SHELBURNE FALLS — The tools to grow a garden typically include items like trowels, seeds and sunlight, but for The Art Garden, growth can be attributed to community support.
Thanks to more than $100,000 in donations and a $142,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the community art studio on Depot Street will be able to nearly quadruple its space.
“The expansion feels like it makes sense, and our community really showed up,” said Jane Wegscheider, co-director of The Art Garden.
Renovations, which are expected to begin in the new year, will include insulating the back room of the building, adding windows and installing a new entrance with an accessible ramp. The back room is currently used as storage for The Art Garden’s old projects, and while it will still include some storage space for supplies and projects, the renovation will convert the space into an art-making studio and meeting area.
The renovation will add 1,900 square feet of usable space to The Art Garden, which currently operates out of a 600-square-foot room.
After this renovation is complete, The Art Garden plans to continue raising money for a second phase of renovations, which will include installing an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant bathroom, a kitchenette, an exhibit wall and a dedicated office space. The Art Garden currently shares a bathroom with the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum and uses the back corner of its studio as an office, in addition to storing art supplies.
The total project cost for both phases is estimated to come in at $440,000. The Art Garden is still fundraising, as the grant requires a one-to-one match.
“The first $244,000 to $300,000 will make it a habitable space. We will be getting new doors and windows, insulation and wiring, and it will be a usable space,” said Co-Director Laura Iveson. “Then in the second phase, when we raise that money, we will get an ADA bathroom, a small kitchenette and an office.”
Wegscheider said The Art Garden has outgrown its space. The studio regularly hosts and participates in large events, and makes art and decor to decorate the village for festivities like Winter HooPla and Moonlight Magic. Art Garden volunteers made decor for the reopening of the Shelburne Falls Theater at Memorial Hall, the Bridge of Flowers and more.
“One of the biggest reasons that we need to do this is that we do large-scale events, and there are huge amounts of preparation by volunteers to prepare for those events, and this is the space where they prepare. But if there’s an after-school program and a group’s been here in the morning, everything has to be packed up and put away,” Wegscheider said. “So now we will have two spaces to work in so that there can be simultaneous programming and volunteering and preparations for bigger things.”
“We do an awful lot out of 600 square feet, and that’s why this is so anticipated,” Iveson added. “It’ll be nice to have more breathing room.”
The expansion will allow The Art Garden to maintain its current programming for children and teens, plus open studio hours, even when preparing for larger events. It will also give the community art studio a chance to potentially expand its programming schedule.
“Right now, the schedule is really tight. We have groups that want to use the space and quite often we can’t fit them in because it’s already being used,” Iveson explained. “Having a second studio will allow us to expand and give a place where area artists can have workshops.”
“There’ll be more space, more exhibit walls. One of the exciting things about exhibiting in a space that’s also where people make art is it gives you an absolute range of possibilities for inspiration,” Wegscheider said.
Wegscheider said that community support for the studio has been amazing, especially during a time when supply costs are rising and grant funding for the arts is uncertain.
“We were floored. It was a remarkable response and we were so grateful,” Wegscheider said. “For a small organization, we do a lot. We try to make our programs accessible financially; it’s pay what you can. Open studios and exhibits are free.”
She added that The Art Garden’s landlord, the Trolley Museum, has been incredibly supportive of both the renovation project and The Art Garden’s mission as a whole. The Trolley Museum leases the art studio the space at a rate under market value.
From the Trolley Museum to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Iveson said everyone The Art Garden has worked with has gone “above and beyond.”
While expanding will increase the venue’s operational costs amid increased electric bills, Iveson said it is the right step for The Art Garden. As it continues to grow, Iveson and Wegscheider hope to add more paid staff.
“This is the right step to keep The Art Garden sustainable and moving into the future as a resource for this area and the community,” Iveson said. “The whole idea is that coming together with others is essential for community, and also, we believe that engaging creatively with others brings out a huge amount of creativity in people.”
Iveson said it is unclear how long the renovations might take, and a timeline will depend on how long it takes for ordered materials, such as windows, to arrive.
For more information about the expansion project, or to donate, visit theartgarden.org.
