MIDTOWN TRANSFORMATION
Entrepreneurs, artists, people with disabilities collaborate at Cornell Creative Business and Arts Center
Inside a 20,000-square-foot former textile mill on Cornell Street, entrepreneurs, artists, and people with a variety of disabilities are collaborating.
The Cornell Creative Business and Arts Center is a Midtown site where 300 disabled people once toiled at jobs, but wound up jobless after state cuts to The Arc of Ulster-Greene forced the 2011 closing of the agency’s work center.
Today, a $1.4 million transformation is taking place under the high ceilings of the former Kingston Knitting Mills building at 139 Cornell St.
“(The) Cornell Creative Business Center — and also the upcoming Cornell Creative Arts Center — has a mission and it is to cultivate a synergy between businesses, arts and people with disabilities working creatively together and empowering each other to achieve their goals and true potential,” said Lori McCabe, director of communications and public relations for The Arc of Ulster-Greene, the center owners.
The organization, which serves 1,300 people with dis-
“We want this to be a place where everyone can come enjoy, and appreciate the artistic ‘gifts’ that we all hold, no matter who we are or what kind of ‘abilities’ we have.”
— John McHugh, executive director of The Arc of UlsterGreene
abilities, also plans similar facilities in Ellenville and Catskill, McCabe said.
John McHugh, executive director of The Arc of Ulster-Greene, said creation of the arts center, in particular, stands out as a community endeavor.
“Our vision for the Cornell Creative Arts Center is to build a place that is rooted in collaborative creativity which offers people with disabilities and others in our community the opportunity to learn different mediums of art, taught by local artist, in real art studios and which manifests an energy of learning and exploration that is limitless,” McHugh said in a statement. “We want this to be a place where everyone can come enjoy, and appreciate the artistic ‘gifts’ that we all hold, no matter who we are or what kind of ‘abilities’ we have.”
Anne Bailey, president of the governing board of the Midtown Arts District, said the center will be a significant addition to an already flourishing Midtown arts community.
“Because our mission is to enrich and revitalize our community through the arts, the development of the Cornell Creative Arts Center is a project we want to promote within our large network,” Bailey said.
But it is the business side of the venture that has taken off first, with six “incubator” companies located in “pods” inside the building owned by The Arc of Ulster-Greene since 1981.
McCabe said the startup companies are afforded inexpensive rents for up to three years. In exchange, the companies need to comply with a hiring policy.
“The plan is for the businesses to hire one or more employee with a disability and, as their business grows, so will the need to find larger accommodations,” the center’s website says. “This will allow new businesses to move in and, then, the cycle begins all over again.”
There are nine pods, each measuring 275 to 500 square feet. So far, spots have been taken by Grok Bites, CurrantC, Edenesque, Ram’s Valley, Hemp Home Store, and Phoenicia Honey.
In March, The Arc of Ulster-Greene officially opened for business a 10,000-square-foot section of the building.
“The Cornell Creative Business Center provides nine artisan work sites which includes a shared shipping and receiving warehouse and will allow businesses to have their employees produce, package, label and ship their products,” the center’s website says.
Nowadays, it is the arts center that’s geared for construction, beginning this fall, with an opening planned for spring 2019.
Of the architectural plans for that 10,000-square-foot space with 13-foot high ceilings, one feature stands out, according to Kingston architect Scott Dutton, who designed the renovation.
“The exterior glass walls of the former manufacturing workshop will be reglazed to reintroduce an abundance of natural light during the day and illuminate the space at night,” Dutton said.
McCabe said expressive art has its place with the persons The Arc serves.
“We have people who can’t speak, but they can express themselves through artwork,” McCabe said of the agency’s disabled clientele.
The arts center will 10 artist studios, one dance/ movement studio, and a community room, gallery area, and classrooms. McCabe said there will be an event space that can be used by the community.
Kingston Mayor Steve Noble, who attended a recent “Celebration of the Arts” at the Cornell Street center, said the event illustrated what the building can provide.
“It’s one thing to see a plan for a building on paper, but to be able to see in person the hundreds of people listening and interacting with all of our community artists in this space was truly an amazing experience,” Noble said in a statement.