The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana is packing up and moving…down the sidewalk.
Arts Council Director Anne McKim tells WNIN the group is vacating its space in the Innovation Pointe building and moving to the former site of the Christian Science Reading Room at 212 Main Street…
"We have the opportunity to really expand our programing and our impact downtown by moving down the street."
The new location is a long, narrow building that McKim said will provide more wall space for art, and no columns likes the ones in the current building…
"The columns are great for holding up the building, not so great for staging a show."
I asked McKim if rent or operating costs at the current facility prompted the move…
"It's a factor in every non-profit's decision in everything that we chose to do. But I will say that our long-term lease is advantagious for the Arts Council moving."
McKim said the new location will open at the beginning of September, leaving the council without a display space for a while…
"We won't have an exhibit in the interim but we will, of course, still be working and our landlords here at Innovation Pointe have been very generous. And there's some office space that' s unused that we'll get to work out of."
The ribbon cutting for the new Arts Council location is expected in October, with a rooftop art space to be opened later.