Housed inside a nineteenth century
factory building, the Market Street Art Center is a unique cultural
institution located in Rockport, New York. Until well into the
twentieth century, the building contained the Western Block Company,
a manufacturer of merchant shipping goods.
Hilger Properties, a local real estate
company, eventually bought the building and created, within it, the
Market Street Art Center. The Art Center is, first and foremost, an
art gallery devoted to displaying the work of local artists. However,
the halls of the gallery still look like they belong to an old
industrial building. The corridors are long, the walls are stark and
white, the ceilings look like they're made of stainless steel and
feature visible steam and water pipes. The second-floor gallery
actually has a few brick walls, on which the paintings hang. These
walls deliberately remind visitors of the building's industrial
origins. By contrast, the artworks on display tend to be very
intimate, with a tendency towards media such as watercolor, oil,
jewelry, and pastels.
In addition to the ever-changing
exhibits of artists from the Lockport, NY area, the Market Street Art
Center hosts shows honoring specific artists. The Center further
benefits the community by offering classes in art and creative
writing. Every Thursday during the third week of the month, the local
artists themselves--some of whose work the Center already plans to
display--meet at the center in the afternoon to talk about art. This
meeting is free, and visitors needn't be famous artists or even to
have shown in any galleries. A passionate interest in the visual
arts, and their role in our lives, is the only requirement.
