It marks the spot where people of all ages can learn to hone their own art skills.

The new Blanden Art Education Center at 224 S. Eighth St. had its formal debut Thursday afternoon with a ribbon cutting conducted by the Ambassadors of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance. The first art classes were held there during the last week of September.

Art “brings us all together,” according to Angela Ayala, the assistant director and art educator at the Blanden Memorial Art Museum.

“Hopefully, we’ll get more people to come in,” she said.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
A colorful mural designed and painted by Fort Dodge Senior High School students calls attention to the new Blanden Art Education Center at 224 S. Eighth St.

The new Art Education Center features one large room in which tables and easels can be set up in just about any configuration for different classes. It is about three times bigger than the former basement classroom in the museum at 920 Third Ave. S.

Museum leaders have wanted to get the art classes out of the basement and into a more accessible place for years.

“It has been a long time in coming,” Museum Director Eric Anderson said.

In September 2022, the City Council approved purchasing the buildings at 224 and 222 South Eighth Street from Grell Properties LLC for $185,000. The Blanden Charitable Foundation will pay off the principal and interest on bond issue money used for the purchase.

A company that made dentures once occupied those buildings. When that company moved out, another business took them over. That business essentially gutted the structure at 224 S. Eighth St. to prepare for remodeling, but then sold it.

When the city bought the building, it had a new roof, but the interior was basically a shell. Doyle Construction, of Fort Dodge, was hired to convert it into an art education center.

As the remodeling job progressed, members of the Fort Dodge Senior High School Art Club submitted design ideas for the mural on the building’s south wall.. The museum board picked one, and a grant from the Fort Dodge Community Foundation helped to pay for the paint and other needed supplies.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Anderson said. “It gives us more visibility.”

The remodeling work only addressed the building at 224 S. Eighth St. The building at 222 S. Eighth St. has not been worked on yet. Anderson said an art gallery to be called Studio 222 Community Gallery will be created in the front part of the building. Small areas that artists could rent to work on their projects would occupy the rest of it. A garage behind the building is destined to become a ceramic studio called Alley Cat Studio.

But the fronts of both buildings will be addressed first.

“Right now, we’re focused on the front facade to unify the two buildings,” Anderson said.

Meanwhile, back at the museum, the former classroom has largely been emptied. Anderson said it will be converted into a secure storage area for art works.