THE ARTBazaar

TheARTBazaar Story

A little over 5 years ago there were several unoccupied store fronts on the main street of our historic downtown. area. Empty windows are a sad thing and a waste of potential display area to promote community events and exhibit local art. With that in mind, Mary Ann Hall approached a business owner with the idea of allowing several artists to set up booths temporarily

in the empty store for two days during the highly promoted opening week end of the Christmas shopping season.

Art friends of a variety of mediums were contacted to determine interest in taking part in this new idea. They were thrilled with an opportunity at little expense other than sharing advertising costs. Thus The ARTBazaar was born and was a great success with 100's of people going through the space, discovering the work of local artists and purchasing Christmas gifts.

The following year a different building was made available for two shopping days. The ARTBazaar was well received again, and artists were looking forward to the next year, wherever it might end up being held. After Christmas another empty store front piqued Mary Ann's curiosity and asked the owner if he'd allow local artists work to be to displayed for several months or until the building was rented. Since the owner had no plans to use the space and efforts to remodel had been halted, he offered the space for free.

What a sweet deal! We hauled out trash, recycled old furniture, patched and painted walls and a 14 foot ceiling, repaired and painted the floor, rehung lights and revamped HVAC ducts. Artists were contacted and display pieces were created. To brighten the front entrance, Mary Ann painted the original front door of the historic building on High Street. The ARTBazaar opened in the fall of 2008 and has continued to grow.

The generosity of the owner gave the co-op time to experience and nurture this venture with limited financial liability. When the building was sold the

co-op moved just two doors down the street to a bigger and nicer space

with better lighting and more potential to grow. The co-op now pays rent

and utilities like a "real" downtown retail store and is open regular hours.

Co-op artists volunteer to staff the gallery.

We all enjoy meeting neighbors, sharing our creative expressions and welcoming visitors to our lovely downtown.

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