by Melissa Macker, Executive Director
Imagine downtown Macon without art. No murals or sculptures. No pottery classes. No art galleries to visit on First Fridays. No art on the walls at your favorite restaurant.
It would be awfully dull, wouldn’t it?
Downtown Macon wouldn’t be what it is without artists. And it wouldn’t be where it is today without you, one of our generous donors, paving the way for artists to display and sell their artwork, teach classes, create pottery, put on events, and more.
Artists like Malissa.
Malissa became a resin artist sort of by accident. She was a creative person who dabbled in a few art mediums and enjoyed taking classes at The 567 Center--everything from oil painting to photography. Then one day, a friend gave her a resin kit. It didn’t do what she expected, but she immediately fell in love with resin.
During that time, our fine art director reached out to Malissa and asked her to consider selling her resin craft at the All Hands Art Festival. She was flattered to be invited. Through the experience of selling her work at the festival, she realized for the first time that her work was aesthetically pleasing. For the first time in her life, she felt good about saying, "I'm an artist."
Through The 567—and because of the generosity of our donors—she was able transform her passion into a profession.
After the festival, she was excited about making more art. She also wanted to share her passion with others by teaching classes. Her small home studio wasn't really conducive to either. Her completed works were taking over her house, and pet cats and drying resin don't exactly mix well. She was starting to get discouraged. To grow as an artist, she really needed more space.
Our fine art director reached out to Malissa again, this time asking her to consider teaching. It was a perfect fit! At The 567, Malissa was finally able to give people a way to explore making resin art without intimidation and find out whether they love it, just like she did. Not only did she love having a place to teach, but it gave her space in another way. Because of the extra income from teaching, Malissa was able to rent her own studio space at Triangle Arts Macon, a place to store her all of her work and work with resin safely.
Since teaching at The 567, Malissa continues to sharpen her skills as an artist by showing others how to work with resin. She loves the energy of her students and seeing what they create. Teaching at The 567 also provides a way for her to get her name out as an artist. In addition to teaching, she is enjoying selling her own resin art. Now that she has some festival experience and a place to create more, she regularly goes to festivals and markets to sell her art.
Malissa is just one of many artists we’ve worked with. Thanks to our donors, more than 90 different artists have been able to share their talents through teaching art classes or displaying artwork in the past year alone. These artists attract thousands of people to downtown through the classes they teach, enrich lives with the art they create, and provide kids a creative outlet.
When artists thrive, so does downtown Macon.
Want to help artists thrive in 2024? Donate here.