A home filled with art
The Thatcher-Young Mansion in downtown Logan has had many roles in the community since it was built in 1878 for George W. Thatcher and his wife Luna Young Thatcher, daughter of Brigham Young. In the 1930s and ’40s the house was split into six apartments with low ceilings. In 1989, The Capitol Arts Alliance purchased the home for $120,000. In 2001, the home was opened for the purpose of housing the Alliance for the Varied Arts (AVA). Now it will serve as an art incubator.
Amanda Castillo, program director for Cache Valley Center for the Arts (CVCA), said, “Before the renovation, the home was a dreadful space. But the gallery walks that housed art really helped define this space.”
But the last year, the AVA, who put on the gallery walks for local artisans, realized they couldn’t continue after looking at their finances, Castillo said. CVCA absorbed AVA’s programs after they closed June 30, the end of both organizations’ fiscal year.
To determine how to use the space to best serve the community, the CVCA held three public meetings plus a gallery walk where they collected feedback as well as administered an online survey, said Tricia Hancock, education and outreach coordinator for the center. Hancock said most people at the meetings did not want to see this space used for something other than the arts.
The public response was all over the board, said Wally Bloss, executive director for the center. He said some people wanted it to be a children’s museum and some wanted it to be a coffee shop. In the end, however, the center had to look at what was most feasible in terms of funding and personnel.
That is where the art incubator comes in, Bloss said.
“The incubator will provide a warming atmosphere to help hatch these eggs, or artists, and this is probably very true for January,” he said. “This mansion will give artists a place they feel they can be.”
The idea of the mansion serving as an art incubator is then, both literal and figurative. Bloss said it is a good way to get some “new blood, or the emerging artists, the ones who need connections involved in and supported in the community.”
Castillo said there are many artists in this community, but “warming up” the public about art and buying art is a struggle and that is one of the goals with the new use of the mansion.
“Art is affordable in this community because we don’t have a huge buying community,” Castillo said. “Previously, the mansion had really limited hours for when it was open, and this new model gives greater opportunity for growth for these artists.”
Castillo said the center has a small staff and they could not hire another staff member for the project, so they had to look at what they could really do.
Enter Levi Sim, a photography teacher for Bridgerland and organizer of the Cache Valley Photographers, a club of 225 people. Sim attended and gave feedback at the meetings, and his unusual ideas were exactly what the center was looking for.
Castillo said, “Having Levi here will help the mansion do more than just survive as an arts incubator, but really help it take off because he is looking at it from a business standpoint and his energy will help people be connected to this space.”
Sim said the key is he will hold regular hours at the mansion so people can view the gallery and buy art.
“For me, this is about getting artists into business and making money and not being a starving artist and promoting art in the Valley,” Sim said. “All kinds of visual arts from beads to pottery can be utilized here because it is a place that is warm in January that people can come do their art as well as display it.”
He said artists will learn how to show work by seeing other artists show work, and they will learn how to talk about their art. He also said there will be an advisory board to help evaluate how things are going to make sure the community is “getting good mileage.”
Previously, Sim’s club and class were meeting at a spot behind Café Ibis called The Studio, which was a very small room. So small, meetings were standing room only.
“It was challenge having classes, club meetings and gallery walks in that space, but now all of this will continue at the mansion on a grander scale,” Sim said.
Part of the new model will include a venue for artists to display their work for sale at a reasonable price, Bloss said. He said some places in the Valley are charging 50 to 60 percent commission for an artist to display their work. Sim said he is thinking he will charge rent for a wall or a monthly rent to display art, and the artist gets to take whatever they make in sales.
Bloss said Sim will start managing the space Jan. 1. There will still be gallery walks for photography and pictures, but also receptions and space to create other types of art such as magic and music.
Castillo said, “We are still figuring out all of the details, and we haven’t done a contract yet. Not all the questions are answered yet, but this is new and exciting.”
The Thatcher-Young Mansion is located on 35 W. 100 South. Artists interested in working with the center and Sim can contact him at photo.sdesigns@gmail.com or visit the Cache Valley Photography website at meetup.com/CVPhotographers.
– storee.powell@aggiemail.usu.edu
