‘We want to be a cool town.’ New $15 million art center coming to downtown Bradenton
Construction on a new home for ArtCenter Manatee will begin later this month, directors announced at a groundbreaking event on Thursday.
The 86-year-old nonprofit is looking to upgrade its presence in downtown Bradenton with a two-story, 28,000-square-foot facility.
Its current building, located at 209 Ninth St. W., is 10,000 square feet.
The extra room will allow the center to offer expanded exhibits in one large gallery, nine classrooms, a kitchen and more gift shop space to display and sell locally made art.
It’s also one of the first things people will see when they enter downtown Bradenton on U.S. 41 from the Green Bridge.
“This is going to change the landscape of coming into this community,” ArtCenter executive director Carla Nierman said.
The art center has so far raised about $9 million for the $15 million project, including a $2 million gift from the Steve and Natalee Herrig Family Foundation.
The new center will be named the Herrig Center for the Arts.
The Herrigs “get how we want to be a cool town,” Nierman said. “They want to make it happen.”
Steve characterized the ArtCenter team as “extraordinary people with a commitment to excellence.”
“We are convinced the end product will be an amazing reflection of their dedication to the arts and another destination-level attraction to this wonderful upcoming community,” Herrig said in an email.
The center also announced an additional donation match of $500,000 from the Bishop Parker Foundation on Thursday. The foundation previously donated $1 million to the project.
The center is seeking an additional $5.5 million in community funding to complete the new building, Linsa Enberg, capital campaign team chair, announced Thursday.
“Having this new building will allow us to develop programming that meets the community’s wishes and take us into the future,” Enberg said.
The center offers classes for adults and children in a variety of art mediums six days a week, plus summer art camps, after-school programs and community events.
The existing center will be torn down and replaced with a community park and sculpture garden once the new facility is complete.
Directors hope the park will make downtown more walkable with its proximity to the Bradenton Riverwalk, and it’s part of a bigger plan to develop downtown. New apartments with nearly 300 units and retail space are planned for just east of the new art center.
“The sculpture garden will bring art outside our walls and will be open to all. It will be a place where people can sit quietly or gather with friends and other artists,” a project description says. “We will be able to add small-scale music and performance art as well as healing elements, such as meditation and yoga to the garden.”
The new facility’s address will be 888 Avenue of the Arts — a planned renaming of Third Avenue West.
Plans for the new facility were first announced in 2018. The project has faced setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rising construction costs and supply chain issues.
On Thursday, community leaders, donors and ArtCenter members celebrated the big step forward.
“We do the arts, but you don’t have to be an artist to enjoy it,” Enberg said. “This is a project that is just good for the community.”
Completion is expected in late 2024.
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 3:47 PM.