New Van Buren arts center to show exhibition

The front of the bricked facade is peppered with windows that stretch almost the entire height of the building. Peering into those windows, people passing catch glimpses of a sleek interior. Inside is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the community's artwork.

Arts on Main, formerly known as the Center for Art and Education, is set to open its gallery to the public in a celebratory event from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The gallery features four inaugural exhibits: pastel paintings by Charles Peer, photographs by Michael Leonard, an art installation by Jeannie Hulen as well as art from two private collections.

“Our goal here is to teach. We are an art-teaching facility, and the exhibitions that we do all have a teaching element to it," Executive Director Jane Owen said.

Hulen's art installation is a ceramic piece that features plastic that would otherwise reside in a landfill.

“It’s basically a statement on how we as citizens on how we treat our environment," Owen said.

The work loaned to the gallery from private collections includes pieces that range from realistic expressionist to abstract to photography. The exhibit also represents different mediums of art.

The quality of the art is up to par with what people would see at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art or The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Owen said.

It "is going to be a one-of-a-kind exhibit," Owen said.

Peer's work is titled "Familiar Places," and many of the paintings showcase locations around Van Buren. Peer grew up in the city and remembers when the Center for Art and Education initially began in 1976.

“It feels a bit like full circle," Peer said about his work with Arts on Main.

Leonard's work documented the Arts on Main building prior to its renovation. The building is comprised of two adjacent structures. One was built in the early 1900s as a post office. The other is a two-story building built in the late 1800s. The upstairs served as a hotel, while the downstairs was dedicated to Van Buren merchants, said Rusty Myers, the vice-chairman of the Arts on Main board of directors.

Now the buildings have been repurposed as an art haven for the city of Van Buren.

"They're essentially brand new buildings that are built around and utilizing the old structures," Myers said.

Along with the renovated structures, workers built an additional building behind the center. It has a multipurpose room that can be used for large events and also a space dedicated to ceramics work. The area houses 12 pottery wheels and two kilns, Owen said.

After Sunday's exhibition opening, the gallery will be open six days a week, closing only on Tuesdays. People can visit from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day but Sunday when the gallery is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Arts on Main will be fully open to the public March 12. After that people will be able to take any of the art classes, which are designed for people of all ages and skill levels.

“My goal is that this place will become a place that our community and surrounding communities can enjoy," Owen said.

Altogether the center is about 20,000 square feet, Myers said. This is an upgrade from the old church where the center was previously located. It was about 3,600 square feet.

“We outgrew the space basically that we were in," Owen said.

The journey toward the new facility began when a donor volunteered to buy the buildings for the center.

Fundraising for the approximately $8 million facility began in 2018 and construction began in 2019.

Money from Arts on Main came from the community and also the Windgate Foundation. Donations from community members ranged in size from $10 to $500,000. At every level, people were on board to see the project come to fruition, Owen said.

“The facility is way beyond my wildest imagination," Owen said.

The center includes the gallery, classrooms, culinary space, a ceramics studio and a library.

Alex Gladden is a University of Arkansas graduate. She previously reported for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Jonesboro Sun before joining the Times Record. She can be contacted at agladden@swtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: New Van Buren arts center to show exhibition