I remember it well. Our first ArtsBash in our brand new, old historic building in 1999. I thought of this today as preparations got underway for this year’s ArtsBash tomorrow night. We purchased the building at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains in 1998. It had been empty for five years. Our next door neighbor was the old empty Macy’s Department store. It was an “as is” sale. The elevators were “iffy.” The nine floors were filled with obsolete filing cabinets, safes, broken furniture and hundreds of keys to open we knew not what. But, we had no complaints. We were ecstatic to finally have a home. We spent our last penny on asbestos removal, painted the third floor and moved in. That was March. In May, we invited Westchester artists to show their work in the building. On June 4, 1999, we opened our doors to the community with 170 artists exhibiting on all nine floors. It was then that we decided to call the event ArtsBash and make it an annual party.
Fast forward to 2013. The building is fully occupied. The elevators are fine. We have air conditioning. What a treat! We have heat, too. Chase Bank forgave the mortgage. With generous donations, we restored the historic parts of the building. We have exhibited and presented hundreds of artists in our beautifully restored gallery. Fifteen artists have their studios here. There’s always more to do in a 1928 building…especially plumbing. So please come to the ArtsBash Friday night to celebrate our landmark building and help us do more.
