When Governor Andy Beshear showed up at MSU’s Wrather Auditorium recently, the most enthusiastic members of the crowd represented local nonprofits, their loyal volunteers, and avid supporters.
The biggest check of the day — a $750,000 community development block grant — went to Murray Art Guild for a new facility to be constructed on the site of their current building.
“These dollars will help the county demolish the current Murray Art Guild building at 500 Fourth Street,” Beshear said. “The old building will be replaced with a state-of-the-art facility complete with community studios, individual artist space, a new retail space and a gallery for exhibitions. The new facility will provide artists with a space for them to work and to showcase their art.”
Debi Henry Danielson with the check from the governor. (Photo from Murray Art Guild)
In addition, the governor declared, “We have to invest in our infrastructure, we have to invest in our people, we have to invest in our nonprofits that are doing God’s work.”
Accepting the check, MAG Executive Director, Debi Henry Danielson, said that the project demonstrates “how art can raise the community.”
In a follow-up interview, Danielson chronicled her own path to the non-profit world through her passion for art. The Murray native remembers Betty Scott, who taught art at Murray High School and was also active in the Murray Art Guild.
“I would go there to watch her paint,” Danielson said. She also remembered supporting the Guild during middle and high school by attending the annual art fair at Kenlake State Park.
After high school, Debi attended Centre College to earn a BFA. She returned to her hometown for an MA in Art at MSU, and then went on to University of Tennessee/Knoxville for an MFA.
After that, she admitted, “I didn’t imagine I’d be in Murray,” but she applied for teaching positions at MSU and Austin Peay State University. She also worked at the Big Apple when it was still south of the border in Tennessee. In the meantime, she was doing some teaching and also creating art, tending to her family, and working in her studio at home.
“I decided Murray was the place to be,” she said.
Artist rendering of the new MAG facility (top), and the current facility. (Photo from Murray Art Guild)
When she was invited to become a board member of the Guild, she saw the membership was aging out and ongoing management via volunteers was not feasible in the long run. “Times were changing,” Danielson remarked. “For the Guild to survive, we needed a paid director.”
Since its founding in 1967, the Guild has had several homes and has transitioned from volunteer management, to a part-time paid director, to full-time director. Today, there is also an assistant director.
Brittney Stuart Falwell, Danielson’s AD, moved to Murray when she was four years old. Her involvement with MAG was family oriented. She shopped at the holiday sale and ferried her kids to after school classes and workshops.
When MAG moved to its current location, the Falwell family enjoyed Summer Art Parties. Once Brittney joined the board, she also began volunteering. Her active participation and useful background turned into the assistant director position.
“Debi and I have different skills,” Falwell explained. She mentioned her experiences in bookkeeping, business development, networking, and overall entrepreneurship as assets.
“I’m good at making things simpler and streamlined,” she said.
The idea of building a new facility began to take shape when a local artist and long-time MAG supporter made a major donation.
“We could do more than get a new roof,” Falwell quipped, adding that the donation led to ideas of doing something bigger.
With assistance from Rachel Foley at the Purchase Area Development District, MAG began to explore grant opportunities. “It took three years of working with PADD,” Danielson recalled.
“We helped to gather information, like data and statistics about the board, programs and services, and PADD worked with Calloway County officials.”
Moving to the next phase of the grant brings additional tasks and challenges, including putting the project out to bid and following the prescribed process while adhering to the timeline.
“We raise 95% of our budget,” Danielson said, so current activities and tasks associated with the transition and building the new facility will be happening simultaneously.
When asked about the vision of MAG’s future, Falwell looked ahead to 2027, which will mark MAG’s 60th year anniversary. “We’ll have the new building and things should be rolling. We’ll be thinking about programming and art outreach,” she declared.
Looking ahead, Danielson sees a landscape in which the community will think beyond youth classes and workshops and recognize how important the arts are to the community as a whole.
“Non-profits are a very important sector in the community and the community needs our services,” she declared. “The arts are one more thing to make Murray a well-rounded community.”
