Renaissance at the Art Association
Betsy Dollar’s fresh ideas for Springfield’s oldest arts organization
ARTS | Rick Wade
During the Middle Ages, the church used art in its cathedrals to draw the eyes of worshippers toward the heavens. Today, art is at the center of an effort to resurrect a blighted urban area once known as the “Jewel of Springfield.”
“The Springfield Art Association is one of the anchors of the Enos Park neighborhood, so we will play a big part in supporting and leading the way for the revitalization plan,” said Betsy Dollar, SAA executive director. “There are some pretty impressive nationwide statistics that show when you bring artists into a neighborhood, it turns around. … The plan itself shows a very different footprint for the SAA, a new building perhaps. It is a little premature to address all the issues of how we hope to use and complement the plan, but we hope to make some changes to our campus.”
Dollar refers to the effort by the Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association, which hired The Lakota Group, Chicago-based urban planners, and Mansur Real Estate Services of Indianapolis to develop a long-term strategy to restore the area to its former glory.
“I just can’t blurt out too much of what we hope is in the offing here, but there are some exciting things on the horizon,” Dollar said. “It all takes community engagement and money. I am doing my best to offer strong programming to build that engagement. I trust that once we grow our membership base, a lot of the other things will fall into place.”
We asked her to be more specific. “Coming in as an outsider I immediately saw that Springfield does not have the resources to support multiple visual arts organizations who are duplicating efforts,” she said. “I am currently working to bring the visual arts organizations back together to examine what each organization does best and how we can work together, perhaps under one roof, as The Springfield Community Visual Arts Center. There is a lot of history that could make this impossible, but I am willing to examine the possibilities.”
“I am currently working to bring the visual arts organizations back together to examine what each organization does best and how we can work together, perhaps under one roof, as The Springfield Community Visual Arts Center.”
The Enos Park neighborhood is just north of downtown Springfield, and encompasses 36 square blocks of residential and business properties within the confines of Third and Ninth
Streets and Carpenter and North Grand. According to EPNIA’s website, Enos Park is home to “a plethora of diversity. Its tree-lined streets are filled with Victorian, Italianate and Queen Anne style homes that date well back into the early nineteenth century.”
But the neighborhood has its work cut out for it. According to planning documents, of 602 residential properties, about 8 percent are boarded up or appear vacant, 32 percent (191) of the homes are considered in poor condition and about 44 percent (268) appear to be in fair shape. Only 24 percent (143) appear to be in good condition.
The Art Association’s role in the redevelopment hinges upon the fact it is housed in the 1833 Edwards Place at 700 N. Fourth St, the oldest house in Springfield still on its original foundation. This was once the home of prominent 19th century Springfield citizens Benjamin and Helen Edwards. Their daughter donated the house to the Amateur Art Study Club in 1913. The organization was later renamed the Springfield Art Association.
Over time, the SAA expanded into an art center encompassing seven separate structures on five acres of tree-shaded grounds. In addition to operating Edwards Place as an historic site, the association offers an art gallery, art library and art school.
What SAA does now Likely its most visible program is Art Outreach, now in its 36th year. Art Outreach has more than 70 portfolios to be checked out, each delving into a particular artist or movement in art history, or theme, using prints and artifacts.
Portfolios typically include 10 to 12 prints, slides or artifacts, and an information packet, which contains the background data of the presented work and its artist, and also highlights potential reading suggestions and research points, along with discussion questions. There is sometimes a supplementary craft project.
Dollar said parents or local groups, such as sororities or fraternities, check out the portfolios, and conduct the presentations or lectures in local schoolrooms for children of all grades.
“It’s completely free to the schools and the portfolios are correlated to the public schools’ curriculum standards,” says Dollar, who took over leadership of the art association in October 2009. “Art Outreach is all volunteer-led, no teachers.”
SAA offers an array of art classes held during the day, on weeknights and Saturdays, and small and seasonal art workshops throughout the year. Adult art school classes include ceramics, jewelry making and enameling, drawing and painting, photography and papermaking. The extensive lending library of fine arts books has a reading room available as well. And there are the popular summer art camps for young people.
The SAA hosts historically accurate activities, such as Victorian afternoon teas, in the fall. The 22nd annual Fine Arts Fair, featuring juried fine art and artists and craftsmen from around the country, was just held Sept. 18-19.
There will be Haunted Nights of History (which feature “ghosts” of 19th century Springfield citizens sharing the macabre and tragic stories of their lives and deaths) and a pumpkin-carving workshop in October; a Victorian séance; an international film festival in January; and a Victorian Christmas Tea. Holiday Hall is a seasonal sale of art by local artisans.
Holiday craft workshops sell out almost immediately, said Dollar. “We had grandmas bringing in grandkids to make gingerbread houses, or spend a couple hours making ornaments. Extremely popular. We’re trying to do more of that. Twice a year we do family art nights, when families just come and make crafts and play games.”
Dollar said the art gallery just closed its successful June-through-August run of “Play Ball: The Art of America’s Favorite Pastime.” Now through Oct. 1, the gallery features “Pulp: Fact, Fiction and Fantasy,” a juried show that celebrates papermaking and the 2D and 3D art made from it. Artists from around the nation are participating, as well as an exhibit by Betsy Dollar herself, titled “Wedding Day.” “I work my butt off trying to find unique art exhibits for the gallery,” she said. (For more details about SAA’s programs, go to www.springfieldart.org.)
Another high-profile SAA event is the Beaux Arts Ball. The SAA threw its first Beaux Arts Ball in February 1930, as a way to honor volunteers and financial supporters. It continues today as a black-tie gala, replete with a royal court, fancy dresses and magic in the air. This year, the 79th Annual Beaux Arts Ball, “One Romantic Evening,” will be Nov. 27.
According to SAA’s website, activities at post-war balls have all included a presentation of the court and coronation and may have included a musical or dance performance, art auctions and dancing. Some balls have served only refreshments while others have hosted full sit-down dinners.
What the future holds Besides keeping up and improving quality programs, Dollar hopes to bring the organization into the 21st century.
“I’d like to turn this rather big office of mine into a computer lab, where students could use the latest software to learn digital graphic design, drawing and animation. I would like a six-station Mac Lab with a smart board and all that good stuff.”
Another idea Dollar calls essential: creation of a pre-kindergarten program.
“It’s so important for really little kids to be given materials and be allowed to explore with those materials. Make things. The educational research all supports the notion that self esteem is built via hands-on learning,” Dollar says. “I really don’t want the kids to be restrained by the notion of making a mess, and getting dirty. This is a safe place for them to do that.”
With her first year behind her in the job, Dollar’s biggest challenge remains overcoming the information gap about the 97-year-old arts organization among the people of Springfield.
“The art association is about to turn 100 years old in September 2013. We are going to have our big centennial celebration. Unfortunately, a large portion of the Springfield population only knows the art association for the Beaux Arts Ball,” Dollar says.
“I was actually blown away in the first month that I was here … people would look at me (and say), ‘Oh, you guys throw that ball with the funny name.’ I had no idea the ball was the prevailing image of the art association. I came to Springfield on my first visit and saw all these grand things here. I wonder, ‘How could people not know it’s here?’” Dollar called the art association “a huge wealth of opportunity, information and fun that is dismissed by some as being this group of crazy aristocrats. Most people assume they are not rich enough to participate, which is not the case.”
Rick Wade is a freelance writer and lifelong central Illinois resident. He currently lives in Jacksonville, with his wife, two dogs and a cat. He may be contacted at [email protected].
