Big move on the horizon

for Sault Area Arts Council!

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SAULT STE. MARIE, MI — The Sault Area Arts Council, Inc. (SAAC) is excited to announce its upcoming move to a new home located at 536 Ashmun Street in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. Designed to meet growing community demand for creative programming and arts engagement, the new location marks a transformative milestone for this local arts organization that has served the area since 1969.

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The updated facility will dramatically expand SAAC’s dynamic footprint. Key features of the new space include an expanded exhibition gallery, a roomier artist shop highlighting local craftsmanship, a dedicated versatile event space, a catering kitchen, a publicly accessible art reference library, and three fully equipped working studios designed to host a wide range of interactive workshops—including a specialized space for ceramics and glass fusing. “The community asked and we're responding. People are looking for things to do during our long winters, hands-on opportunities for their children to flex their creativity, and fun mini-workshops to do with their besties and significant others. This space will encompass all of that and so much more, year-round.” says Raulaniesa Aranda, SAAC Executive Director. 

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To support this expansion and build out the state-of-the-art studio infrastructure, the Arts Council launched a Capital Campaign at the beginning of summer. The campaign is already demonstrating remarkable momentum thanks to strong community engagement and generous donor backing. Agatha Colbert, Chairperson for SAAC’s Board of Directors states, “We've dreamed of this space for several years and now we're seeing the support come in from community benefactors near and far. We began our Capital Campaign just a few months ago and have already received donations and pledges bringing us to over half of our goal. This shows the support this space has already gained.”

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Highlights of the New 536 Ashmun Street Location

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• 3 Working Studios: multi-purpose spaces dedicated to community workshops

  • Wet/Painting Studio sponsored by the Roberts P. & Ella B. Hudson Foundation: A space for all the messy fun! This studio will create a dedicated area for children and adults alike to experience art in a variety of mediums. 

  • Dry Studio - This space will be used for Fiber, Paper, Wood, Basketry and more. 

  • Ceramics Studio - This space will house both a ceramic and a fused glass kiln! In addition to being used for instructor led workshops, kilns will be able to be rented by ceramic artists for private firings, as well.

• Expanded Gallery Space: Increased capacity to showcase diverse visual art exhibits from local and regional artists. We’re looking forward to holding exhibits for larger artwork including metal sculpture, quilts and more.

• Roomier Artist Shop: A larger retail footprint for community members to browse and buy handmade local art. We will work to expand from representing 125 area artists to 200, bringing the public unique, handmade artwork from local artists that is fun, functional, whimsical and practical. This will be *the* spot to find the best artist and artisan made gifts and keepsakes.

• Catering Kitchen - sponsored by Sharyn Faunt: A space that will serve SAAC’s events as well as private events and can be used as additional learning space for workshops such as building your own charcuterie tray, how to host for the holidays and more.

• Dedicated Event Space sponsored by Robert Arfstrom: A gathering hub for small receptions, community events, and artistic gatherings.

• Art Reference Library: A quiet space that will house numerous teaching books on a large variety of mediums, historical art reference books on a multitude of artists, and more all available for public use. 

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Follow @SaultArtCenter on Facebook or Instagram, or subscribe to the digital newsletter for further details regarding the grand opening schedule, campaign progress milestones, opportunities to support and upcoming studio programming schedules.