Bittersweet 16: A Renaissance Diminished
Announcement from ArtsinStark - Immediate
Release: The Closure of Avenue Arts Marketplace
It is with heavy heart that ArtsinStark
announces the closure of the gallery of Avenue Arts Marketplace. For 16 years
Second April Galerie and then Avenue Arts were the heart of the Canton Arts
District. Through the tireless efforts of countless artists who have shown
their work and been in residence, the space at 324 Cleveland was a living arts
center. The ArtsinStark staff has worked very hard to keep the flame burning,
but with reduced sales and the latest wave of closures due to Covid19, the
space is no longer financially viable.
With the closure of the gallery space, the
theatre will live on housed at the Education Center at the Cultural Center for
the Arts opening tentatively with “Spring Awakening” in September. While we
will miss our visual artists in residence at the 324 Cleveland space, we look
forward to the new opportunity to grow the theatre program and the continued
excellence of Avenue Arts Theatre.
The community will get one last chance to
visit and shop with us on Friday, June 5 from 4-9pm during Canton First Friday.
You can also shop online now through June 5 on the website at www.avenuearts.org
Between 2006 and 2008, I
reported on the arts in Stark County for a short-lived weekly newspaper called The Observer-Reporter, published out of
Jackson Township. On April 12, 2007, the paper published my article titled A renaissance in downtown Canton. It was an enthusiastic look at the early
stages of what came to be called The Canton Arts District.
The article
ended with the words of Robb Hankins, president and CEO of ArtsinStark: “The people and companies who want to move
here or stay here want to know that when they go to our downtown, there’s some
vibrancy and a place to hang out. So there’s this whole arts and entertainment
image and feeling, and things feed off one another if you’ve got enough
critical mass. In my mind, that’s economic development. I have a feeling that
this summer in downtown Canton, it won’t all be in place yet, but it will be
the beginning of enough critical mass.”
As summer 2020 approaches,
I’m thinking that what comes around…goes away. Critical mass diminished. Heavy
heart indeed, thanks for the memories.
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