While the Anderson Arts Center welcomes even the most modern art, the Center is rich in local history.
The Anderson Arts Center was established in 1972 as the Anderson County Arts Council by Callie Stringer Rainey. Early meetings of this group happened on the campus of Anderson University. However, the council yearned for a permanent home.
During that same year, the county library, which was located at 405 South Main Street, began construction on a new facility. The library’s original location, now referred to as the Carnegie Building, was constructed in 1908 as a Carnegie Library. This was one of 14 South Carolina libraries founded by the Carnegie Foundation. The Carnegie building served as the library until their new construction was complete, and at that point, the Arts Center moved into the building. It is listed in the National Register as part of the Anderson Downtown Historic District.
This lovely, historic building offered gallery space and classrooms for teaching children and holding adult workshops.
The library building title was held by the Pendleton District Historical and Recreational Commission, and the space was leased to the arts council. There, the Anderson Arts Center thrived, increasing its arts programming until it was bursting at the seams.
Foreseeing the need of a much larger space, the Anderson Arts Center began making efforts to acquire and renovate an adjacent P&N Railway Warehouse. The warehouse was built at the turn of the century, most likely in 1904 according to official who were able to the date the building by looking at the frame of the elevator shaft, which was dated in 1904. The building served as a storage warehouse for the P & N Railway. Sullivan Hardware also used the space as storage, and McFall Grocery and Barton Grocery were housed in the building at one point. Carolina Produce once stored its bananas along the back wall of the warehouse, because this space was underground and kept the produce at a cooler temperature.
Local residents recite stories of purchasing fireworks in the Warehouse, as well as beer from Frank Distributing.
The building sat vacant for many, many years, and as the Anderson Arts Center continued to grow and realized its need for additional space, the organization purchased the Warehouse in 1999 with plans for major renovations.
After embarking on a capital campaign in 2001 to renovate the Warehouse, the Anderson Arts Center moved its office and galleries into the space in 2006.
The renovated Arts Warehouse is 33,000 square feet with 12 bays. The Warehouse offers ADA-compliant classrooms, artist studios, exhibit space, office and retail space allowing the Anderson Arts Center to open the arts to thousands of people annually.
With the Arts Center utilizing eight of the 12 bays, the others are leased to tenants and include The Market Theater, Visit Anderson, Bay 3 Artisan Gallery, Sounds of Carolina Music Academy, Renaissance Interiors, McKay Zorn & Associates and Living Hope Presbyterian Church.
Preserving as much of the original building as possible, the Warehouse features exposed brick walls, heart pine floors and wooden beams. In addition to art-related activities, the Arts Center Warehouse can be rented for special events such as weddings, receptions and private parties.
Throughout the renovation and the move into the Warehouse, the Carnegie Building was still part of the Arts Center. In 2016, the building was deeded to the Anderson Arts Center to become a permanent addition to its landscape. It currently houses the Center’s permanent art collection, is used for artist studio space and special event rentals.
Today, the Anderson Arts Center hosts approximately 10 gallery exhibits per year, offers art classes for both youth and adults, coordinates opportunities for working artists, participates in public arts projects, offers outreach programs to under-served populations, provides team-building experiences, and collaborates with the public and private sector to ensure the arts remain a vital part of Anderson County.
Want to visit?
Anderson Arts Center, 110 Federal Street, Anderson SC 29625, (864) 222-2787, info@andersonarts.org
