The Contemporary Artists Center at Woodside has received the $50,000
grant it sought to complete the renovation of the 140-year-old Woodside
Church on Mill Street into an artists’ space.
The nonprofit arts
organization launched a campaign this past spring to win a grant through
the Pepsi Refresh Project, an initiative founded earlier this year to
provide financial support to ideas that will have a positive impact on
communities. The Pepsi Refresh program, which awarded its first batch of
grants to 32 recipients last month, invites community organizations,
individuals and businesses to submit proposals that will help “refresh”
their respective communities. Ideas range the gamut from education
programs to arts initiatives to new playgrounds and treating dogs for
heartworm, among other things. The company plans to award $1.3 million
in grants each month.
The program is voter-driven, and the
organizations and individuals competing for the grants are encouraged to
get the community actively involved in their efforts.
Outreach
by CAC’s staff and volunteers brought in thousands of daily votes from
the Capital Region and across the nation, according to Executive
Director Hezzie Phillips.
“Quite frankly I was astounded at the
overwhelming support for the Woodside project,” said Phillips “We take
it as a great sign to have so many friends that took the time to vote
for us daily for weeks on end in order to secure these funds. It is
exactly this supportive community that convinced us to move our
organization to Troy in the first place. I feel like this area truly is
the type of place where individuals can really make things happen.”
CAC
was founded 20 years ago in North Adams, Mass., but moved their
headquarters to Troy after losing their space there. In 2007, the
organization purchased the former Woodside Presbyterian Church and its
accompanying chapel in late 2007, and opened their artists’ residency
space in the chapel in June 2009. Phillips said the organization is
committed to art that’s more experimental and really pushes the
boundaries of what people expect art
to be.
CAC plans to
use the grant money to upgrade the stone church, which was built in 1869
for Henry Burden, owner of the Burden Iron Works. The church needs new
plumbing and heating systems, as well as upgrades to the façade, among
other renovations. When it’s completed, it will host everything from art
exhibitions and performances to concerts and picnics.
Funds from
the grant will be disbursed at the end of the month, and the
organization hopes to begin initial work on the building as early as
next month. An appreciation celebration featuring food, music and other
festivities will be held on-site on July 10 to thank the community for
its voting support.