A new era is dawning with the New Year at the Art Center Traverse City.
With a goal of becoming the nucleus of the art community in the region, the center is embracing three-dimensional artists, bringing a local guild into the fold and expanding course offerings for all ages.
Overarching these changes is the board's launching of a strategic planning process that will in all likelihood lead to a move. John Scott, chairman of the board, noted that having a newer, larger facility with greater gallery space than the current location in the former All-Faiths Chapel at 11th and Elmwood opens many possibilities for both members and the community.
"We're going to be looking for a new place to operate because we just have a number of things that we want to do that we feel compelled to have enough space to do them in,” he said. "We have been happy where we are but we just realized that the space constraints are such that we just have to move along and find someplace else.”
"We're going to try to have some other disciplines that we haven't had before, particularly a more extensive ceramics program and we're going to try printmaking and sculpture,” Scott added.
In its sixth decade, the Art Center began life as the Northwest Michigan Artists and Craftsmen using the same seed money that also launched the Traverse Area Arts Council and Northwestern Michigan College. Painter Charlie Murphy, who has been an instructor with the organization since 1990, said that this history reflected Les Biederman's innovative vision for Traverse City.
While the years brought a greater emphasis on the artists portion of the name, in November, the 500-member organization welcomed the Northwest Michigan Potters and Sculptors Guild — now the Potters and Sculptors Guild at the Art Center. This melding reflects both a burgeoning interest in sculpture and other art forms in the area as well as a determination by the Art Center to expand its reach among artists and the community.
"Sculpture is an attention getter,” noted Murphy, who teaches classes during the school year as well as one of the summer workshops. "The Art Center has metamorphosed over the years.”
The 40 members of the Potters and Sculptors Guild, which began five years ago and is noted for their annual Empty Bowls Project, are pleased to join forces with the Art Center. A collaborative art show this February is the first joint project. Other events in the spring include a free public bowl-making workshop on March 10, which will create bowls for the Empty Bowls event scheduled for April 22.
"We're really excited, I know I am,” said Pam Dueweke, a member of the board of directors at the Art Center and president of the guild, of the merger. "Other arts organizations are taking an interest in joining us.”
Tangibly reflecting the new direction, this winter's line up of course offerings at the Art Center Traverse City includes a range of classes for both adults and children. The facility will offer everything from cartooning, watercolor and puppet- and mask-making for kids to drawing, painting in various media, beadwork and paper arts for adults
"We see an opportunity to define a role for the Art Center which is much broader than it is without trying to step into the territory of either the Dennos Museum or Interlochen,” said Bob Streit, treasurer of the board and co-owner of the Twisted Fish Gallery in Elk Rapids. "In fact, we see lots of opportunity to collaborate with them in terms of broadening opportunities for arts in the Traverse City area.”
"There's also the piece that doesn't relate to art mediums as much as art people: the whole issue of education for young people,” he added. "We're talking about a much-expanded art program for young people that would involve them in a whole bunch of programs.”
For more information on the Art Center Traverse City or class offerings this winter, call 941-9488 or see their web site at wwww.artcentertraversecity.com.