“This was always our dream,” Brown said. “We always wanted to see if we could make the studio successful enough to stay open and then have a retail space.”
Brown said InsideOut first began discussions with the CORE Fund to move into 150 High St. about a year ago.
“That’s when we really started thinking about it, writing our business plan, and really thinking about where we would like to be in Hamilton,” she said.
Currently, the 30 to 40 artists who create art through InsideOut travel to exhibitions at places like the Oxford Community Center and community events, including Operation Pumpkin. InsideOut also has rotating galleries of work displayed at Fort Hamilton Hospital and Straight Shot Coffee in Middletown.
“This offers another opportunity for the artists to earn some income,” Brown said.
While the lease has yet to be signed by all parties involved, Brown said moving in was “a go.”
Upon construction completion, all of 150 High St.’s storefront space will be filled, with Jackson Market taking the storefront on the corner of High Street and Second Street, Joslin Diabetes Centers at Fort Hamilton Hospital taking the 8,000-square-foot center spot, and InsideOut taking the western corner.
CORE Fund Executive Director Mike Dingeldein said construction is expected to begin April 1.
InsideOut will join the recently announced POP Revolution gallery to open at 24 S. Second St., and Artspace Hamilton Lofts, Unsung Salvage Design Co. and Renaissance Fine Arts making headway on High Street as the latest arts-oriented business to announce their move to downtown Hamilton.
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