School Street Studios' Windows Campaign
Call for Donations
When Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF) was organized in 1994, a few skeptics believed the dream of Watkinsville as a thriving arts center would never see the light of day.
The skeptics were wrong.
Today, Watkinsville ranks in the top 25 of Small Cities for Arts designation by American Style magazine, and OCAF is a major contributor to that accomplishment.
Still, the light of day remains an issue. At least in the School Street Studios.
It's the windows. We've had to cover most of them due to their deteriorating condition, and now we need to replace them. To do so, we're making an appeal to our membership, to former students of the School Street building when it was an elementary school, and to the public in general, as well as to area businesses. 
Initially, seven (7) windows have been targeted for replacement, with requested donations of $500 per window.
We're planning to acknowledge the donations with a plaque, either centrally located, or as an individual nameplate at each window.
The School Street Studios building currently houses five private artist studios as well as three classrooms for course study and workshops in such diverse fields as pottery, bookbinding, painting, drawing, weaving and glass work. Additionally, the facility is used extensively for summer art camps for children and young people.
It's a great old building with a rich history. It's been a kindergarten, a canning plant, and a school bus repair shop. But the significant word in this is old. We've done a lot of repair to the building over the past few years, yet the windows have been left wanting. And now it's not a matter of repairing what's there; it's necessary to replace them.
We're all justifiably proud of the designation from American Style magazine, especially when you realize some of the selected cities include such places as Asheville (NC). Santa Fe (NM), and Aspen (CO). The School Street Studio is a center of art development for the area, and we need to keep it functional.
Individuals and businesses interested in investing in the window replacement campaign are asked to contact OCAF at 706-769-4565, email info@ocaf.com, or stop by the OCAF office Tues.-Sat., 10 AM-4 PM. | 
Comments