Art center a big draw.Byline: Bob Keefer The Register-Guard SPRINGFIELD - Art lovers in Eugene routinely complain of not finding enough money to support the arts. In Springfield over the past five years, a group of artists at the Emerald Empire Art Association raised $1.35 million, bought an old downtown building, then rolled up their sleeves and helped refurbish re·fur·bish tr.v. re·fur·bished, re·fur·bish·ing, re·fur·bish·es To make clean, bright, or fresh again; renovate. re·fur it themselves into a new community art center. The three-story Emerald Art Center, which occupies the old Gerlach's building at 500 Main St., was completed in time to host hundreds of people who turned out for the opening of the Springfield Mayor's Art Show last week. "The center's pretty incredible, isn't it?" said Mayor Sid (1) (Society for Information Display, Santa Ana, CA, www.sid.org) A membership organization founded in 1962 devoted to the information display industry. With chapters around the world, SID hosts conferences in the U.S. and abroad and publishes a monthly magazine. Leiken. "It's now the anchor of the new downtown cultural district. So much of this is just passion. It's folks willing to give their time and volunteer. Now we have this beautiful new art center. There is a true passion in our community for local artists." The 12,000-square-foot art center is housed in a building constructed in 1909 that later became Gerlach's drug store. The main floor contains a large exhibition area for changing shows, plus a classroom, gift shop, office, restrooms and kitchen. A mezzanine mez·za·nine n. 1. A partial story between two main stories of a building. 2. The lowest balcony in a theater or the first few rows of that balcony. has a meeting room, and the top floor has elegant old-fashioned office space - think 10-foot ceilings - that the association is leasing out to help cover operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales . "We had talked for years about having an art center, not looking at the bottom line but at the vision," said Emerald Art Center President Dottie Chase, a Eugene artist. "We kept our eye on the vision and on what we wanted to do: to be a place where all people can come. It's open to everyone." Architect Art Paz designed the new center, which required complete replumbing and rewiring of the old building, as well as adding handicap-accessible restrooms and the addition of new load-bearing walls A load-bearing wall is one in which a wall of a structure bears the weight and force resting upon it, as opposed to a curtain wall, which uses the strength of a sub-wall and superstructure to carry the weight. . The mezzanine was raised to give the downstairs gallery an open feel. Construction began five years ago under the direction of project manager Ken Fletcher This article is about the tennis player. For information on the former Australian rules footballer (father of Dustin Fletcher), see Ken Fletcher (footballer) Kenneth Norman Fletcher ; after health reasons forced his withdrawal, Mark Miller stepped in to complete the renovation. Much of the finish work, such as painting, was done by the association's 146 members during weekend and evening work parties. "Our membership painted that whole interior," Chase said. "We put three coats of paint on. We scraped and scrubbed scrub 1 v. scrubbed, scrub·bing, scrubs v.tr. 1. a. To rub hard in order to clean. b. To remove (dirt or stains) by hard rubbing. 2. and sanded and cleaned and vacuumed every single Saturday and even during the week. We had a real team effort." Funding all this required more than bake sale “Bake Sale” redirects here. For the episode from the TV show 8 Simple Rules, see List of 8 Simple Rules episodes. A bake sale is a fundraising activity where baked goods such as doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies, sometimes along with ethnic foods, are sold. money. With the help of volunteer grant writer Dianne Lay, who works by day as an accounting technician See PC technician and software technician. for the city of Springfield, the association rounded up money from numerous public and private sources, including $200,000 from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust The arrangement by which real or Personal Property given by one person is held by another to be used for the benefit of a class of persons or the general public. and $100,000 from the Meyer Memorial Trust. The group also has received more than $225,000 in government grants and about $150,000 in donations from individuals and businesses. The Emerald Empire Art Association started in 1957 as the Willamette Art League, Chase said. In 1974, the group bought a smaller building on A Street, which has since been sold, and later acquired the building next door, which the group still owns. The association has one paid employee - its part-time gallery director, Lauren May - and an operating budget Noun 1. operating budget - a budget for current expenses as distinct from financial transactions or permanent improvements budget items, operating cost, operating expense, overhead - the expense of maintaining property (e.g. of $100,000. EMERALD ART CENTER What: A community art center with an exhibition gallery. It offers art classes for children and adults and is open to the public. Where: 500 Main St., Springfield Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday Membership: $50 a year, plus one day a month of volunteer work Web: www.emeraldartcenter.org Phone: 726-8595 CAPTION(S): Boldfaceand this is light text and this is more light text Brian Davies Brian Davies can stand for:
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