ARTISTS' GROUP CELEBRATES 50 YEARS.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

For half a century, as artists starved in their proverbial garrets and school districts nearly everywhere pared arts and crafts from cash-strapped budgets, the members of the Emerald Empire Arts Association struggled on quietly, keeping faith with their oils and gouaches and watercolors while they searched for a permanent home to keep art in Springfield alive.

Their devotion - and persistence - finally paid off. This month, the group celebrates its 50th anniversary in one of downtown Springfield's finest historic buildings, transformed with the help of $1.3 million in grants and donations into a light-filled showpiece bustling with classes, exhibits and artwork for sale.

On Sunday, the Emerald Art Center will host a free event to thank the community for its support and encourage families to come and discover the joys of artistic creation. The two-hour get-together features make-your-own masterpieces with materials provided by the association, an exhibit of work selected for the second annual National Juried Art Show and refreshments to celebrate the association's semicentennial.

Dottie Chase, a longtime member of the artists' group, still finds the glories of the Emerald Art Center, which opened three years ago, a bit hard to believe.

"I think the amazing part of it is that we never lost our belief that we could do it, despite hitting a lot of financial bumps along the way," Chase said, "But we still stand around sometimes and say, 'Look what we did!' in excitement."

First known as the Willamalane Art League when it formed in May 1957, the association's early meetings took place in the basement of the Willamalane Park & Recreation District's old Memorial Building at the corner of Eighth and A streets.

According to a capsule history compiled by longtime supporter Frank Light, within a few years "membership burgeoned, and in 1965 we became a separate, nonprofit organization."

Two years later, with 90 members, the group changed its name to the Emerald Empire Arts and Crafts Association. Its basement meeting place no longer large enough, the park district offered the group a building lot in Island Park at a rate of $1 per year for 99 years.

"We spent $4,000 on an architect, only to find that the bank wouldn't loan us money to build because we didn't own the lot," Light wrote.

In 1974, the association bought a storefront at 421 A St., holding innumerable fundraisers - and salting away the $2 in annual membership dues - to remodel the property and still pay off the mortgage in seven years.

But with membership continuing to grow - it now tops 200 - they still needed more space.

The idea grew that the old Gerlach Building at 500 Main St., with its big windows, large spaces and mezzanine, would make a great gallery. Owners Claude and Dorothy Gerlach agreed, and the association purchased the building for $195,000 in 1997, according to county records.

Because of stringent modern building codes, initial estimates of $200,000 to $600,000 for renovation of the nearly 100-year-old building proved far from enough.

Grants from the federal anti-urban blight block grant program and a state grant to support downtown revitalization helped meet the $1.3 million renovation price tag, along with gifts from several foundations and another round of fundraisers.

What kept everyone going "is the feeling that art is so important in all of our lives, starting with the young child with a first box of crayons," Chase said. "Art is such an important part of all of our lives - it's part of the glue that knits a community together, part of the fabric that gives society its soul."

EMERALD ART CENTER

The center at 500 Main St. in downtown Springfield is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

Sunday: 50th anniversary "Family Afternoon for Making Art" event, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.; materials provided to make artworks; refreshments; free

Through June 2: National Juried Art Show; nearly 250 entries from 22 states; $8,000 in prize money awarded

June 25-29 and July 9-13: Summer Art Camps for ages 7-12; drawing, crafts, games, tiles, collages; half-day tuition, $80; full day, $165; lunch and activities, $25 extra; some low-income scholarships available

Guest artists' workshops: Watercolor, oil painting, aquamedia, aqueous media.

Adult classes: Painting, drawing, watercolor, mixed media, human form, plein-air

Children's classes (ages 2 to 12): Baby Picasso; Doodle Bugs; Splash; Birds, Beasts and Blossoms; Art Around the World; Quirky Contemporaries; Teach Me Techniques; Using Art to Make Art

Membership: $50 per year ($60 after Jan. 31)

Newsletter: $12 per year

Information: 726-8595 or online at www .emeraldartcenter.org