Purrington finds a home for displaying art
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Last January the Independent reported on the Marshall City Council voting to approve a lease agreement with Marshall Area Fine Arts Council for the use of vacant office space on the second floor of City Hall. The agreement also allowed for MAFAC to use the common area outside the office for displaying art work by area artists.
"The whole, what would be an exhibit area and an office, just seems to be begging for an arts presence," MAFAC Board President Carol Purrington told the council.
The Independent article reported that MAFAC could no longer afford its present location on Third Street in downtown Marshall that housed a gallery, gift shop and office.
The agreement called for a total yearly lease at City Hall at $4,332. MAFAC could also lease some storage space for an additional amount of $600 a year.
Purrington was quoted in the Independent article that the lease at the Third Street location had increased $300 per month.
Last week I attended a Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours at MAFAC's new location. It was my first visit to the new location. In fact, it was my first visit to the second floor of City Hall since its grand opening tour in 2021.
I immediately found Purrington talking with some visitors and she invited me into her office to talk about the new location.
"It's been great," Purrington said of the move that was officially completed in April.
"We had a very big space on Third Street, and so we had to downsize a lot," Purrington said. "And so we had to give up the gift shop. But we're still keeping the art gallery and we're still doing workshops. And we're having a big event November 28 in order to showcase some of our artists."
Purrington said MAFAC board members "love this new space."
"There are places for people to sit if they want to just sit and look at the art. There's plenty of wall space and we found that people who come up just say 'wow, this is really a nice place.' Yeah, it is," she said.
Purrington pointed out that there is a MAFAC tent sign set up outside the City Hall entrance. And despite some early grumbles about nobody would walk into city hall and take the elevator to the second floor, visitor traffic has been steady since the move.
"It's about the same as what we had on Third Street. We get a lot of foot traffic. Office hours are part time, but because City Hall is open all day long, people can come anytime," she said.
At the Third Street location, Purrington said visitors were unable to visit after the doors were locked.
"We had to have somebody there, and it's very difficult to get volunteers to do more than two hours at a time. And so we often found ourselves putting a sign up that said 'sorry, we're closed. No volunteers today.' Up here we don't have to worry about that," Purrington said.
However, she said it's nice when a volunteer is available at the new location to talk to visitors about the exhibit that is currently on display or sell tickets for an upcoming concert.
I asked Purrington how did the city hall idea come about?
"It was my idea. I think back on it, we were looking for new place, but there wasn't much open. And for us to rent anything on Main Street or downtown, it was too expensive. And so I got the idea that we needed to partner with somebody," she said. "I approached the museum. Well, they didn't have any extra space. So I thought, 'hmmm, I remember going to city hall and see this open space. So I came (back) and looked before I ever arranged a meeting and I thought, 'wow, this has some possibilities focus. And there, it all worked out."
Purrington also remembered that City Administrator Sharon Hanson was an art lover.
"She really liked the idea," she said.
Purrington said she met with Hanson and the mayor a couple times before a plan was written up and presented to the city council.
"The council had to approve it. And within a couple of months we had it all set. And you know, they've been so welcoming to us," she said.
Meanwhile, MAFAC operations continue to thrive at the new location.
"We have a part-time coordinator and a part-time bookkeeper. The bookkeeper works three hours a week and the coordinator works 10 to 12 hours a week. But it keeps things going. I would say I'm here probably four or five hours a week. I stop up and see what needs to be done and plan the meetings," Purrington said.
I asked her how the artists feel about the new location?
"We've gotten good reviews from the artists when they come to hang their art," she said.
One of those artists is John Sterner, who is well-known in southwest Minnesota, particularly in Marshall. His recent works of wood carvings were on display. His exhibit has been on display since Sept. 15 and was set to close this past Friday. He attended the After Hours event and mingled with visitors.
"I love this location,” Sterner told me while munching on carrots. "It's a gorgeous location. The walls are awesome. It's really a great space."
He took me on a small tour to some of his pieces on display.
"I had a grant in Alexandria where I'm making these giant human figure kind of things and these are pieces I cut off," he said, pointing to one of the art pieces. "So once I cut them off, then I was like I can't throw them away. I can't burn them. So I started to carve them. Played around with their shapes and forms and made big things. All abstract."
Before I left, Purrington left me with a little breaking news.
"We're going to have workshops that are affordable for people," she said. "We use to always have a concert in the winter, but that became problematic because you never know what the weather's going to do. It made sense to have a concert in the fall and a concert in the spring. And then do something more manageable during the winter months. We're going to have art workshops and we will continue to have exhibits up here," she said.
"And then in the summer, we've had summer concerts called the Little Night Music. But now going forward we're going to pair with Visit Marshall and their Eats and Beats concerts. So there'll be more Eats and Beats concerts because we will be working with them. And when two organizations work together, you've got more people. And so we've come up with an agreement about that. So then we're really busy in the summer,” she said.
Purrington says the agreement is very gratifying because MAFA was "ready to do something different."
And she also mentioned that MAFAC board is short on members and making the plea for anyone interested in the arts to please apply.
"You don't have to be an artist, because I certainly am not," she said. "I'm not an artist. I can't draw a stick man. But I appreciate it."
And as it turns out, Purrington led MAFAC out of a budget dilemma and keeping art on display in Marshall for years to come.