Kennedy Heights Arts Center to undergo expansion, provide more to local arts scene

It’s been a decade now since residents came together in an effort to save what was a crumbling, historic structure, slated for demolition, and which now houses the Kennedy Heights Arts Center.
 
Now, 10 years later, an even bigger transformation will occur, as the Arts Center breaks ground November 14 on construction for its second location and regional campus—the Kennedy Heights Arts Center Carl, Robert, Richard and Dorothy Lindner Annex. 
 
When completed next year, the building will allow the Arts Center to expand its offerings to the community in a variety of ways.
 
“In the Annex, we’ll have a multipurpose events center which will be home to different kinds of performing arts programs in theater, music and dance, and we’ll have a venue for classes and workshops,” says Ellen Muse-Lindeman, KHAC executive director.
 
“We’ll also be creating the Scripps Howard Media Center, which will allow us to expand our already popular arts education programs to offer classes in digital-based art—so, photography, video, animation, web design, graphic design and the like.”
 
There will also be space for 10 individual studios, which Muse-Lindeman says artists may choose to rent, providing them a space to work, which strengthens the arts community in the region.
 
The Kennedy Heights Cultural Campus will also house the Kennedy Heights Montessori Center, and it contains enough space for a third institution, as well.
 
“We see this as the crossroads—the core of our community—as it’s revitalized in this way,” Muse-Lindeman says. “It continues to bring a more positive image to the neighborhood, it attracts more people with it being a regional destination, and it encourages more development—more on neighboring properties—and we see this as being a catalyzing project that has lots of benefits in terms of all the services we’ll be bringing to residents.” 

Do Good: 

•    Celebrate the Arts Center's expansion by attending the November 14 groundbreaking.

•    Check out the Arts Center's various programs, and consider participating in one.

•    Learn about the various ways you can support the Arts Center.