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Arts center a warehouse of creativity

A 76-year-old industrial building in downtown Peoria that once housed metal stamping and work glove manufacturing survived the Depression, life as a retail-wholesale jewelry outlet and urban blight only to re-emerge in recent years as a hub of creative enterprise.

The brick paver street in front of the building has craters and moguls. The building's roof recently started leaking and was replaced at significant expense. The well-worn facade is patched and undistinguished.

But inside the Murray Center for the Arts is the largest complex of working artists in central Illinois.

As has been their tradition in recent years, some of the artists are hosting a holiday open house, inviting the public to tour their studio spaces, shop for holiday gifts and catch some of the synergy inside the old walls.

Potter Jacob Grant, a Bradley University MFA graduate and featured artist in an upcoming issue of Sunshine Artists Magazine, said building tenants look forward to discussing their work with visitors and talking about the role of art in the local economy.

In fact, Grant recently buttonholed Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, outside the building during Landesman's whirlwind tour of the community. Grant guided him and his entourage on an impromptu half-hour tour and discussion of the building.

"How do we want to be known as a community? By our Wal-Marts and our strip malls, or by our thriving art community?" Grant said. "In any city that has undergone revitalization, artists move into affordable spaces in older warehouse districts. Artists can see raw form ... they are drawn to those spaces."

Key to the vitality of this kind of transformation is not to run artists out when development begins. The best urban renewal keeps a diverse mix with artist studios, galleries, restaurants, shops and condominiums, Grant said.

"There are tons of wonderful old warehouses in this district. We already have an established art community. This concept can grow," he said. "Places like this hold energy, build synergy, create vibrancy. Artists feed off that."

Grant will have small, handmade Christmas decorations as well as his larger bowls and platters for sale at the open house.

"This open house is not just about selling. It's about drawing attention to the building and the role this building plays in revitalizing the downtown," he said.

James Jenkins, a sculptor and painter, has worked from a studio in the building for 15 years. Jenkins, whose work is sold internationally, said the open house is an opportunity for people to come feel and experience a creative environment.

"Art is the glue that holds a society together. From my years teaching to years as a producing artist, it's easy to see the influence of art, from the shoes we wear to the cars we drive," he said.

Building owner George Murray, 73, and his son Brian manage the day-to-day operations of the Murray Center for the Arts. The building originally was purchased by Murray's father, who operated a tire business there. He rented space in the building to other businesses and once had more than $1 million of Seagram liquor stored on the second floor. He died at work in his office in the building in 1982 at age 77.

Today, George and Brian Murray have plans for displaying their tenants' art in the 12 50-inch by 50-inch street-front windows. They'd like to see the street repaired and narrowed to one lane in one direction, allowing streetscaping so people could stroll through and enjoy the window displays.

The building is within blocks of the Contemporary Art Center, the Peoria Art Guild and WTVP-TV, creating the potential for gallery walks.

Currently, about 25 artists work in the building, and the Murrays say with renovation they ultimately could have studio space for 50.

"It's weird," Grant said. "George is a businessman, but he's unlike any businessman I know. If rent is a day late, he says, 'Don't worry. I know you'll get it to me as soon as you can.'

"I feel guilty if I don't get my rent in the day before it's due. He keeps this building alive. He keeps rents affordable. This wouldn't be possible without George."

Without his low studio rent, Grant said he'd be forced to work out of his basement.

"That's the only other option, and it's just not feasible. Here we have space and a supportive environment. It's easy to be reclusive here, but it's also OK to pop in another studio and bounce around an idea."

"Unbelievable," is how Grant characterizes escalating property taxes for the building and the ongoing struggle by the owners to keep rents low enough so the building can incubate new artists as well as provide vast, light-filled spaces for tenants with national and international reputations.

Something else happens when so many artists are concentrated in one spot, Grant speculates.

"Art is a process of thinking. Artists are problem solvers. We are constantly looking for answers and constantly searching for truth," Grant said.

He believes creative thinking is a process that extends beyond studio artists and can be found among industrial workers at Caterpillar Inc. and professionals in the medical community.

"Art helps exercise thinking. People say artists think the way they do because they are artists. But I say artists think the way they do because they exercise that portion of their brains. Making art helps with thinking," he said.

"Without an environment that fosters creativity, we become numb. We become desensitized and develop a Wal-Mart mentality. Mass advertising creates its own alternative truth."

Ken Tiessen, a portrait and landscape painter, said unlike a museum or gallery exhibition with finished pieces, the open house is an opportunity to see works in progress, work environments and work evolution.

"What comes first, a hotel or visual arts, theater and symphony? Maybe it's that chicken and egg thing, but I think the arts come first. People see a place is vital and exciting and they will come," Tiessen said. "Arts generate a kind of excitement. Not the excitement of an amusement part, but the excitement of ideas and beauty."

Clare Howard can be reached at (309) 686-3250 or choward@pjstar.com.