ArtCenter Manatee Ground Breaking Ceremony
Board of Directors from left: Roberto Andreos, Jan Pullen, Jacquelyn Taylor, Mary Hoagland, Ted Camp, Linda Enberg, Carla Nierman, Bruce Body, Carol Krah, Kathy Simon-McDonald, Rob Moran, Christine Meyer, Donna Morrison, Jim Brandys.
September 14, 2023. The ground breaking ceremony held earlier today for the new Herrig Center for the Arts marks a new beginning for ArtCenter Manatee and our community. The Center has been transforming lives and building community for over 85 years. We are the premier center for art in Manatee County, with significant reach into Sarasota and Pinellas Counties.
Construction on the new 28,000 SF, 2-story facility will begin in mid-November. Architects are Wannemacher Jensen and the builder is Bradenton-based NDC Construction. Completion is scheduled for late 2024. The architects have already received an award for the building design from the Tampa AIA.
The new Center will transform the entrance into Bradenton and provide greenspace that is so important to urban landscapes, as well as offer expanded gallery, classroom, office and storage space.
The ArtCenter will operate uninterrupted in their current facility while the new one is constructed. Once construction is complete, the building will be razed to make room for a community park and sculpture garden that will face 9th St W, creating a beautiful welcoming entrance into Bradenton.
Classes, exhibits, the gift shop and events will continue as scheduled.
We are grateful for the generosity of our donors especially our transformational donors: The Steve & Natalee Herrig Family Foundation, the Bishop Parker Foundation, the Johnson Singer Foundation, the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bradenton CRA, Johnson PhotoImaging, Bradenton Riverfront Partners, Hatfield Development and the State of Florida. The new Center will meet the growing demand for visual arts classes, exhibits, and other arts programming, well into the future. The new Center will be named Herrig Center for the Arts. The new Center’s address will be 888 Avenue of the Arts (3rd Ave W).
The groundbreaking event featured key community leaders as well as the ArtCenter Executive Director.
The public portion of the Center’s Capital Campaign was announced at the ground breaking. The Bishop Parker Foundation offered a $500,000 Challenge Grant that will match all new donations received up to $500,000. The goal of the public campaign is to raise an additional $5.5 Million.
We invite you to visit the ArtCenter and discover all we have to offer, take a tour or a class, view an exhibit and learn more about our campaign and why the arts are so important in all our lives. You can help make our city a vibrant destination for the arts. Afterall, we’re not doing this for us, we’re doing it for you, our community and the generations that will follow.
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