By John Dobberstein, Editor
After several years planning and fund-raising, workers are putting the final touches on a new arts center that Broken Arrow leaders are counting on to be a unique educational destination in the Rose District
To be known as the Brown-Kimbrough Center for Arts, Innovation and Creativity, the 15,500-square-foot facility sits on the former site of AVB Bank at 302 S. Main St. The two-story building will feature multiple classrooms, flex space, gallery space and indoor/outdoor areas to host events.
The Brown-Kimbrough family, owners of AVB Bank, donated the property to the city in 2020. Non-profit ArtsOK – soon to be known as Arts@302 – will occupy the facility and arrange programming, working with the school district, community leaders and Broken Arrow native Kristin Chenoweth and her foundation.
The Broken Arrow City Council recently approved a user agreement with ArtsOK and community leaders believe there is now enough operational funding in place for the arts center to launch successfully.
Jennifer Deal, a former visual arts teacher at Broken Arrow High School, will be serving as director at the arts center. Even at the start of her teaching career during the mid-1990s, she remembers parents clamoring for arts programming their children could participate in after school or during the summer.
Some of the current alternatives are expensive or not very close to Broken Arrow.
“As an arts teacher I was a visual arts person, and I feel the arts add color and beauty and meaning to our world,” Deal says. “I spent a career trying to inspire creativity kids, and now I get to work on inspiring creativity in community. Art is empowering, life changing and it adds beauty to our world. I want the whole community to be impacted in some way.”
Manhattan Construction Co. is constructing the new facility at a cost of $4.7 million, paid for by voter-approved 2014 general obligation bonds, Vision 2025 funds and Sales Tax Capital Improvement (STCI) funds.
The original concept was incorporated into a city of Broken Arrow needs assessment and was ultimately approved by the residents of Broken Arrow. In 2014, ground was broken for a new AVB Bank location to be constructed in the Rose District, and that created opportunities to explore the development of the center.
AVB offered the property to the city of Broken Arrow and bond funds were approved by voters. AVB’s downtown drive-thru structure and lanes were demolished and the property was deeded to the city in 2019.
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When demolition began on the structure it was initially disassembled with much care. The original 25-foot corner (Dallas and Main streets) was suspected to house some of the original 1905 structure.
The bank worked piece-by-piece to uncover, preserve and document 115-years of history. Demolition was completed during summer of 2020.
The initial design for the center was done by Selser Schaefer Architects.
Phase 1 is expected to include a gallery exhibit hall, workshop areas and classrooms for ceramic, sculpting and other arts, catering kitchen and gift shop. Phase 2 is expected to include a large event space and additional project classrooms.
Deal says there are several goals she has in mind as the building is opened, possibly with some limited programs as early as March. The first is education, as she is planning classes for all age groups from pre-school to senior citizens. The classes will be held at different times of the day and on the weekends to accommodate as many people as possible, she says.
“That place needs to be open so that anyone that wants to get involved can get involved,” Deal recently told city councilors. “I want those classes to be reasonably priced so lots of people can take advantage. And we also have a donor that has given us scholarship money to help those that can’t afford to come and get involved.”
Some 2,000 square feet of gallery space is another feature that will be used to house both traditional and non-traditional art. “We’re going to give local artists and opportunity to show their work but we also want to pull art from other areas,” Deal said. “The Crystal Bridges (Museum of American Art) has a program where we can pull some art from them just so we can just enrich our community.
“The only way artists can keep making art is if we support them. And now that means you need to come in and you need to buy a piece of art and encourage other people to come in and buy some art. Because what they do is amazing. If we didn’t have them in our world, it would be a pretty boring place.”
Deal is also working with school and community leaders to assemble an after-school program for underprivileged children. Money raised for the arts center through the Kristin Chenoweth Arts and Education Fund was done with the understanding it would be used to create a program for those children.
A pilot program – named “Kristen’s Promise Kids” is planned for spring where the Broken Arrow Public Schools will be bussing in 30-50 children after school for arts programs. Broken Arrow Neighbors will be providing snacks and sacked meals that children can discretely grab and take home if needed.
“We’re also hoping to create a program with local restaurants where they might cater a meal once a month and we would use it as an opportunity to teach kids about etiquette and living in that world that maybe they haven’t been exposed to,” Deal said.
Broken Arrow City Councilor Scott Eudey, who serves as an officer for ArtsOK, said AVB, the Brown-Kimbrough family, former Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center director Mark Frie and many others “have worked tirelessly to get the funding for this.”
Eudey feels it’s extraordinary for a city of Broken Arrow’s size to have a positive relationship with the arts and a healthy arts council.
“Every community that has a strong understanding and appreciation for the arts is always more successful than those who don’t,” Eudey says. “That’s just born out by fact.”
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