May 10, 2024 | By: Matthew Freeman

In Focus: New Longville Lakes Arts Center Hopes to Revive the Town

The Longville Lakes Arts Alliance, a non-profit organization, has been looking for ways to help revitalize Longville. When a new building became available to the LLAA, the group jumped at the chance to establish that building as the new Longville Lakes Arts Center.

It’s been the LLAA’s mission to make Longville a vibrant destination and a comfortable up-north home for everyone who enjoys the arts.

“We’re trying very, very hard to get our little town of Longville back on the map,” said Jan Forbes, teacher at Longville Lakes Art Center. “It’s gone through a lot of changes. We’re trying to promote the arts in the area because I think the arts are so important in our lives and for our young people coming up. We’re really anxious to get this on the go.”

The Arts Center has just finished moving into a bigger building and hopes to offer even bigger classes and showcase even more of the students’ art.

“There’s over 100 paintings here, 12 or 13 different artists showing, and we’d love to share … our passion with you,” added Forbes.

“Now that we have this new space, I think we’ll be able to get a lot more people coming in to be interacting with us, hanging out with us, getting to dabble in something that they’re not used to,” stated Ally Garbe, a student and volunteer at Longville Lakes Arts Center.

Students from the old art center loved the experience so much that they jumped at the chance to help out with the new building.

“It has brought so much to my life,” said Lisa Garbe, Longville Lakes Arts Alliance Board Member. “It’s important to be a part of the community when you live with just a few hundred people in a town. We all need to put our best foot forward and engage one another whenever possible.”

“I’m recently retired, so now I want to spend a lot more time meeting new people, learning new things,” explained student and volunteer Nancy Archer, “and with Jan, it’s so inspirational and brings so much joy. I love her classes.”

The volunteers hope the revival of this art center can also revive the community.

“We figure if we can get people to come in to paint, when they’re done painting, they’re going to go next door to Frosty’s Ice Cream,” offered Lisa. “Maybe they’re going to go across the street to Lazy Days and buy some things for the cabin or gifts for the kids. For a little town, we have a lot going on and we want to bring more to it.”

“I think it’ll provide life for even those people coming up just on the weekend like I did for many, many years, popping in for a class with children, grandchildren,” Archer added. “Just to see this corner alive will be fun for the community. And art brings so much fun and inspiration to people. Not only the techniques, but it’s the joy of doing it with others.”

“We just really think that this is going to revive our town,” argued Forbes. “It’s going to get more interest toward the arts. For a little town, we don’t have any people coming by by accident. We’re off the road. We don’t have any Greyhound buses coming in here, we don’t have any of that. So you really have to want to be here and we want to make it more interesting for you to be here.”

The Longville Lakes Arts Center will be hosting a “Wine and Cheese Featured Artist Show” tomorrow, May 11, from 7-9 p.m. Visitors can enjoy the beautiful watercolor art of Jan Forbes and her amazingly talented students.

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