On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council unanimously agreed to a lease agreement with Jody Mattison for the Lynn House in downtown Antioch. She will operate the building for an art gallery and studio at a cost of $5k for the year.
Mattison, who is the owner of the Lafayette Studio, will open the Antioch location which had been vacant for several years with multiple uses for the local arts community.
Kwame Reed, Director of Economic Development, explained the Lynn House would be operated by a local resident who wanted to operate the Lynn House because it is within the city she resides.
Reed explained classes will be advertised each quarter and charge instructors $25 per class which would then impact the cost per student as the price point.
“The goal with this program is to ensure they are providing ample space to local artists to provide art classes to adults who are looking to learn about art and improve their art skills,” explained Reed. “It does have a studio opportunity as well where artists can have their artwork on the walls for sale or showing.
Reed also said that Mattison plans on working with the school district.
Mayor Pro Tem Joy Motts said Mattison is a local resident who lives around the corner from the Lynn House Gallery and something she has wanted to do for many years.
“This is a great asset for downtown, it is a local resident, it is a local artist. She is renounced with some of her work and I think this is going to be a great opportunity to reopen the gallery downtown with somebody who does live in this community and make it available to our students, and growing community of artist and participate in a lot of events and gallery showings,” said Motts.
Per the city Staff Report, the proposed operation for the Lynn House Gallery and Studio include:
Gallery
The Lynn House will host a rotation of regional and guest artists, highlighting the creativity and talent of East Bay and California residents. The rotating gallery will provide visibility for the instructors, inspiration for continuing and prospective students. Paired with an e-commerce channel, this gallery will serve as an income stream for the business.
Studio Space
LHGS is offering open studio time for the personal use of artists.
Classroom
Both floors of the Lynn House will host fine art classes provided by talented, Bay Area instructors. Classes will bring students in locally, fostering community, and from around the Bay Area, drawing new visitors to the city.
Event Venue
The Lynn House will participate in Antioch Downtown events, providing a midpoint attraction between the main downtown area and the marina. Exhibits could be coordinated with events such as the wine walk, music festivals and car shows, along with art-specific functions such as a yearly plein-aire painting event
3 comments
this is confusing..is this the Lynn House Art Gallery or the Lynn House next door? It says classes will be held on both floors but the Lynn House Art Gallery only has one floor..The Lynn home next door is two story but has been closed for years because it needed seismic work before it could be used by the public.
The Lynn house has 2 stories. The building next door is the historic Hard House, which is closed to the public.
how wonderful for the artists it’s too bad that the city cant do anything for all the homeless that line the front and back and sides of the building been cold
this year. it will take a considerable amount of money from the city to fix the Lynn apartment house and still no help for those homeless the Lynn house was apartments when I lived across the in 1980 to bad they couldn’t have done something with those apartments to help this homeless but I guess it’s just as well
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