Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 12, 1995 TAG: 9507120033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BECKY HEPLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT LENGTH: Medium
Like the New York artists who descended upon the former warehouse district to find cheap, open spaces, local artists are finding the Newport Community Center a wonderful place to create.
"It's so wonderful to have a place where you can just leave your stuff out and work on it as you can," said Judith Schwab, a sculptor from Craig County. "I also love all the room."
Schwab used to make her living making jewelry, but she gave it up 10 years ago to explore a writing career and because, as she said, "I had no more statements to make." Her husband claimed her old work space as his office and she sold many of her tools as she learned the vagaries of word processing, computers and deadlines. But eventually she felt a need to return to working with her hands. The first requirement was to find a place to work. She drove past the community center every day on her commute to Virginia Tech, where she works as a writer. And when she found out the center had rooms available, she rented one quick. "I've been here since April 1994," she said.
Catherine Murray, a sculptor who taught at Virginia Tech, also had been unsuccessful in her quest for studio space. One day while exploring the country, she drove through Newport and found out about the community center.
"It's so hard to find places that are big and airy and neutral," she said. "This place is wonderful. You can't beat the light ...
"Teaching at Tech can be fairly stressful and when you're on campus, it's your job to be on call for your students," she continued. "So having a studio that's out of town and without a telephone, you can finally get completely immersed in your work without any distractions."
Murray is leaving soon to go to a job at East Tennessee State University. It will be hard to give up her studio, she said. But she's passing it on to a friend. Bill Gorcica, who will teach at Tech this fall, is looking forward to using the space for his interpretive works, computer imaging, video and sculpture.
The art colony is just the latest adaptation for the former elementary school. Eleven years ago, the people of Newport didn't want to lose what they consider to be the heart of their community, so they bought the building from the Giles County School Board. Within four years, the bank note was paid off through potluck dinners, raffles and countless volunteer hours and donations from Newport citizens.
Since that time, the community continues to repond generously whenever a problem arises, painting or fixing the leaky roof over the cafeteria. Joyce Hoerner of the Newport Community Action Committee said members have developed the CLASP program (Community Love-Adopt A School Project), with the goal of fixing up the rooms. In addition, a trailer sits on the property so a live-in caretaker can continue the work on the building.
Artists and others rent space here for under $100 a month - for now.
Just like in those warehouses-turned-studios in New York, however, cheap can mean primitive, especially regarding heating and cooling. The high ceilings and tall windows that give that light, airy feel to the place also provide escape routes for heat during the winter. During the summer, Schwab says, "it's like a pizza oven in there." There are also questionable paint jobs, including the Pepto-Bismol pink trim in some of the rooms.
Still, the renters have working bathrooms and the delights of old-fashioned architecture. Murray, whose studio was in the old science lab, used the smoke cabinet as a book shelf. Schwab uses the librarian's office as her winter work space because it's smaller and easier to heat.
Artists aren't the only tenants at the center. Mountain Lake Hotel rents some of the rooms for storage. New River Community College holds computer and adult education classes there. One of the community clubs hosts the Halloween Haunted House in the building.
The cafeteria is the scene for the Ruritan Club's Friday Night Bingo, local meetings and voting. The Newport Agricultural Fair, oldest fair in the state, uses the entire grounds and many of the rooms during its two-day run.
Committee members would like to see the building serve the community in even more ways. One plan is to renovate the 400-seat auditorium, complete with projection booth, for movies, performances and concerts. Buford Steele, a member of the Ruritan Club and the Newport Community Action Committee, said two furnaces have been purchased to heat the auditorium.
Like the rest of the building, the auditorium has its antique and architectural charms, including a hand-painted curtain full of advertisements from long-gone companies. The screen was a gift from the Newport High School graduating classes of 1915-1935 and it's in mint condition.
Like the warm, friendly community in which it sits, the business of renting a room is pretty low key. "There's no real lease, just a handshake does it," Steele said. "I guess one of these days we'll have to change, but it seems to work OK now." The tenants agree.
by CNB