Tuesday, February 23, 2021
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Serving Elkhart County and parts of Noble, LaGrange & Marshall Counties Know Your Neighbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2➤ Good Neighbor. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Speak Outs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Vol. 48 No. 46
Goshen (574) 534-2591
134 S. Main, Goshen, Indiana 46526
Nappanee Arts Center helps put local artists on display
),1',1* ,163,5$7,21 “ Rachel Roberts, a high school intern at the Nappanee Arts Center, shows off a Starbucks color pencil drawing she created at the NAC. Photo provided.
(9(5<7+,1* <28 1((' “ Artists and visitors are able to purchase any necessary supplies for drawing, painting, pottery and welding artwork they would like to create. The space to work on art projects at the NAC is free. There is also a retail space available for local artists to sell their original art. Photo provided.
%\ 1,&+2/(77( &$5/621 6WDII :ULWHU When the Nappanee Arts Council was formed three years ago, Jeff Stillson, president of the council, realized the town could greatly benefit from a place for local artists to work and for the public to be able to watch them work. After the council worked with the mayor and community on what to do with the apple sculptures around town and chose to create the Art Path, the question remained regarding what to replace the apples with. The council decided to choose a new theme each year and replace the art around town annually, moving the art to the Art Path after its year around town. Now there are four attractions and more than 100 sculptures along the Art Path. However, with so many artists working on sculptures for the town, there was still no space for them to work. When the previous Family Christian Development Center building became available a little more than a year ago, the idea for the Nappanee Arts Center became a reality. Located between Edward Jones and Panthers Pizza at 253 W. Market St., the NAC officially opened
&5($7( 72*(7+(5 “ Nappanee Arts Center is open to artists and members of the public to create, flnd inspiration and see what local artists are working on. A father and daughter visited the NAC to work on a project together. Sloan, left, and her father, Brian VanVoorst created grafflti magnets out of stickers. Photo provided.
in December. Stillson described the space as a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility that was done right. “It’s warm, friendly, inspirational,” he stated. “It’s just a fun, fun atmosphere.” The NAC is open seven days a week and free to use for artists in the community who bring their own supplies. Artists and members of the public who do not have their own supplies are able to purchase what they need from the retail space and then utilize the free workspaces to create. There are eight work stations available for painting and drawing as well as spaces for welding and pottery with their own kiln. There is also a separate space for classes or birthday parties. A retail space is set up at the NAC, not just for supplies but to sell original artwork as well. Artists can contact Stillson if they are interested in utilizing the space to sell their art pieces. Classes, workshops, parties and private lessons are all available at the NAC. There are three monitors available in the workstation space to watch instructional videos or listen to mood music. Every Thursday Stillson also sets up a still life, which is out all day to help provide inspiration to those who want to create, but don’t know where to start. This space allows artists to utilize their own
workspace, but also have other artists just a few feet away to collaborate with. It also allows them to show their art to members of the public as it’s being created. Stillson explained, “It gives them a beautiful facility to create, interact with other artists and interact with the public about their work.” As another attraction available in downtown Nappanee, Stillson shared a story about a grandmother and her granddaughter looking for something to do who happened to see the open house sign and decided to venture inside. Enjoying art, the grandmother chose to purchase watercolors and she and her granddaughter spent two hours painting together. This story is precisely what Stillson hopes the NAC adds to the community. The NAC is home to and run by the Nappanee Arts Council, a group of seven local artists and business people. A traffic light is in the window. When the light is green, the NAC is open. Current hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. While parking is currently limited, more spaces will be available later this year when additional parking lots are built. For questions or more information about the NAC, you can email Stillson at info@nacnappanee.org or visit the Nappanee Arts Council Facebook page.