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The Calumet Art Center is undergoing some transformations thanks to some recent grants, including one from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and while some of the exterior improvements are waiting for a sunny day, many improvements have been made inside to make the building handicap accessible.
Executive Director Ed Gray highlights some of the progress made to the building. “We started the restoration project. We started with new doors and some windows, we did the ramp and the entryway so we could get people with wheelchairs in with easy access. We also started painting the building and so the door side is done and as soon as the weather clears up, they’ll start back up and be painting.”
One of the funding sources came from the Keweenaw National Heritage Grant, and Gray says that when the project is completed, the center will meet all of the required aesthetic criteria.
Gray said, “We’re trying to keep the integrity of the building. We’re not part of the national park, but we’re in their boundaries and so we have to kind of pay attention to what they say. Like, if we wanted to paint the building pink with purple polka dots, they probably wouldn’t like that very well.”
Still complimented by stained glass windows, the former church has been home to the art center since 2009 and serves as a venue where many come to learn traditional arts that Gray says dates back to the most recent ice age.
“We were here in the Keweenaw as the glacier was leaving. We’re talking about 8,000 years ago. We come from a place we’re if your going to do history, you have to tell the whole story. If I can teach a class how to raise a bowl out of a flat piece of copper with a stone, a stump, and an outdoor fire, they’re home free with anything else they want to do,” said Gray.
A full listing of classes and programs can be found at www.calumetartcenter.com.
