How It Started

Community residents and artists came together in April 2011 and formed as "ARTs pARTners", a grass-roots group of like-minded residents, who wanted to raise awareness of the economic and cultural benefits of the arts and establish an arts center in Central New York, in short, to build a better future through the arts. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation status was granted on July 13, 2011.

We spent the first year attracting attention from all segments of the arts - visual, literary, and performing arts. Members promoted a variety of mediums and passions during local events and in public programs.

In June 2012 we were offered space at State St. United Methodist Church in Fulton where we had access to three basement classrooms, two kitchens, and a large capacity dining hall. We even had our own separate entrance where we could put up a sign and invite the public in.

In May, 2013 for better visibility, we added an Art Gallery in Downtown Fulton next to the Oswego river. In late 2014 we began a partnership with Cayuga Community College and moved the center and the gallery into the old Fashion Bug store at River Glen Plaza (Formerly Kmart). We immediately gained ample parking, easy access and great exposure.  We converted the downtown Gallery into a studio space for art classes.  

The collaboration with CCC brought us a professional image almost immediately with the presence of our stage in a newer, more modern facility, and we enjoyed 4 years of exponential growth in our theatre program. But our visual arts program began to decline with lack of classroom space in the same location. It was hard and costly to maintain two locations. It became increasingly obvious, in order to meet our mission to provide all arts for all ages, we needed a single location to deliver arts programming as well as a gathering place for the community to share art.

In June 2018 we purchased a vacant downtown building and, with vigorous community support, created Fulton’s first community arts center. Infrastructure upgrades brought the 1970s building to code compliance with multi-dimensional fire suppression system on three levels, On February 15, 2019, just 6 months after starting renovations, we celebrated a soft opening with the premier of Little Women, the Broadway musical on our brand new stage. Phase Two renovations were completed in June 2019 which added a Wheelchair elevator, and new energy efficient lighting in the theatre, Our Community Arts Center offers an 80 seat theatre, 2 art classrooms which double as green rooms during productions, 2 art galleries, an alternative smaller Black Box theatre, a Theatre scenic/costume shop and Art supply room.

Our summer events kicked off with Arty Camp, music events, performing arts and art activities to encourage community gathering. Our educational programming began full time in September 2019 with specific goals for youth outreach and a wide variety of art classes and activities for all ages.

In March 2020, just two weeks from opening a major musical onstage, and with the Jr prodution of Frozen in rehearsal for a May opening, the Arts Center was forced to close in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The first most critical impact for us was the loss of our theatre program, our single biggest source of revenue. Our entire season was cancelled. Our financial focus turned to covering operating expenses and holding steady until we could open for programming again. Every dollar raised or donated covered the bottom line.

With the theatre remaining closed, we reopened in July focusing heavily on art classes with proper social distancing and limited class sizes, a rigourous cleaning protocol and strict guidelines for masks and social distancing. We offered daytime classes for those kids who were learning remotely at home. We increased outdoor events as an option to indoor gatherings. And we developed new sources of revenue to supplement income.

We used the down time to complete the final component in the renovations - commercail teaching kitchen. This allowed us to launch a small cookie shopt to support revenue and offer cooking classes. And we secured a grant for a movie projection system. Cinema Arts joined our lineup of art opportunities and even with limited seating due it social distancing, the cinema was a hit from the beginning.

Our live onstage productions will be back in late 2021. Our multi-arts programming, Studio Fine Arts, Writing and Culinary Arts, Cinema and Performing Arts, fills a critical gap in art education and quality of life. Our Youth Education program delivers art, music, dance, creative writing, theatre and cooking for all ages. Our adult program offers studio fine arts, writing and culinary arts, as well as opportunities for performance in music and theatre.

This year we will celebrate ten years of making art happen, building a better future for Fulton. It’s not too late to be a part of the story. We are passionate about the arts and together we can build a better future through the arts. If you agree, if you believe the arts are good for this community, please consider making a contribution to help secure the future of this beautiful new community arts center. Your gift will be much appreciated!