CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Art Center of Corpus Christi received permission from the Corpus Christi City Council to use land on north Shoreline Boulevard for an expansion project in the future.
Last year, the Art Center of Corpus Christi's attendance increased by 30%. Executive director Dianna Bluntzer said every year more and more people visit and in order to keep up with the growing number of visitors, this expansion project is necessary.
"So, this has now gone from a nice idea for the future to an urgent need. So, that has definitely accelerated our thinking," Bluntzer said.
Bluntzer said the center has made changes to accommodate the demand like extending the hours and breaking up art classes into smaller groups but it isn't enough.
"There is no dedicated work space for education. We have to multi-purpose every space," Bluntzer said. "So, that is the top priority, that is the service that the community really comes to us for."
Earlier this week, city council approved a piece of land across from the center's parking lot for a possible future expansion. Bluntzer said it means a lot and reinforces the art center as an important part of the community.
"It doesn't mean we have drawings on the shelf ready to build," Bluntzer said. "It means that we can now continue to resume the process of planning and seeing how and if expansion in that direction would make sense."
10 years ago, Adam Haney's passion for art was reinitiated after visiting the art center. Now, he is a full-time artist and instructor at the Art Center. He said an expansion will not only be beneficial to the center but to the art community in Corpus Christi.
"I feel like something like this expansion, it's something really necessary for a culture like ours in South Texas where the arts are not really pounded in really heavily. A lot of people that take it seriously end up moving away and there's not a lot of serious artists that stay down here," Haney said.