Imagine More at Arts on Main
More creativity. More access. More Community.
Some places display art. Arts on Main does something different – it makes art yours. For the past 16 years, Arts on Main has been fulfilling its mission of engaging the community through inspiring arts experiences. Each year, its programs and attendance have expanded as people come from across the Middle Peninsula, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and beyond to see the shows, participate in classes, and attend events. It needs a bigger home to support this growth and increased demand for the arts in Gloucester.
Arts on Main’s Board of Directors invites you to help make this expansion possible.
Join the unprecedented growth of Gloucester’s community and regional arts center by contributing to the Imagine More Campaign and help us imagine more creativity, access, and community in Gloucester.
More Creativity
A vital, model community and regional arts center
Since Arts on Main first opened its doors on Gloucester’s historic Main Street, word has traveled. Today, an average of 9,000 visitors come through those doors each year – from across the Middle Peninsula, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and beyond. And this audience is expanding!
Additional arts programs reach public schools, summer camps, other event venues, long-term care communities, and more. Such a range of audiences and arts resources now requires expanded spaces to support current and future demand for creativity in all its forms.
More Access
A final phase of capital improvements and expansion
Arts on Main’s programs and participants have expanded every year – but the 100+ year-old building hasn’t kept pace. Only one class can run at a time. Second-floor spaces are inaccessible to those with mobility limitations. Aging infrastructure puts long-term sustainability at risk. This project will:
- Add 2,500+ square feet to the second floor, including a new multi-purpose space for more exhibits, classes, and events
- Create a dedicated arts studio with specialized infrastructure, such as pottery kilns
- Install an elevator and stairway to improve accessibility and ADA compliance
- Reconfigure and update the kitchen, offices, and storage spaces
- Provide updated furnishings, equipment, and technology
- Retire the mortgage to ensure Arts on Main’s strong operating fiscal future
- And more!
These improvements are anticipated to cost an estimated $_____ and should take about ___ months to complete.
More Community
An anchor on Gloucester’s Main Street since 2011
What does a community look like when it has a place to gather, experience, and be transformed by the arts? It looks like Gloucester, the Middle Peninsula, and our wider region. Studies repeatedly prove that communities with a commitment to the arts are economically stronger and more vibrant, more engaged, more caring, and unified.
Arts on Main’s impacts are real: increased local foot traffic and visitors, cultural and economic benefits, academic improvement in the schools, outreach to older adults, social connections, and civic pride.
More space means more events. More events means more people. More people means more conversations, more collaborations, more of the connective tissue that makes a community thrive.
