means bringing art and culture to the center of the Everett community.
"It will be as energy generating as our events center," said Lanie McMullin, the city's executive director for economic development. "In terms of economic development, it's a huge project in scope and outcome."
Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said projects such as Artspace "have proven to be economic engines and create a positive domino effect for future revitalization."
What's planned at the site of the city-owned garage at 2919 Hoyt Ave. is a building that will provide 40 affordable apartments for artists and their families on the upper floors, where artists can have work space in their homes.
The building will also house a street-level visual arts education center owned and run by the Arts Council of Snohomish County.
This means the arts council can offer year-round arts programs, said executive director Judy Tuohy. The council's goal is to have its educational programs at the new site to more than likely double or triple the community arts classes it offers.
The arts center will allow established artists to conduct master-level workshops as well as art classes and continuing education for local teachers, students and the community, Tuohy said.
The Minnesota-based Artspace Projects, the nation's largest nonprofit arts developer, will manage and maintain the building. The spot is just north of the Monte Cristo Hotel at Hoyt Avenue and Wall Street.
"I love the site," said Cathryn Vandenbrink, Artspace regional director. "It's such a wonderful location."
Now comes the job of designing the Artspace building, which will be done over the next year or so with input from the community, Vandenbrink said.
The project should break ground in 2008 with a grand opening planned for 2009.
Though the formal start of a philanthropic effort to raise about $6 million for the project will begin in early 2007, fundraising has already begun.
Stan Price, owner of Covenant Glass Art and a local glass artist, and the arts council brought together 35 artists for a group project: Each artist was to think of their idea of a home and translate that idea into a painted glass or fused glass tile. The diverse group included the past 13 arts council "Artists of the Year."
Those tiles were framed in wood and assembled into a glass "quilt." The "Glass Quilt" was recently sold to an anonymous donor for $20,000. The quilt is on display at the Snohomish County Administration building on Rockefeller Avenue, and the donor has promised to give the quilt a permanent home at the new Artspace building.
Price got involved in the quilt because after getting the last of his three children off to college, he felt he had the time to do something to help.
"It's a great example of an old barn-raising community effort to make something special," Price said.
Arts reporter Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.
Mike Benbow / The Herald
The city's Hoyt Avenue parking garage near the Monte Cristo Hotel will be renovated into studio-equipped apartments for artists.
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