BRISTOL – Roger Williams University and the nonprofit Arts in Common are pursuing a plan to renovate the long-vacant Walley School at the center of Bristol, for conversion to an arts and cultural hub.
The initial plan for the renovated space would include a public art gallery, shared office space for local cultural groups and headquarters for Arts in Common, according to a news release. The university, a partner in the project, also would become an anchor tenant.
Arts in Common, formed last year, is a collaboration of more than 100 local artists, businesses and community members, according to its website.
In January, the R.I. State Council on the Arts awarded a $50,000 grant to the nonprofit. Its executive director said the project, a collaboration between an artists’ collective and Roger Williams University, had the potential to make Bristol a destination for artists and the art-buying public.
The focus is the redevelopment of the Walley School, a former elementary school that was built in 1896 and decommissioned nearly 100 years later. In 2011, a business plan prepared by Roger Williams University students found the Walley School could be self-sustaining as an arts and cultural center, without municipal support, if it had the appropriate mix of classes, memberships, community support and events.
The renovation cost at that time was estimated at $3 million.
Update: From our in-progress business plan update, the cost estimate to transform Walley is coming in under $1.5M to repurpose the entire building to support maker, education and exhibition spaces without the advanced stage/performance spaces proposed in the 2011 plan. Thank you for the great reporting — Craig Fisher, Arts In Common Co-Chair and Walley Transformation Team Leader.