LoCo Art selects its ‘Spot For Youth’ at downtown site
ABOVE: The LoCo Art Board of Directors met this week for the first time in the organization’s new Spot For Youth, located at The Marketplace, 130 S. Main St., Suite B105. Pictured in the workshop area of the space are, from the left, members Dave Grimes, Director Chris Westhoff, Jane Core-Thomas, Matt Overholt, President Bruce Smith and Jennifer Davis. Krista Adelsberger also is a board member. (PHOTO | LOCO ART) HOME PAGE SLIDE SHOW PHOTO: LoCo Art Director Chris Westhoff stands this week at the entrance to the organization’s new Spot For Youth, located at the lower level of The Marketplace, 130 S. Main St., Suite B105. Behind him is a reception area, and the location also includes a workshop and an office space. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MANDY LOEHR) |
Though the walls of an office space at 130 S. Main St., Suite B105, are mostly bare and the adjacent workshop area is empty and open, soon this “blank canvas” will be brimming with the sights and sounds of young artists at work.
In the upcoming months, colorful paintings will adorn the walls, theatrical readings will be overheard and video projects will be brought to life at this site of LoCo Art’s new Spot For Youth in the lower level of The Marketplace in downtown Bellefontaine.
The non-profit 501c3 organization serving area children and teens, formerly known as the Bellefontaine Cultural Arts Commission, had been searching for a permanent home for several years. Throughout its 26 year history, its programming has been offered at locations around the county by various host sites, from local schools to the Holland Theatre and area parks.
Recently, Director Chris Westhoff and the board of directors toured the 1,500 square foot retail space at The Marketplace and liked what they saw. LoCo Art has signed a commercial lease and took occupancy of the rented spot at the beginning of March.
“We took the plunge and we’re going for it,” Chris Westhoff said Tuesday while sitting at a table in the Spot For Youth. “We’re glad to have pulled the trigger. It’s both an exciting and a daunting proposition to be here.”
“We’re actually going to have a place to call our own; this has been our goal for so long and now this is real,” said Board President Bruce Smith, who also is a Benjamin Logan Elementary School teacher.
“We’re excited for the potential to do so many different things in this space. We’ll be able to have classes here after school and during the summer months for the students. It was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.”
Read complete story in Friday’s Examiner.
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