The Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston (A&BC) has acquired the former Boys Club of Worcester building at 2 Ionic Avenue and its adjacent parking lot as the first project of a new initiative to own and develop affordable and safe creative spaces for artists and arts organizations in under-resourced communities. This building will be home to Creative Hub Worcester, a nonprofit committed to creating a dynamic, multi-purpose arts space that serves emerging and established artists, at-risk youth, and the Worcester community. The complete restoration of the 30,000-square-foot building will include artist studios, an art gallery, a performing arts space, youth arts education programs, and two event spaces, including a 4,000-square-foot space on the rooftop.
“The A&BC is excited to launch our Creative Campus initiative with this incredible building in Worcester,” said A&BC Executive Director Jim Grace. “Safe and affordable spaces for artists and arts organizations are essential to the vibrancy and diversity of a community, and essential to achieving that goal are well-resourced, long-term solutions that include the preservation of properties like these and committed partners like Creative Hub Worcester.”
Laura Marotta, President of the Massachusetts Art Education Association, and Stacy Lord, an award-winning arts educator in Worcester and co-founder of the “stARTon the Street” non-profit arts festival, co-founded Creative Hub Worcester in July 2015 to nurture the city’s burgeoning creative economy with affordable spaces to host children’s after-school programs and community events.
“We have a strong team of champions that have embraced our vision of saving and repurposing the Boys Club from the very beginning,” explained Lord. “Our vision for Creative Hub Worcester is to serve as a cornerstone for partnerships and opportunities that will strengthen our community.”
Marotta is quick to recognize another major player behind the project. “Peter Heaney, who owned the building, was debating what to do with the space when we contacted him and immediately embraced the project. Through his construction firm, he made extensive improvements to prepare the building for renovation. Without that,” Marotta continues, “this project would not have gotten off the ground.”
Renovations will be completed by fall 2018. For more information on Arts and Business Council’s Creative Campus or Creative Hub Worcester, please contact Dayla Arabella Santurri 781.479.6951/Dayla@DaylaArabella.com
About Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston
The Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston is a 501(c)3 organization that strengthens the Commonwealth's creative sector, including individual artists, cultural organizations, and the creative workforce at large, through programs and services that build capacity and support business success.www.artsandbusinesscouncil.org
