The GloArts Team is currently developing a proposal with the goal of renting the second and third floor of the Brown’s Building at 11 Pleasant Street, Gloucester, MA, totaling over 17,000 square feet. This flexible, multidisciplinary model can also be applied to other locations in town.
Already home to MAGMA for the past seven years, the top floors of the historic Brown’s Building have been largely empty for over two decades. Built in 1893, it has been a department store, a boxing ring, and ballroom, among other uses. Most recently, it was home to artist studios and offices. The Brown’s Building is located between Main Street, the Cape Ann Museum, the Sawyer Free Library, and Gloucester City Hall in the center of the Harbortown Cultural District. It is walking distance from the Gloucester Train Station and from Harbor Loop. The ground floor is home to 1623 Studios and a design studio.
Our proposal for the second and third floor of the building includes:
- Improving MAGMA’s existing dance studio
- Music classrooms and recording studios for Alexandra Grace Music Studio
- Rehearsal and classroom space for Lanes Coven
- A new community hall available to the entire community for performances, rehearsals, exhibitions, events, and more.
- 10-15 individual artist studios available to local artists and/or arts organizations
Housing these pre-existing arts businesses with their dedicated followings in the same building creates an immediate multidisciplinary arts center with endless opportunities for creative collaboration both at the professional level and the educational level.