Twenty-three reasons why the art-free Arts Center of Saint Peter is worth visiting in January:
The shimmer of newly refinished floors will ignite your desire to go home and mop.
Ditto our freshly painted walls. Not our fault if you head straight from here to Arrow Hardware & Paint to spend the rest of the afternoon hunting for your next new perfect shade.
Completing the triple-threat of subtle updates that make a dramatic difference, our gallery lighting has been updated with uniform bulbs that beam the kind of brightness that dissolves seasonal blues (statement not endorsed by a medical professional but come give your eyes a soak and decide for yourself).
Our yarn stash fills a walk-in vault, and it’s color-sorted. Few sights are more soothing.
Our knitting room is cozy and available for first-come, first-served knitters to enjoy as they make progress on ever-elusive projects.
Done with knitting? Not “done" as in “project completed,” but just totally over it? We’ll gratefully accept donations of gently used supplies, tools, materials.
We’ll also gladly provide a receipt for tax purposes.
Got the same issue with sewing? Got a dozen unused spools of thread, some trim, some fringe, one-eighth-inch elastic, and a couple yards of something polyester? We’ll take it.
Even better if we can take it sorted and labeled.
Our scrap fabric stash is currently being organized into labeled bundles, and if you were to plop down on the floor and start measuring/marking/folding/tying it, it is likely no one would stop you.
Also likely that there might be snacks.
Also likely that there’s jazz or folk or blues or old-school country music spilling out of the KMSU studio housed in our building, where volunteer DJs come from St. Peter and elsewhere to record eclectic shows for broadcast on KMSU 89.7FM.
Our sun-filled weaving studio overlooks Minnesota Avenue. Come stand in the presence of looms, look out upon the traffic, and contemplate the metaphors.
Our writers’ room contains a wealth of poetry and craft books, and right now they’re in piles waiting to be sorted and placed neatly on newly assembled shelves. Come settle yourself on the floor, and page through a volume or several until you come across a phrase that hits home.
Got your own stack of poetry or craft book you’re no longer using, but can’t bear to drop at the thrift? Bring it to us.
Got a poem or a lyric or a letter you’ve been aching to write, but it’s just not happening at your kitchen table? Of course it’s not. That’s what the Arts Center’s project tables are for.
One six-foot round. Two rectangular six-footers. One four-by-eight. One seven-foot built-in countertop.
It’s a nice feeling to get just one thing done.
Also nice to make art in community.
It might just be you and the docent-on-duty, sitting around working on your work.
That counts.
We’d love to see you.
Open Wednesday-Friday 1-5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday 1-5 p.m.