Ten years ago, when the Starland District was not quite the hip zip that it has grown into, three artists walked into a nondescript, two-story brick building at the corner of Bull and 39 th streets to tour the bare-bones facility and decide whether or not to sign a six-month lease and attempt to establish some type of temporary art space.
They were all holding down multiple jobs while trying to carve out of their schedules time to make art, so they decided to seize the opportunity despite not knowing exactly what they might manifest inside the aging property. That six-month lease turned into a year lease, which turned into a two-year lease, and this Friday, Nov. 1, the trio will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of ARTS Southeast , one of the most dynamic community arts organizations in Savannah.
“If it had lasted six months and been really cool, I would have thought that was fun,” said co-founder and treasurer Jennifer Moss.
“We thought, let’s make it as awesome and as fun as we can and just see what happens,” added co-founder and Facilities Manager Alexis Javier. “The first few years were like that.”