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Community gem rescued from sands of time
Betsy Schoepf's vision for the Beach Art Center was like a beachcomber finding a jewel in the sand - and the community awaits even more surprises.
By AMY WIMMER
© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 5, 2001
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| Schoepf |
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH -- The roof had caved in. The city had condemned the building. And those who had tried to keep the doors open at the Beach Art Center had grown frustrated.
Enter Betsy Schoepf. Almost five years ago, she agreed to take over management of the center from the widow of George King, an Indian Rocks Beach artist who started offering classes there in 1978.
Under Schoepf's leadership, the Beach Art Center rallied support from the community and city and bought the building from its owner, the American Legion. Then the roof was repaired and the center began offering art classes on a $110,000 annual budget.
Soon Indian Rocks Beach's active network of volunteer groups discovered the art center could accommodate their meetings and parties, making it a center of gravity for Indian Rocks Beach.
"I'm extremely grateful for having come so far in just a few years," said Schoepf, 63.
Now the art center is ready for the next step. Schoepf is optimistic about chances for a cultural facilities grant from the state -- a grant that would turn the old American Legion post into a more complete art center with pottery facilities and improved galleries.
Community support is helping with the grant. The group can include the reduced rate it paid the American Legion for the building -- $50,000 for a structure valued at $180,000 -- as part of its local match. A local architect volunteered his services for the building's redesign. The Beach Art Center hopes to receive $143,000 in grant money.
"I sort of feel like I'm standing in the center of a spoked wheel and watching all the spokes go . . . around and around," Schoepf said, "and I'm watching all the wonderful things happening around me."
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