Winter festivities have begun early this year in downtown Albion, welcoming community members to come together to celebrate local art.
On Nov. 20, the Albion Arts Commission and the Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce held the grand opening of the new Albion Arts Center. The center is hosting a Holiday Arts Market from Nov. 20 through Dec. 13, operating Thursdays and Fridays from 2-6 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event featured more than 25 local artists, according to the flyer used to advertise the event, who sold their work across different mediums, from rug making to 3D printing.
Local artists from Albion’s community can register for display space at the Art Center, where they can show and sell their work.
The Work Behind a ‘Vibrant Place’
The new Arts Center is a project of the Albion Arts Commission, which has been “functioning for two years” and “hosts various art events throughout the city” according to Mary Slater, president of the Albion Arts Commission.
Slater said she is “very excited” about the opening of the center.
Slater added she and her husband previously ran the Albion Heritage Bed and Breakfast – now the Seely Berkey House – for 15 years, where they held an art event called Cozy Up With Art, where artists could come and display their works. The event, Slater said, “was a way to introduce art to and for the community.”
“That was a fun event, and it morphed into being on the arts commission,” Slater said. “And then this endeavor, which is going to be quite an exciting and ambitious project for us.”
The center, located at 107 Cass St., occupies a building “over 100 years old,” Slater said.
While the Art Center currently functions as the Holiday Arts Market, it will remain open year-round for future events, according to Slater.
Albion College ceramics assistant Casey Merrild helped refurbish the building and give it an “industrial look,” Slater said.
“To see it all come together finally has been rewarding,” Merrild said. “The building has come along nicely, and I’m satisfied with the work I’ve done here.”
The center itself will host different “workshops” and other “themed events” Slater said. There are plans to add a pottery studio to the center, where Merrild will then lead pottery classes.
“It’s going to be a vibrant place,” Slater said.
Supporting Artists, Community
For Albion residents, the opening of the Arts Center adds a new community space.
Denise Thomas Porter, alumna ‘94, an Albion resident in attendance of the grand opening, said the opening is “very exciting” and that “it’s something Albion’s never had.”
“I could see it as a destination that people come to,” Thomas Porter said. “It’s another meeting place for residents and another way to connect with the local artisans we know are here.”
President and CEO of the Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau Billy Beers said he works with the Albion Arts Commission to “support and advocate” for community members.
“Art is important in every community,” Beers said. “So any way we can bring the creative side and artistic skills are really important.”
The Albion Arts Commission “worked with” the Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce “for the last couple of years” to open the Arts Center, Beers said. Beers added that he works with artists to help them “sell their products” and “become business owners.”
Slater said the “threefold mission” of this new space is to “have space for artists to show and sell their works,” to show off the talent in the community and to “bring vibrance to downtown Albion.”
“The community really comes around and supports the art,” Beers said. “It’s a win-win for our entire community.”
Transforming Albion With Art
The center welcomes both artists and community members to use the new space, something Beers said will allow Albion to “continue to grow in the future.”
Over the last few months, other recent changes have been taking place throughout downtown Albion, including the recent addition of Christmas lights due to a fundraising campaign put together by Albion’s various stakeholders to “increase holiday lighting,” Beers said.
“We have so many different unique qualities within our community,” Beers said. “I’ve just seen more and more of where opportunities are developing, and they’re happening.”
Merrild added that through the addition of the art center, art has the power to “transform” Albion.
“There’s always groups and things to do,” Thomas Porter said. “Sometimes you have to seek the potential out. We have more going on than it looks.”
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