A Beginning

Our building circa 1945
Rock Hill National Bank, 1970s

Friday Arts Project started 4 years ago now, at the start Winthrop University's school year in 2006. It began as a group of creative students gathering to work together and journey through questions that might have consequential answers. Who am I? What do I believe? What am I going to do about it?

We have brought to each other our work, our critique, our experiences and our encouragement. We have traveled together, we've collaborated and we have dreamed.

Over a year ago, we started working toward fleshing out our group mission statement more fully. Especially the piece that says "We provide a forum for dialogue enabling artists to inspire, engage, and create toward the renewal of hearts and culture." Ideas for a studio and gathering space began to formulate.

After so many dead-end meetings and looking at so many spaces that were just out of our reach, we finally found the perfect place and people willing to make it happen.

This week eight artists move into what we're calling Space 157, an eighty-year-old former bank building on East Main Street in Old Town Rock Hill, SC. We have 3,000 sun-filled square feet above a restaurant, right at the canopy line of the sidewalk trees. We're located in the middle of a growing arts scene, with the Community Performance Center, Gallery Up, the Gettys Art Center and the Center for the Arts all a short walk from us. We also have views of Winthrop University, the historic Textile Corridor, the City Hall Rotunda dome, and the rest of downtown.

There is plenty for us to do before we're completely settled in. We have furniture to find, floors to clean and a darkroom to build. And we are so excited to get started.