Chesterton Art Center planning for expansion

Time to dust off your smocks and pick up a paintbrush — the beloved Chesterton Art Center (CAC) is getting ready to expand. The long-standing art center made a significant purchase last September when it acquired 116 S. Fourth St., located directly across the street from its existing facility. An expansion has been on the hearts and minds of the organization for years, and this opportunity could not have had better timing.

The renovation will turn the space at 116 into two new studio classrooms: A dedicated ceramic studio and an  expanded 2D studio for painting, drawing, and printmaking. These classrooms will allow the CAC to double its student offerings and offer even more community outreach, free public programs, and an expansion of its existing Arts Connect programs serving students ages 60 and older.

“We have grown to capacity in our existing location. Our classes are shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow. We knew that we could do more, so when the opportunity came to purchase the additional property, it was fantastic and very timely,” CAC Executive Director Hannah Hammond-Hagman said.

The new facility will be fully accessible. Part of the current facility is a 150-year-old building, so being able to offer a fully accessible space for students of all ages and abilities is a long-awaited upgrade. The CAC currently has a capital campaign to help with the new location, with a goal of raising $95,000.

“We’re already over the halfway mark on our capital campaign. The outpouring of support from every level and facet of the community has just been very heartening. We’ve got lots of first-time donors. A lot of folks have been longtime supporters, local businesses and organizations that have come forward to support. We’re feeling a lot of love in the community,” Kevin Nevers, who sits on the CAC Board of Directors.

Since Hammond-Hagman started four years ago, a lot has been done to increase the awareness and offerings of the Art Center, including youth and adults classes and regular exhibits. “Fundamentally, we want to create access to art and art-making for everybody, truly everybody. Over these past few years, we’ve done a lot of intentional mission work around creating multiple access points into our education programs,” Hammond-Hagman said. “We’ve been doing program expansion and event expansion for a number of years now. The facility expansion is the icing on the cake. We’ve really put ourselves in a position to operate at a much higher capacity.”

There’s programming for people at all levels. Beginners can drop in for a single night to make a pot or try a glass-fusing workshop, or commit to an eight-week class making stained glass. For those who want to grow their skills, the center also offers advanced and independent courses.

“You don’t already have to call yourself an artist to learn here with us,” Hammond-Hagman said. “Not everybody who comes through here is going to declare themselves an artist and sell their work. If you go on to be a scientist, or if you go on to be a teacher, the skills that you’ve learned by practicing and making art are going to make you a better scientist and a better teacher. Art impacts aging populations, not only around skill building and motor skills, but with socialization and bringing people together. The impacts of that are tremendous. When you invest in art, you understand what it brings to the human connection.”

The CAC is also deeply committed to serving people beyond its brick-and-mortar walls. It offers a wide variety of outreach programs, including a youth arts program in partnership with the local Boys & Girls Club and the Duneland Family and Portage Township YMCAs. It currently serves seven after-school sites with educational opportunities and the curriculum teaches kids about everything from art history and contemporary artists to architecture and earth sciences, and even puppetry.

“The Art Center works to fund that program. We’re serving more K-8 youth outside our walls than inside. These projects move a little beyond ‘make-and-take,’ and it’s been phenomenal. We’re in the fourth year of that program, and we just keep expanding. The beautiful part is that it’s offered at no cost to our partner organizations or the families that participate,” Hammond-Hagman said.

Part of its outreach also helps older kids and young adults. The CAC’s Teen Arts Group works with high school artists from across the Region. Participants have opportunities to meet professional artists, learn how to become a professional creative in Northwest Indiana, and work on technique and skill building. The CAC also recently implemented an emerging artists society for artists who have recently completed the studio program and are seeking community or to return to a studio practice.

“It’s a really great group of teens, but more importantly, it’s a group of kids who need to find their people. They do phenomenal work,” Hammond-Hagman said. “Being a creative or an artist can be a solitary practice, so it’s nice to create a space where they can be together, share, offer each other feedback, and talk about entrepreneurial development.”

Hammond-Hagman emphasized the need for collaboration and communication among organizations and businesses in Chesterton to get things done. She noted that the CAC, besides being good for the soul, is also an economic driver. People come from outside the community to spend time in Chesterton: They come for a class, go to lunch, meet friends, and go shopping. It becomes not only an art center, but a destination.

“This community cares about this art center and what it brings. We have multi-generational stories of parents who are now bringing their kids here, who came here when they were kids,” she said. “This project is more than a renovation; it’s a promise to our community. A promise that creativity will always have a home here. That every artist, from curious beginner to seasoned professional, will have a place to explore, create, and belong,” Hammond-Hagman said.

The new location is expected to open in April, with the capital campaign continuing until that time.For more information about the Chesterton Art Center or the 116 Capital Expansion, visit chestertonart.org/116.