Wayne Center for the Arts celebrates its 50th year

The Wayne Center for the Arts is celebrating 50 years in 2023. As the world has evolved and changed dramatically over the last five decades, one might consider it remarkable this institution has remained steadfast as an anchor in downtown Wooster since it moved into the building on South Walnut Street that formerly housed Walnut Street Elementary in 1983, 10 years after its beginning in a building at The College of Wooster.

Art supports youth. Art inspires creativity. Art benefits mental health. Art can be a catalyst for economic development in the downtown area. Yet not all residents realize art is a driver that helps maintain community cohesion and connection.

“I do believe that the arts vastly improve the quality of life for everyone in the community. Whether they are direct participants or not, they are indirect beneficiaries,” said Sally Patton, a WCA board member.

Founded as the Wooster Arts Center in the basement of the college art museum, the organization was one of the first community arts centers housed on a college campus.

In 1983 the Rubbermaid Foundation purchased the abandoned Walnut Street School, which was built in 1902. The foundation renovated the building and provided the arts center with a new home, and in November 1984, it was opened to the public, changing its name to Wayne Center for the Arts in order to better reflect the constituent area served.

The Rubbermaid Foundation donated the building to Wayne Center for the Arts in June 1999, and since that time the organization has continued to grow and evolve, offering numerous activities throughout the year including classes, special events, performances and exhibits.

Former board member and current WCA member Tricia Pycraft said the arts center plays a role in workforce attraction. At the law firm where she works, “We also push the arts center when people are moving here and want to know what there is to do with kids,” she said.

WCA’s executive director is Sara Brink, who just celebrated her one-year anniversary in that position. Brink has spent much of her career working in nonprofit management, most recently at The Wilderness Center’s Foxfield Preserve.

Brink grew up in Wayne County, just south of Wooster, growing up in the Triway School District.

One of her earliest career inspirations was attending a concert at WCA, which ended up leading her to a job with the Cleveland Orchestra and then on to the Ravinia Festival in Chicago.

“Boy was that eye opening for a farm girl to get to go to Chicago and work and live at an entirely different speed,” Brink said. “And now it feels a lot like coming full circle, having been in the arts center when I decided to follow a new career and now in my role as director. I feel like it’s where I was meant to be.”

The thread that brings the pieces of her career together is a desire to help people.

“In the nonprofit world, you are serving people. And one thing I took away from Foxfield is a real understanding of and a compassion for people and their experiences,” Brink said. “And that not only helps me as an executive director, (but) also helps me be a better human.”

What’s next for WCA?

WCA recently completed a strategic planning effort that was informed by input from Wayne County residents and stakeholders from partner organizations.

“What I’ve been most enthusiastic about has been holding the community engagement sessions that helped inform our strategic plan,” Brink said. “Being able to hear from our supporters, neighbors and partners and knowing what they truly value about us has really invigorated my vision for where our organization can go.”

One theme that surfaced from the engagement sessions was “art is for everyone,” and WCA is looking for additional ways to remove barriers so more Wayne County residents can access the arts. But sometimes the barrier is a mindset.

“We work with a group from OneEighty, and it’s their monthly outing that they come here,” Brink said. “The teacher shared with me that this group of people will be drawing, and a gentleman was going so hard on himself and said, ‘I can’t draw,’ but the teacher looked at it and thought it was amazing.

“And she held it up to the class and had so many positive comments about his piece. What they were seeing in it was entirely different than what he was seeing. He straightened his shoulders and said, ‘Maybe I’m not bad at art.’”

Patton also appreciates the “art is for everyone” concept. “I like the inclusivity of the arts center. I like the fact that little miracles happen every day with young people coming in and discovering that this is something they do and enjoy,” she said. “It’s good for the community and good for the individuals who participate.”

WCA also recently completed a survey to get feedback on its programming. Another way they are maintaining relevance is adding new classes and evolving to meet community needs. Pycraft shared her appreciation of the variety of classes being offered, many of which her three children have taken.

“The breadth of offerings and the fact that they have worked to expand that recently to include theater and more technological types of arts such as photography, graphic design, digital arts, artificial intelligence art lab and other types of computer-based art (differentiates WCA),” Pycraft said. “I think doing the things they have always done well, consistently, like dance and pottery are staples, and having the courage to expand into different areas to stay relevant at the same time, that is a challenge and they have done it successfully.”

Registration is now open for fall classes at www.wayneartscenter.org. The WCA will launch its 50th anniversary celebration this fall with a series of special events to which the community will be invited, including the WCA Fall Festival on Oct. 7 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., at which the anniversary exhibit will be displayed and cake and ice cream will be served.