Wash Arts to be revived
Courtesy of Allison Evans
During the 13 years that it existed, the Washington Community Arts and Cultural Center was known in shorthand as Wash Arts.
Now, almost 10 years after Wash Arts folded, the name is being revived for a new, Washington-based arts group with a similar mission.
Artist Allison Evans, an Avella native who was an instructor for the old Wash Arts in the last couple of years of existence, has launched the Wash Artist in Residency and Creative Center, which will also be known in shorthand as Wash Arts. It will be based at 32 N. Main St., in downtown Washington and, as Evans envisions it, will have a residency program for not just artists, but also musicians, chefs and designers.
Evans said it will be similar to the Wash Arts of old in that it will be providing classes that are affordable for everyone, which she said will begin in February. Residencies will begin in April and, at least early on, feature people from the region. Gallery shows, pop-up events and hands-on workshops are also planned.
“We’re going to make Washington better,” Evans said. “We want to honor the past, while stepping boldly into the future.”
To help get the new Wash Arts off the ground, a fundraiser is planned for Saturday from 1 to 10 p.m. at Nineteen North in Washington. It will be an open-house style fundraiser, with visitors able to come and go at any time during that nine-hour timeframe. There will be food stations, live painters, an interactive art station, raffles and prizes, performances by area musicians and a cash bar provided by Nineteen North.
Evans first started teaching for the old Wash Arts after she was told about it by Bill Cameron, the East Washington playwright and now-retired theater professor at Washington & Jefferson College, while waitressing at the Red Robin restaurant in South Strabane. She received degrees from Westminster College in New Wilmington and the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Early in her career, she created fashion illustrations for the professional tennis players Venus and Serena Wllliams, and is the founder of the Washington Art Association.
Information and tickets on the fundraiser are available at washarts.design.