After a fire damaged the building that housed Urban Cultural Arts and destroyed all of its supplies, the Mulva Cultural Center in De Pere wanted to help and offered Urban Cultural Arts classroom space to host weekly art classes. PC: Fox 11 Online
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — When a fire destroyed the home of a Green Bay nonprofit, another organization offered space to ensure its programming could continue.
Months later, the partnership is proving to be beneficial for both parties.
It was back on March 6 when a fire destroyed the building that housed Urban Cultural Arts, a creative hub where art, culture and community come together.
“We literally lost everything. No insurance covered anything,” said Executive Director Latosha Greenleaf.
As the nonprofit looked to rebuild, officials with the Mulva Cultural Center in De Pere offered to help.
“We reached out after that and wanted to work with them on a collaborative partnership that would benefit them and also bring new exciting programming to us here,” said Carrie Ryan, the education and programs manager at the Mulva.
With space at the Mulva to host classes, Urban Cultural Arts accepted the offer.
Each week, artists bring a new discipline to the Mulva. The small fee people pay to attend classes has helped the nonprofit recover from the fire and buy new supplies.
Upcoming events include:
- June 15: Pressed flower candle lantern – Design and pour a custom candle featuring pressed flowers and botanical accents that glow beautifully when lit
- June 22: Stained glass bee sun catcher – Learn beginner stained glass techniques while creating a decorative stained-glass bee sun catcher (recommended for ages 14+)
- June 29: Red, white and blue sand candle – Create a layered sand candle with summer-inspired decorative accents including shells and starfish
According to Greenleaf, “It’s been a great partnership, a collaboration of the classes. The people love the classes and the workshops, so it’s been working out really well for us.”
“The fire opened up doors and brought more publicity to it, and people being informed about it and to come. So, that even made me feel a little better as I was sitting here, and maybe a little teary-eyed. ‘Wow, we’re actually helping people by being here,'” said Karla McClone of Seymour.
She said she’d be back for more classes.
These classes are not only helping Urban Cultural Arts, but they’re fulfilling the mission of the Mulva, too.
“We’ve enjoyed supporting them at this really critical, transitional moment in their institution’s life, and it’s also great for our members,” Ryan said. “This partnership serves the mission of the center, which is to connect community and to inspire intellectual curiosity by exploring art, history and science in order to grow the human spirit.”
Urban Cultural Arts is scheduled to host classes at the Mulva through August, but they, along with the Mulva, are interested in continuing their partnership for longer.
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