Eastern Shore Art Center Receives Grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts!
[MAY 9, 2025… Fairhope, AL]
The Eastern Shore Art Center (ESAC) has received a $50,000 Creative Places Arts Facilities grant from Alabama State Council on the Arts that will enhance their ADA compliance and expand the gift shop. This grant will join a gift from one of ESAC’S major donors and a match from the Single Tax Corporation in order to create the capital funds needed for the project.
The Creative Places Arts Facilities program strengthens Alabama’s creative economy by providing grants for the construction, renovation, restoration, or enhancement of arts facilities across the state. Public funding, through a special appropriation from the Alabama State Legislature, makes these grants possible and is essential for fostering arts, culture, and community growth.
With these funds, ESAC will update its gift shop, allowing for an increased flow of traffic from the galleries and entrance. Working with the local company, Klarman + Day, these funds will allow ESAC to include a double ADA compliant bathroom in the galleries and to replace the Handicap elevator!
The ESAC gift shop provides income opportunities for their Artist members, providing a store front for the general public to purchase handmade, artisan goods. Watson further states, “When people enter ESAC, they will be greeted with a welcoming, highly visible gift shop featuring the work of many local artists. Hand beaded jewelry, hand woven journals, and hand-built ceramics. Believe it or not, as excited as we are about the upgraded shop, the staff is even more grateful for the updates to our ADA compliance!”
Currently, the only ADA compliant bathrooms are downstairs in the ESAC Academy. “Thanks to Alabama State Council on the Arts, we will now have TWO ADA compliant bathrooms in our galleries. Afterall, enhancing a creative place is best when it is enhanced for ALL!” says Watson.
This grant, awarded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts, enables ESAC to reach new audiences, foster community development, provide the highest quality programming, and demonstrate the importance of arts as a key component for quality of life in Alabama.
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About Eastern Shore Art Center
The Eastern Shore Art Center connects people of all ages and abilities with the arts through education, exhibitions, and outreach activities. ESAC, dba the Eastern Shore Art Association, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation funded solely through private memberships, donations and grants relying on the goodwill of the community for its continuation. Gallery and Gift Shop hours: Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm, Saturday 10am-6pm. Free admission. 401 Oak Street, Fairhope AL 36532. Learn more at https://esartcenter.org
About Alabama State Council on the Arts
Alabama State Council on the Arts is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts in Alabama. The Council on the Arts works to expand and preserve the state’s cultural resources by supporting nonprofit arts organizations, schools, colleges, units of local government, and individual artists. Arts programs, assisted by Council grants, have a track record of enhancing community development, education, cultural tourism, and overall quality of life in all regions of the state. Alabama State Council on the Arts grants are made possible by an annual appropriation from the Alabama Legislature and additional funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. To learn more, visit arts.alabama.gov.
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