City Art Center seeking to pique public interest

Of the many restaurants, shops, and businesses to visit throughout downtown Delaware, one destination has eluded the attention of many OWU students.
The City Art Center on Winter Street, next to the Strand Theater, has been a part of the Delaware community for a short number of years. The center has drawn little attention from the OWU campus.
Students on campus, who have been living in the Delaware area for many years, have not made it a point to visit the gallery often.
Junior Liza Blakeslee said she had never been inside the building, but has looked at displays and advertisements in the windows.
The center is a non-profit organization that, according to its website, cityartcenter.org, has a “vision to be an active partner within the community
in developing an enriched cultural landscape”.
“It also intends to promote an awareness of and appreciation for the arts by trying to “foster creativity, spark new thoughts, and facilitate conversation…meanwhile establishing a network for artists and the public.”
In order to help promote the organization and its monthly exhibits, the center has partnered with the Strand Theatre for March’s exhibit, entitled, “The Strand Theatre: Scenes from Behind the Screen.”
According to Jessi Walker, the owner and operator of the City Art Center, this new event might be just the thing to bring in the right amount of attention.
“Aside from free popcorn and a rich cultural art experience, the public can catch glimpses into places within our beloved Strand Theatre that no one normally has access to,” said Walker.
Walker also said that, thanks to this upcoming event, the Center will have the benefit of exposing their art space.
“With each exhibition, more and more people find out what we are doing here, so that is very helpful to us. The CAC is operated 100 percent by volunteers in the community, so the more that people discover our space, the more people become involved in making it happen.”
The volunteers at the center said they hope students from OWU can come and check out what the art space has to offer and that they also hope to bring in more appreciation for art and how it operates through the community.
The upcoming event, “The Strand Theatre: Scenes from Behind the Screen” will begin on March 2 and the center will continue to show the exhibit throughout the month. To visit the center, stop by between 4 and 7 p.m. on Fridays and 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturdays.