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Date: 1/17/2023
EASTHAMPTON – Resilient Community Arts (RCA), a nonprofit arts organization in Easthampton, is officially moving into a larger space on the second floor of Eastworks to better accommodate their year-round programming.
Since late 2021, RCA has provided an accessible community-driven arts space in an affordable manner for the Pioneer Valley through programming and classes for all ages and abilities and across multiple mediums of art such as printmaking, painting, drawing, fiber arts, and more.
The organization specifically offers programming and classes for those who typically do not have access to conventional – and oftentimes expensive – museums, galleries, art events and art programming.
“I have always wanted to do something that could bring together the role of a community center, but then also provide art access within that,” said RCA co-founder Maddie McDougall, in an interview with Reminder Publishing in 2021.
McDougall co-founded RCA with Grace Vo in summer of 2021, and after weeks of fundraising and outdoor public art events across the valley, the organization officially moved into a studio on the ground floor of Eastworks late that year.
The move to the second floor of the building – studio 238 to be exact – will provide a more centralized space for their work, according to McDougall, especially since the room is double the size of their original ground floor location.
“We were in the right position to move upstairs into a bigger space,” said McDougall, who added that a successful youth summer camp allowed RCA to consider a larger room. “The timing worked out perfect.”
The new location will allow RCA more flexibility in how they operate. According to McDougall, the front half of the space will host workshops for adults, and families, as well as their youth programs, while the back half will act as a communal art space for folks who want to refine their practice and/or sell their artwork.
“This is going to be a really cool opportunity to give the youth and family programs more space, as well as space for other artists to come in and use the space,” said McDougall.
Another benefit of the new space is a sink, which McDougall said is essential for artists who are working in different mediums. “There’s not a lot of studios in the building that have plumbing or a sink already, which is huge for artists, especially when you’re working with classes,” she said.
Outside of their programming, RCA will also continue to house their Womxn’s Support Group and Queer/Trans Art Group in the new location. The former provides a safe space for femme and gender-expansive individuals to come together and offer mutual support and resources involving the femme and female experience.
The Queer/Trans Art Group, which is run by Mi Belitsky, is an evening arts space for people in those communities to connect and create art together while discussing the intersections between art, sexuality and gender.
“We also launched a new guest instructor model so that folks can submit their own proposals for teaching their own class,” said McDougall. “We support the promotion and materials for that and we split the revenue 50/50 with the guest instructor. It’s really exciting having guest instructors come in here to show their skills and feel some ownership in this space.”
The larger and more centralized space will also make it easier for RCA to maintain its collaboration with another organization in the building, The Color Collaborative, which is right down the hall and run by Sharon Leshner. “It’s very exciting,” said McDougall, of the move.
The new environment also brings a larger vision for RCA. As an organization that prides itself on accessibility in the arts, McDougall said her dream is to make transportation more available for participants in the future.
“I really would like in our five-year plan for us to have a van so we can have a mobile studio but also to pick up folks and get them a ride to the arts studio,” said McDougall. “We’re looking to get more infrastructure and support around transportation and get more people to the studio now that we have the space.”
According to McDougall, RCA’s first slice of programming will begin in the room Jan. 18 with the Queer/Trans Art Group. Their Drop-In Studios, meanwhile, will return on Feb. 4.
In the meantime, RCA is asking anyone who would like to volunteer to help with the move to do so by sending an RSPV for their Jan. 21 moving day. A grand opening for the new spot is set for Feb. 18 at noon.
People can learn more about what RCA offers by visiting their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/resilientcommunityarts, and their website, https://www.resilientcommunityarts.org/.
Readers can also learn more through Reminder Publishing’s earlier coverage at http://archives.thereminder.com/localnews/easthampton/resilient-community-arts-opens-art-space-for-socia/.