| Welcome
to the Benton Harbor Arts District. Located in Downtown Benton Harbor,
the Arts District is on a fast tract to revitalizing the downtown area
and city through the arts! The Arts District is part of the City
of Benton Harbor and the Cornerstone Alliance's Community Renewal Through
the Arts program. This program was designed to take vacant buildings
and make them available for purchase to artists. In turn, the artists
would turn the buildings into lofts, studio space, galleries and other
arts related businesses. As of October of 1997, about one dozed buildings
have been earmarked for renovation and several new businesses have moved
into the area.
One of the many success stories of the Arts District is Art's Cafe. The coffee house/restaurant opened in 1997 and has become a center point in the Arts District. The owners (pictured in front of Art's Cafe) were the first entrepreneurs to draw from the Arts Investment Fund donated by Herbert and Audre Mendel and the Whirlpool Foundation. The combined donations of $900,000 makes up the Arts Investment Fund, administered by the Cornerstone Alliance, which makes low interest loans (at about 4 percent) available to artists to renovate existing buildings and set up businesses. Grants can also be made available for the restoration projects. Several
buildings are currently being renovated in Downtown Benton Harbor.
In addition to the many building renovations, several artists are lending
their names to the revitalization. For example, Richard Hunt, an
internationally renowned metal sculptor, has placed a satellite studio
in the heart of the Arts District. The list of renovated or soon
to be renovated buildings are as follows:
Cornerstone Alliance
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