It was a historic day at Center for the Arts Evergreen when officials broke ground on an addition that has been years in the making.
Friends, donors and gallery staff gathered on May 10 to grab shovels full of soil and to celebrate this milestone that will put a 5,000-square-foot addition onto the back of the building.
“This is an addition that is for the community and by the community,” said Lisa Nierenberg, CAE’s executive director. “We have raised the dollars from members of the community, and it is being built for the community.”
She noted that art was part of everyone’s lives, and CAE offers something for everyone, whether a CAE enthusiast or someone who attends an occasional event.
“And we want everyone to enjoy it,” she said of the gallery, events and classes CAE offers.
CAE has been in the former Bergen Park Church at 31880 Rocky Village Drive since 2017, and it houses a gallery, classroom space and staff offices. An addition has always been part of the plan.
The two-story addition, which is expected to be completed in December, will have a state-of-the-art ceramics studio, private artists’ studios, a common artists area, classroom space, community space for up to 200 people, staff offices and a studio for an artist-in-residence.
The price tag is $2.5 million, higher than originally anticipated, and CAE continues to raise funds to pay for the addition. To see more about the plans and to donate to the effort, visit buildourvision.org.
