Downtown Everett as a destination spot?

True story.

And there’s a new arts district downtown?

Way.

To experience what we’re talking about, attend the grand opening of the new Schack Art Center on April 30 and May 1.

At this event, expect to see skilled glass artist

s at the furnace, painters putting their brushes into action and jewelry makers creating wearable works. There will also be glass pieces by famous artists such as Dale Chihuly, a chance to win a valuable art prize and designer treats.

Get the picture?

Everett’s downtown destination sta

tus will be sealed with the opening of the Schack Art Center as the veritable grout that will hold this whole arts-district mosaic together. Once the building opens, visitors can become awash in art.

The Schack Art Center will open the door to glass-blowing, a rainbow of art classes and a radiant new 2,700-square foot exhibit gallery that kicks up Everett’s classy meter to the platinum level.

The Schack Art Center was the vision of the Arts Council of Snohomish County and city of Everett leaders who wanted to create a multi-use regional arts center. In 2006, a capital campaign got under way, and last year the campaign came within 98 percent of its goal of $6.2 million by raising $6 million. Now the art center is poised to open to the public.

Visitors can soon “make a day of downtown Everett,” said Maren Oates, who handles marketing and special events for the center.

“Everett is seeing a lot of growth in the arts,” Oates said. “Obviously with our new facility, and with the Everett Art Walk, which has really grown, and other galleries adding a lot of value to the arts scene.”

Schack’s showpiece is the hot shop.

That is where glass artists us a 2,100-degree furnace to turn molten masses into gorgeous glass pieces. Schack’s hot shop is the premier public access production studio on the West Coast and is built behind a huge glass garage door where visitors can watch the process pretty much all the time, Oates said.

The hot shop can accommodate three teams of artists working at once or up to nine people at a time, so the joint will be hopping. Schack now offers glass-blowing classes, from beginner to advanced, Oates said.

“It’s a dream for us to get to this point,” Oates said.

Building on this dream, the city of Everett is looking to hire artists to help them turn Hoyt Avenue, where Schack is located, into Everett’s Arts & Festivals Street.

To help solidify the theme of this street, the city needs artists to make and design a set of 11 lighted sculptures, along with four bike racks. The city has put these projects out to bid.

Everett’s Arts & Festivals Street will be a three-block section of Hoyt that includes the Schack, the Everett Public Library and Imagine Children’s Museum.

“We feel the Schack Art Center will be a must-see destination for the public to view local art exhibits, watch the artistic process, and create their own artwork,” said Schack executive director Judy Tuohy. “And, we are thrilled with everything the city is doing downtown, especially along Hoyt Avenue, to support this and an active arts district in Everett.”

Oates said people can also rent the facility for private events. The center has a small catering kitchen.

During a tour, Oates boasted that the center’s bathrooms are some of the most beautiful around, with mosaic mirrors created by Stephanie and Hector Roman-Olvera and glass sconces by Merrilee Moore and Stan Price, who designed a lifelike salmon into the sconce in the men’s room.

“You can enjoy blowing in the hot shop, take a couple of hours and do a class, pick up something from our gallery store and make a full day of it,” Oates said. “You could really do it in downtown Everett.”

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.

Grand opening

The Schack Art Center — formerly the Arts Council of Snohomish County — is a 19,000-square-foot art center with a hot shop for glass-blowing, a kiln and flame-working studio, professional and student exhibit spaces, a retail store and multipurpose classrooms.

The Schack Art Center grand opening is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 30 and noon to 5 p.m. May 1 at 2921 Hoyt Ave., Everett. Expect artist demonstrations, tours and the chance to win an introductory glass-blowing class or youth art camp. For more information, go to www.schack.org.

Gorgeous glass

The art center will debut its first art exhibit, “The Nature of Glass,” from 4 to 7 p.m. April 30. This inaugural exhibit features works by international artists such as Dale Chihuly, Randy Walker, Dante Marioni, Karen Willenbrink-Johnson, Jane Rosen, Shelly Muzylowski-Allen, Steffen Dam and Preston Singletary. The exhibit will be up through June 9.