The Artists Have Landed

by Glenn C. Koenig, Webmaster at Town Wide Mall

Maynard, MA - This Saturday, Oct. 5th, 2024, at Maynard Fest, residents of Maynard can see how far Artspace has come since leaving their previous building, back in the Summer of 2023.

The organization will have a table staffed by volunteer members, situated right outside their front door, located at 74 Main Street.  The gallery upstairs will be open for a reception, kicking off their latest show, "Source," highlighting  works created by various artist members.  The show and the street festival will both be open from 9:00 AM until 3:30 PM. Studios at 9 Nason and the 6 Bridges Gallery will also both be open during the festival.

According to Executive Director Suchitra Mumford, "In the summer of 2023, ArtSpace moved to 74 Main St. in downtown Maynard. As an arts organization we almost didn't survive. It took the dedication of our community and Board Members to make sure we continued and we have!"

By now, the organization has three separate locations:
• 74 Main st - our main office, Barbara Erwin Gallery and 9 private studios
• 77 Main st - Teaching space in the back half of 6 Bridges Gallery along with the Alcove Gallery.
• 9 Nason st - 7 more private studios, a shared Workroom and a Membership Lounge
Plans are to continue to hold exhibitions at both the 74 and 77 Main Street locations. 

"We continue to offer art studios for rent as well as opportunities to engage and promote the arts." according to Director Mumford.  In addition, the organization is now running classes and workshops for anyone age 16 or over.  "Through the help of grants, donations and program income, we are on our way to becoming a sustainable arts center in Maynard," she explained.

At 74 Main Street, individual and shared studios occupy rooms that surround a central foyer which serves as the gallery.

Carolyn Wirth, ArtSpace's Administrative Arts Manager on staff, authored an article in Artscope Magazine about the revitalization of ArtSpace in Maynard, in the September/October issue. Although the bulk of the article is behind a paywall, the first few paragraphs can be seen at the magazine's web site here:
https://artscopemagazine.com/2024/09/determination-rewarded-artspace-returns-to-downtown-maynard/
(See the Background section, below for more.)

ArtSpace has it's own web site with more complete information about the organization:
https://artspacema.org
The show "Source" that opens this Saturday is also highlighted on the Discover Maynard web site:
https://discovermaynard.com/event/source-the-artspace-fall-exhibit/2024-10-03/

Maynard Fest runs this Saturday, 3 October 2024, from 9:00 AM until 3:30 PM in downtown Maynard, along Summer, Nason, and Main streets.  All three streets will be closed to traffic during extended hours, in order to allow organizations to set up their tables and booths, as well to take them down at the close of the festival.
The festival is sponsored by the Assabet Valley Chamber of Commerce.  More information about the festival is also posted on the Discover Maynard web site:
https://discovermaynard.com/event/14145/

Background

For many years, the word "ArtSpace" was synonymous with the building at 61-63 Summer Street, where it was housed.  The organization was permitted to use the building, the former Fowler School, by the town, essentially for no cost, as long as the organization took care of maintenance and utilities.
The building, built in 1911 clearly had some significant problems but the artists, along with the Acme Theater, managed to work within the building's limitations.
Then, some time in 2022, an attempt to do renovation work on the building exposed numerous fire code violations and the building was eventually declared uninhabitable.  In mid 2023, the artists and staff had  to vacate the building.

The group arranged to hold a number of "garage sales" at the location in order to dispose of a number of items that were no longer needed.
Meanwhile, they all had to find new studio space.  Some worked at home, while others moved to other locations, such as ArtScape in West Concord, in the Bradford Mill building. 

(See https://www.bradfordmill.com/artscape-studios for details.)

The organization had also opened a new gallery space, just down the road at the corner of Nason and Summer Streets.  To make matters worse, that building was also found to have a serious problem, so it had to be vacated as well, so that renovations there could commence.

With all these setbacks, the board had to work diligently to find new space.  There was nothing as big as the Summer Street building, so they had to start small and go from there.

Meanwhile, the Summer Street building sits empty until a the town can decide its future.  The town web site has a report from a working group, available here:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/538/61-63-Summer-Street-former-Fowler-Middle

By January of 2024, the Acme Theater became the final tenant that had to vacate the building.  They had a short time to transport what they could to storage, then give away whatever was left.
They have since regrouped and are now active in holding performances in other locations. See their web page for more information:
https://www.acmetheater.com/team-acme

(Disclaimer:  I am a dues paying artist member of ArtSpace, with a photograph of mine mounted in the current show in the gallery.

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