May 06 2012
Concord art project to revive Gibson Village
Local leaders, residents and artists say the newly opened ClearWater Artist Studios at Gibson Village will serve as a catalyst for revitalization.Gibson Village, less than a half-mile from Concord’s Historic District, is one of the first neighborhoods to feel the effects of Concord’s Center City plan. The 10-year plan was approved by the City Council in 2003 to spur community development beyond downtown. Ongoing redevelopment and sustainability projects eventually will affect 14 surrounding neighborhoods, which will be connected by a greenway.The city recently renovated its 38,000-square-foot former electric operations building near Kerr Street and Crowell Drive Northwest to include 10 art studios and a 2,200-square-foot gallery, which will serve as an anchor for an eventual artists’ village.The master site plan calls for a café, a community market and green space to host community events. More studios will be added in future phases. ClearWater Studios got its name April 8, 2010, but renovation plans started in 2008. The city has used the building for almost a century. In the 1920s it was the City Water Works. by the late 1990s, the complex had been vacated and was used only for storage. Artists began using space in the complex in September 2011. “ClearWater Artist Studios will establish a communty of creative, social energy that will help transform the surrounding neighborhood,” said city spokesman Peter Franzese. Inaugural showA dozen area artists will debut their work during the studio’s inaugural Gallery Open 6-9 p.m. May 4. The free event will include tours, a gallery show, live performances, wine and refreshments.Concord artist Sarah Mann lives in Gibson Village and serves as a community liaison for the studio. she creates wearable art, painted furniture and purses using mixed media.“we hope to become a real cultural hub,” she said. “Hopefully, this will be a thriving community that also will contribute to the community at large.” “It’s an arts district, that’s how I see it,” said Mann. “we don’t want people to see it as highbrow because it’s a very down-to-earth, family-centric community. We’re within walking distance from downtown, we have open studios during art walks, we want people down here.”Sisters Brandi McKenna, 39, and Dustin Harlan, 35, are from Charlotte’s Cotswold area, but McKenna has lived in Concord for nine years. they share a 1,200-square-foot studio, which they said would have cost at least four times as much to rent in Charlotte. That’s why they couldn’t pass up the opportunity. “I think it’s the early stages of something really big,” said McKenna. “I really do.”The sisters use elements of the macabre and animal skulls to create antique-looking pieces that range from lamp bases to jewelry and Halloween-themed decor.“I really like that the buildings are old and it’s close to the historic district,” said Harlan. “It’s an amazing space.”Original artDebbie Manley, 64, has lived in Concord 26 years. she creates vibrant glass mosaics.“I can’t say enough about this place,” said Manley. “It’s multifaceted. The city took a building that’s going on a 100 years old and, instead of letting it disintegrate or tearing it down, look what they’ve done with it.”Affordable rent played a role for her, but so did the creative spirit within the neighborhood.“It’s definitely a bargain, but there are a variety of things going on here that represent many different mediums,” she said. “There’s an air of peace here, and I think it’s going to continue to bring this area back up to where it used to be. It’s a quant little neighborhood, and I think this town needs that.”Mary Jane Capron, 55, has lived in Concord about three years but has been doing mosaics and working with stained glass for a decade. she said her fellow tenants are highly talented, diverse artists.“we do original art here,” said Capron. “It’s original work that’s not mass-produced. Some of these people have been doing this for years. Some are my age and have been doing it since college.”Capron treats her studio as an office. The separate space, away from home, allows her to get more work done.“It’s hard to work from home when you have dishes to do, children to run around, the TV,” said Capron. “I come here and I work. I can produce things. It’s my space.”Capron said the mission of the studio is simple: “we just want people to enjoy art.”
