Alisia Glasier and Max Collins worked with Springville Center for the Arts (SCA) to expand and transform arts opportunities available in the rural community of Springville, New York. The artists remodeled a vacant storefront on Main Street in Springville into a community-focused art gallery and workshop space called ‘The Lab’ wherein the artists hosted a participatory exhibition that invited community members to submit ideas for local mural projects, offered a variety of art-making workshops, and provided opportunities for local and regional artists to perform and share their work. The artists worked with SCA to produce several festivals, including the annual Springville Arts Crawl, the Bootleg Soiree, the Party on Pearl where a new 77’ mural was unveiled, and outreach events in rural, neighboring communities. The collaboration culminated in a photography exhibition by Max, called “Faces of Springville,” that captured portraits of Springville community members while Alisia created a body of work about the experience of grief and loss titled “Absence.”

Springville Center for the Arts is a rural multi-arts center that actively engages people from the local community, the western New York region, and beyond through performances, exhibitions, education, and other arts programs. A catalyst for creative inspiration and development, Springville Center for the Arts encourages all segments of the local community to participate in the arts programming and thus build appreciation for the arts, transforming surrounding rural communities.