AMA finds 'a place to shine'

Awakening Minds Art has a new home. Just 13 months after leaving its downtown studio, the nonprofit organization has relocated to the site of the former Sunshine Institute at 1640 Tiffin Ave. Emily Sullivan, AMA instructor and development director, said it already feels like home. "Once we got all of the stuff in here, the furniture and our pictures on walls, it felt like home really fast," she said. Founded in 2009, the all-inclusive art program provides therapeutic and educational visual art programs for all ages and abilities. AMA had just moved into a new studio at 317 S. Main St. when, in March 2020, Ohio's stay-at-home order was enacted and the organization lost 100% of its services income. The board had to make some tough decisions, which resulted in saying goodbye to the studio. But the agency was able to bounce back and in September resumed its one-on-one therapeutic classes with a small classroom and waiting room at The Sunshine Institute. Sullivan said the Leipsic Community Center has also hosted the agency for many years, and classes continue to be offered there. And this past school year, St. Marks United Methodist Church provided a space for AMA to hold its home-school visual arts classes. "So the community has just been outstanding in hosting us when we needed it," she said. "And then when this space happened to become available, it felt right." 'Room to grow' After the Sunshine Institute, a mental and behavioral health practice, closed its doors in February, AMA was able to make the move into a larger part of the building and now has about 1,500 square feet of space. It's a good fit, as the rooms were already painted in bright colors of green, yellow and blue. "Very AMA colors. You can see why we got along so well," Sullivan said with a laugh. The agency was able to bring back a "doodle bar" in the lobby, stocked with markers and paper for families to use while they're waiting for a class to end. There's also an office, a one-on-one room, and a group classroom that can seat up to 10. All of the furniture in the office comes from the Main Street studio, Sullivan noted. "This was all part of our capital campaign, so it's really important to us for people to know that we didn't lose it all," she said. "Really, the building itself is all we lost, which was sad. But we were able to use those dollars that we fundraised for in order to bring it back." Three more rooms will be available to sub-lease to help make the rent costs more affordable, she said. "That was a huge part of why we chose this place. Again, it's affordable. But with these sub-leased rooms, it not only makes it more affordable, it gives us room to grow," said Sullivan. "So as we need another one-on-one space and eventually we hire someone else, we've got a space." Special honors She said the new studio is dedicated to the families who have kept AMA's mission going over the past year, as well as "those who gave their love and support to us during the 2017-18 capital campaign. For that reason, we felt it appropriate to honor those who sponsored rooms at the Main Street studio." These include Marathon Petroleum, sponsor of the waiting room; FriendsOffice, sponsor of the administrative area; the Spraw Family classroom; and the Crisp & Friends Classroom, with special thanks to Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative. Sullivan said the late Jane A. Wobser was also a huge supporter of the organization. Her quote will be on the wall to welcome guests into the main studio space. "One of the things she used to say was, 'Because everyone deserves a place to shine is why Awakening Minds Art exists.' And so we wanted to honor her that way," Sullivan said. A memory wall in the lobby features art done by one-on-one students who have died. The agency is currently open by appointment only. Sullivan said the best way to reach out is to send an email to ama@awakeningmindsart.org Wolf: 419-427-8419