The Lawrence Community Development Corporation (LCDC) is opening a Community Arts Center at 4437 North Franklin Road (map). The property, which houses the LCDC’s office, had been rented to INDOT for the past few years as they worked on the Pendleton Pike corridor. Now that INDOT has moved on and renovations have been made, they are opening the space to the community as an Art Center. LCDC has partnered with Partnership for Lawrence, Inc. (PFLArts) to host a program that not only benefits the local artists but also the community at large.
The Art Center has five private offices ranging from 100 to 150 square feet. One is the LCDC’s office, and three are available now for rent to local artists for studio space. The rest of the building’s common space includes a 360 square foot “Flex” room designated for classes, exhibits and meetings; two common sink areas (one at each end of the building, in addition to the two rest rooms); as well as large storage rooms for oversized supplies and/or equipment.
The program is documented through a 2011 Project Grant Application submitted to the Arts Council of Indianapolis by PFLArts. It consists of three components: artist studio space, community art classes and free art exhibitions.
The first component, artist studio space, is very affordable since the program offsets the cost of studio rental by allowing artist-tenants to give classes in the Community Flex Room. “We estimate that our artist-tenants need only teach two classes per month to recoup their rent expenditure,” says Judy Byron, who has been contracted to oversee the program. And upon notice of the Project Grant award, the other studio space will be given to a deserving local artist for one year, rent free. Applications will be reviewed after June 1, 2011.
The second component, art classes, will be offered to the community at large. Donations and anticipated grant dollars will fund the materials needed to set up the Flex Room for classes and their supplies. Part of those funds will offset the cost of the classes to allow an affordable class fee to the community and yet fair compensation to the artist teacher. “It’s a win-win for everybody!” says Judy Byron. The first public art class schedule will be for July-September 2011 with another schedule following for October-December 2011.
The third component, art exhibitions, will be called “Following Fridays” and will be held the second Friday of the month. These free public events will feature local artists’ work on exhibit in the Flex Room and the artist-tenants will be encouraged to open their studio spaces too. Since the Indianapolis Arts community has embraced the IDADA First Friday self-guided art tour, PFLArts wanted to expand on the idea without trying to compete with the already established cultural districts of Indianapolis. Following Fridays allows the Lawrence community and Indianapolis community to partake in both.
For more information about the Lawrence Art Center, contact Judy Byron at judybyron@ivyandarches.com or 317-408-9525.
