Market Street Art

Market Street Art Center is a small and charming art gallery that displays the talents of local artists. If you visit, you will most likely catch an artist in their studio. I consider that a good thing. However, I walked by an opened studio once and the artist called me inside. He was working on a painting and asked me for a critique. Oh, dear… What am I suppose to say to that? While that is an honor, the wallflower in me hates being put on the spot. That was my first visit to the center and I stopped by on a whim. I did not know what to expect, but I was not expecting to voice my opinion on anything. However, I now come here often and I have yet to be put on the spot like that again. I don’t know what it is, but some days I am unbelievable shy.
Good news though — once I dropped in when they were setting up an exhibition. Like I said, I’m a wallflower so I didn’t want to be in the way, but they were actually happy to have me there and encouraged me to watch. So I did. It was a lot of fun to watch the artwork being displayed and hung. As the young man hung the paintings, he would give me the artist’s back-​story. It was really interesting and thoughtful. To be honest, I thought the gallery would have been full of mostly younger artists, but it was cool to find out that some of the artists have been painting for over fifty years. And some of them were teachers.
Speaking of teachers, the MSAC does offer classes. I haven’t taken any though, so I really can’t comment but it is difficult to find quality classes that are local. But with the MSAC, you can actually witness the talent of the teacher before you sign up. You can’t beat that.
As I mentioned early, the man was able to tell me the back-​story of all the artists. That to me shows me what a close-​knit group the MSAC has created. It’s a very nice and friendly environment. It is a community of artists. They hold plenty of events for artists to get together and socialize. It’s nice to be somewhere where people share the same interest.
I have never rented studio space there, but I can describe the setting. The center used to be an old factory that they converted into studios. Each room is a different artist’s studio. The studios on the first floor are decorated. By that, I mean all the finished work is displayed and the space is dolled up to create an ideal presentation for their work. When you reach the second floor, the studios have works in progress. The artists actually use the space to fling paint around. But you are not limited to the confinement of just the studio room. There is also a larger studio where all the artists can work alongside one another and possibly form a dialogue if they chose. It’s a great space for larger projects or casting because the individual studios don’t seem to have sinks. But I have seen artists work outside too. The artists have 24 hour access to their studios. That to me is appealing because I like to work on projects early in the mornings — around 2 am or 4 am. I’m usually not working anything that needs a lot of natural light. While I only come to the MSAC to browse, there is always someone there who tells me everything I need to know about renting a space. Who knows — maybe one day…
Check out their website because they don’t just rent out studios, you can also rent a gallery if you belong to an organization that would like to host an exhibition.
MSAC also has a small gift shop which offers beautiful, one of a kind jewelry. But they have lots of artwork from local artists available, such as pottery, glassware, and prints. However, you can buy artwork from the individual studios too. The gift shop also has Lockport collectibles. People get a kick when I send out Lockport postcards, so I’m always on the lookout for those.
Support local artists and drop by the Market Street Art Center!