ArtSpace’s new wheelchair lift was unveiled Friday.
Jacob Espinosa
LIMA —Members of ArtSpace/Lima who live with disabilities will now have greater access to the Lima art institution following a ribbon cutting Friday.
Prior to the installation of a new wheelchair lift, artists could only get to ArtSpace’s Ceramics and Stained Glass Labs by walking down a set of stairs.
“It’s almost like a breath of fresh air to exhale because we’ve waited two years to open this,” Sally Windle, Executive Director at ArtSpace, said. “And it’s actually been 33 years before mobility-challenged people could use this space. It’s been a big relief, but now it’s also an opening and a challenge because we have more areas of ArtSpace that people will want to use.”
Windle said that the lift, which cost $20,000 in total, was funded thanks entirely to donations.
“What happened was we put an ad out in a newsletter and shared our plan and estimates to the community and they responded,” she said. “Procter and Gamble gave us a grant for $10,000 and that was just the start of the donations. This community paid for that lift and it got done a lot sooner in terms of finances than we expected.”
And the lift is a small investment to be able to make the space more accessible to the community.
“When people come in and may not know that we offer other things than galleries, now they will have access to an activity to help them be creative now,” she said. “Sometimes it’s just in visualization and sometimes it’s in practice, but people might not know how creative they are until they really get into something. So now we can offer that opportunity.”
It is all a part of growing the importance of a place that Lima area residents are already supportive of.
“Every community should have an art center,” Windle said. “Because those creative muscles that you’re using when you create something then can be transferred to more things than you thought. I’m very thankful to live in a community that wants to have the arts and supports a place like ArtSpace.”
For more information, stop in to visit ArtSpace by Town Square in Lima or visit its website.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
