Non-profit artist space grows in Iowa City

IOWA CITY - When artist Bella Vine moved to Iowa City from Tuscon, Arizona, to be closer to her family, she never intended to open a non-profit artist studio and teaching center.

She just set out to find studio space.

It was harder than she'd anticipated. In Iowa City's tight rental market, most places were far more expensive than she could afford. She met others who were also struggling to find places to do their art without breaking the bank.

So she hatched a plan and rented out space at 1041 Arthur Street in Iowa City, in a Towncrest neighborhood building shared by Jones and Zirker Family Dentistry. In the office spaces not being used to clean teeth, she began setting up studios and finding artists to sublease them. That was as far as she planned to go.

Then the neighborhood inspired her.

When parents and their children living in nearby apartments and houses said they wanted a place to do art too, she found she couldn't say no.

'When I was a kid I always wanted to be able to paint or make things. My mother never had the funds for it, she was busy supporting us and raising us,” she said. 'I know what it's like. I know schools have art programs, but there's so much more out there, so much more you can experience.”

So she's working on turning Taag Studios and Galleries, which opened in June, into a full-fledged teaching center, complete with classrooms, painting space, a woodworking shop and a ceramics room. She's recruiting other artists as volunteer teachers and searching for funding to set up a scholarship program for classes.

'I think everyone should be able to enjoy art. It's so very necessary for the soul,” she said. 'But it's very expensive to buy supplies and pay for classes.”

She's already taken on one student, a teen she agreed to mentor. His friends want to join him, but Vine doesn't have the space or funds yet to cover more art supplies.

Once the classroom and workshop spaces are ready - she hopes by the end of the year - she can start offering more classes. Classes will cost money for many students, with the funds going to support supplies for scholarship students and into keeping the building going. She has a list of 54 kids waiting to sign up for the scholarship program.

For now, Taag - an acronym for Towncrest Area Artists Group - has space for 17 studios, with eight still open to renters. A premier gallery show just wrapped up, featuring one of the artists renting studio space.

She shares the building with a partner business, Dreamscape Tattoo, co-owned by tattoo artists Mickey Cook and Matthew Starks. Starks is also her Taag's co-director. They met at church.

'I want to have artists from all different mediums, and I want that to include body art,” Vine said.

Dreamscape is working on renovations to the space, and eventually will incorporate more artist studios into it's office.

'We'd really like to see not just our art, but everybody in the building get more exposure,” Cook said.

Taag is a registered non-profit in Iowa, and Vine is waiting for federal 501(c) 3 designation to come through. Someone has already donated an entire wood shop's worth of tools, and donations of art supplies have come in.

'I'm so blessed by the generosity of people, it's unbelievable,” Vine said.