Arts Ensemble Project: Donors, Volunteers Building Eloise Visual Arts Center
Contractors, suppliers donating materials, labor; county supplied land.
MARY HURST LEDGER MEDIA GROUP
ELOISE | Perry Clouse has an idea of what he'd like to see along Snively Avenue: art galleries and ice cream shops.
Clouse is the director of all unincorporated Polk County Community Redevelopment Agencies. He was one of about 40 people attending Thursday's groundbreaking for the Eloise Visual Arts Center and Life Skills Center.
"Starting here, now, change is coming to Eloise," Clouse told the gathering.
Jane Waters-Thomas, Arts Ensemble Foundation executive director, said she'd first suggested the concept to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, telling him she was going to name the project "Trendy Art and Graffiti."
"Grady Judd said I couldn't name it that," she said with a laugh.
When finished, the visual arts center will provide an opportunity for youths to study with volunteer artists who will teach clay and pottery, various art mediums, written arts, recording and music. In Ahma's Community Garden, residents can learn how to grow fresh organic vegetables.
"This shows the importance of great partnerships and how that can make a better arts community," Waters-Thomas said.
The entire project will be built by contractors and suppliers who are donating their materials and labor.
Polk County commissioners conveyed the land at 701 Snively Ave. to the Arts Ensemble, restricting its use to the new arts center and community garden.
Envisors Engineering is donating engineering services. Tucker Construction will build and pave the project. Labor Solutions has donated the salary of Julie Revell, who will have an office in the new center. She runs Door 2 Change, the separate nonprofit spun off the Arts Ensemble to paint and repair blighted homes in the area.
Other sponsors include Ronald A. Brown and Associates, Bethel Farms, Lane Construction, Concrete Construction Services and APAC Customer Services.
Citra Source, a citrus oil producer, is the Arts Ensemble's sole benefactor.
The project begins immediately and should be finished by mid-July. Waters-Thomas said she didn't have an estimate on the project's total cost because everything is being donated.
[ Mary Hurst can be reached at 863-401-6960. ]
Perry Clouse was incorrectly identified in an article that published Friday. The online version has been amended to reflect the correction.