Location, location, location

The St. Lawrence County Arts Council is hoping, planning, working toward getting an arts center in Potsdam. They have a building available for the project, an old Clarkson College (it is now a University) building on Main St. They have applied for grants to convert it to space for public use, studio rentals, etc. When I drive by the building I find myself wishing it was already a reality. I'd like a studio space in town where I could go and work on my photos two or three days/week, perhaps get back to drawing as well.

I don't just want a separate space though. I could build a studio separate from the house. I've thought of doing that in the past. What is appealing about the arts center concept is that a studio there would be surrounded by other artists whom conceivably could/would drop in occasionally or I could drop in on them. I wouldn't be working in isolation.

I am on Facebook but frankly that isn't the same. Maybe it is just a generational thing but in my mind a friend is someone you enjoy spending time with, talking with face-to-face, even lending a hand to occasionally when they have a project that requires help. People who read brief things you post on Facebook may be friends if you have a relationship beyond FB but by itself I don't really feel bonded to folks I've never met but they occasionally click on "Like" by one of my FB comments.

There was a time when friends and neighbors used to just 'drop in' on one another now and then without a formal invitation. I read a year or so ago that doing that is far less common today than it was in the past and I know it is less common in my life, both others dropping in to say "hi" to me and me dropping in on them. It seems we're all on the go or too busy (posting to FB perhaps or writing on blogs like this one?). I miss that some days. If I had that studio in a building with other studios perhaps on a limited scale we could get some of that back. That would be nice.