Introducing Gateway Center for the Arts in DeBary

By Jeff Shepherd
BEACON COLUMNIST

posted Dec 23, 2008 - 10:10:28am

Most would agree that these are difficult times. Businesses are folding, the markets are down, and government at all levels is struggling to provide services and balance budgets. Despite such challenges, a brand-new community art center has sprouted near the crossroads of Saxon Boulevard and U.S. Highway 17-92 in DeBary.

After 10 years of planning and fundraising and many volunteer hours of hard work, Gateway Center for the Arts is a reality.

I recently interviewed the founder and leader of the DeBary Art League, Sandra Wilson. Wilson, the DeBary Art League, and other members of the community were the prime movers for the new arts center.

BEACON: Could you tell me about the completion of the Gateway Center for the Arts?

WILSON: Gateway Center for the Arts was completed in early December, and we are now occupying the building.

Members are still in the process of moving into the facility.

Some activity is taking place at the center. Today, there was a children’s holiday workshop, and more than 60 children were expected. The studio for children overflowed into the adjacent studio, and [the children were] easily accommodated. On Friday evening, Dec. 19, there [was] a Christmas concert by the Gateway Orchestra, followed by a children’s play on the 20th.

The grand opening of the center is Jan. 31, which begins with an open house; the public is invited. Congressman John Mica and state Rep. Alan Hays will be in attendance.

The celebration of the opening will continue into February with a historical rendering of Thomas Edison by Frank Atwood on Friday, Feb. 6, and a community play, All in the Timing, directed by Jenny Sejansky, on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 7 and 8.

BEACON: Who first conceived of the project?

WILSON: I began the project to build a center for the arts in 1998. It was written into the bylaws of DeBary Art League.

BEACON: When and how did it become a shared vision?

WILSON: From the inception of DeBary Art League, creating a center for the arts was part of the fabric of the organization. It was the main reason for organizing. I can still remember some of the faces of members literally glowing with the excitement of having a center for the arts in this area. It was the right idea and the right time to begin.

BEACON: From concept to concrete, what was the timeline for the whole project?

WILSON: When we began in 1998, we had no idea it would take 10 years. It always seemed right before us — at least for me it did, and I know others that felt that way as well. Regardless of how long it took for brick and mortar, a part of it always existed in the work we did to prepare for it — festivals, art workshops, after-school art programs and exhibits.

BEACON: How is the Gateway Center organized?

WILSON: It has a planning board at this time, which has directed the construction of the facility. They are developing the format of the overseeing committee. Most of the work has been done by volunteers.

BEACON: Who owns the center?

WILSON: It is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.

BEACON: Who (and how) is the center operated?

WILSON: There are two staff personnel. Terri Hoag is the educational director, and I’m the CEO. There is a board of program directors that represent the individual programs of the center, the artists, the photography group, children’s playhouse, community theater, orchestra, etc. They meet together and discuss their role in programs, events, etc.

Gateway Center, like other organizations, is developing how it will operate in today’s economy. I feel we have an advantage over established organizations that have developed staff positions over the years, in that we are used to receiving stipends rather than wages. Some groups have had to cut back on staff, programs, etc., to meet cutbacks in grants and donations. Our staff receives $25 per week to do the administrative work they do.

BEACON: Tell me about the facility.

WILSON: The building is over 18,000 square feet. It’s an attractive building located at the intersection of 17-92 and Saxon Boulevard in Gateway Park. It is a facility built for multicultural purposes. It has a fluid theater with a sound-and-light room, unique for “theater in the square,” children and community theater, dance, concerts, and exhibit purposes. It has three large art studios, one designed especially for children.

There is a kiln area in the annex, along with a large storage area, and outdoor restrooms to serve the public that visit Gateway Park. It has a 12-foot-wide, wraparound porch, ideal for village festivals where artists do not have to set up tents to show their work, but display under the porch with room for walkers to view the art.

Across the front of the building are the staff offices and a formal art gallery.

BEACON: Is the facility being fully utilized?

WILSON: I can say with confidence that the day will too soon come when it will be too small. The response of the community has been very exciting. People come every day to join the Gateway Center as members and as volunteers.

BEACON: What kind of programs and events can people expect at the center?

WILSON: Concerts, community and children’s plays, dance recitals, martial-arts demonstrations, village festivals, multidiscipline art classes for youth and adults, after-school and summer programs for youth, workshops with national artists, gallery shows, receptions, etc.

The following is the history that brought the Gateway Center to where it is today:

When moving to DeBary almost 11 years ago, I found there was very little going on in our part of Volusia County having to do with the arts. I’m a painter, and was hoping to find a group to join with.

With encouragement from the city planner, I posted little signs along 17-92 asking persons interested in forming an art league, to meet at the Town Hall. We had two meetings of about 35 people each night and soon incorporated with about 60 members from DeBary, Deltona, Orange City and Enterprise, with a goal to create a center for the arts in a central location to serve Southwest Volusia written into our bylaws. That was in August 1998.

We hit the road running, setting up exhibits, donating time to begin an after-school art program at the elementary school, creating programs having to do with the arts, etc. The first year, we had over 100 members joined, and we continued to grow and gain community recognition.

Our first fundraiser was to raffle a pastel painting at “Music on the Green.” I figured I had to set the example of giving if I wanted others to do the same. So, a personal piece that I had done a year earlier came off my wall and set on display to raffle. We made exactly $400.

Then we had a Walk for the Arts, and began the Haunted Hike, and then Youth Celebration of the Arts. We began getting grant money for programs and bringing in the funds from our events to provide match money for construction grants.

It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t fast. It was painstakingly slow at times. It took 10 years to raise enough funds to build. Members worked hard not only for our particular events but for the events of other organizations. We had a face-painting team of teens that also worked hard making themselves available to other organizations. They collected donations for the faces they painted, and over the years, they brought in a couple thousand dollars.

Community organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Four Towne Moose Lodge, the Eagles and others began recognizing that what we were doing was good for our extended community, and lent their support through donated funds and volunteer support. Lots of people, members and nonmembers, worked to bring about Gateway Center for the Arts.

The greatest resource was from ECHO, a capital-grant system of Volusia County that the citizens of the county voted for to provide assistance to ecological, cultural, historical and outdoor organizations wanting to build and improve structures to serve the people of the county. Gateway Center for the Arts was exactly what the grant was created for: to build where there was a need. Through the ECHO grant, $1,345,854 was given to the Gateway construction project.

Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars came from the State of Florida, and $91,000 came from federal funds. These were tax dollars allocated to the arts, and would have gone elsewhere to serve other communities. Instead, these funds came back to our community, and gave us something we can enjoy and use for years and years while developing a cultural consciousness in our community that will benefit our youth and our adults. At the same time, these dollars provided construction jobs for many people in our community, helping the economy.

Gateway Center for the Arts is more than a new building; it is an accomplishment by grass-root citizens that saw a need. It shows what people can do if they work together in faith, determination, and with vision.

— Shepherd is a professional musician and music teacher. Send e-mail for him to shepz@mpinet.net

— shepz@mpinet.net

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