PORT TOWNSEND — Driving in, you see the sign: Welcome to Port Townsend, a Victorian seaport and arts community.
Yet the town lacked a full-time, year-round art school, said local artist Jeannie McMacken — until now.
ArtX, aka the Center for Art Exploration, is a fresh addition to the Fort Worden State Park campus and, McMacken said, it’s the first to sign a new lease after the public development authority took over management 13 months ago.
In a May 2014 agreement with Washington State Parks, the Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center Public Development Authority took over the campus portions of the 434-acre park for educational purposes, while State Parks continues to manage the camping, beach and recreation areas.
McMacken, ArtX’s executive director, finalized the six-month lease of Building 306, a former mule barn, earlier this month. It will take effect July 1.
Later next month and into the fall, the school will offer classes in the visual arts: “Documenting Your Travels: Photos from the Road” with Port Townsend’s Max Grover; mixed-media sculpture and art journaling with Pamela Hastings from Port Angeles; a wearable-art workshop with Margie McDonald of Port Townsend.
And in the backyard, a botanical-dye garden will be planted for fiber artists to use.
Reflective writing and sketching, botanical printing and felted garments and “Painting with Intention” with Port Townsend’s Annalisa Barelli are also planned, while information can be found at www.artxschool.org.
At the same time, McMacken is tackling a steep slope of fundraising. This short-term lease is an “incubator,” she said, while $75,000 is raised for renovating Building 306. The structure is 111 years old.
Two classrooms, an upstairs conference room, a library and an office are part of the initial plan as the school begins operation, McMacken said. But the place will need more rehabilitation.
“We’re committed to updating the entire electrical system, fixing the rotting porches, adding structural supports, adding bathrooms and making other significant upgrades like insulation,” she said.
Donations are tax-deductible, and a $3,000 matching pledge has come in even as McMacken, ArtX’s sole staff member, seeks grant money too.
“I believe the greater arts community will step up and help fund us,” she said.
“A community will build its community, and the arts education is an important part of the North [Olympic] Peninsula.”
Once classes start, fees will range from $65 to $125 depending on their length and the visibility of the instructor, she added.
Her fondest hope for ArtX: “to have it decked out with everything an artist would ever want.
“We really want to give the artists and instructors the ability to make a living doing what they love.”
Dave Robison, executive director of the Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center Public Development Authority, said ArtX is in an area of the campus identified for revitalization — and part of a “tremendous opportunity.”
McMacken and crew “want to make it a real, hands-on art schoolhouse,” he said. It’s a good partnership with the PDA.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.