Her father died without realizing his artistic dream. Now she wants to share it with Columbus.
Her father’s unfulfilled dream and her own frustration are the motivation for this creation — a place for people to come together to make art.
Now, she seeks the community’s help to bring her vision for the Heritage Art Center to full fruition in the Columbus Historic District.
For years, Karen Ouzts yearned for an affordable place in the Columbus area where she and fellow artists could share studio space and collaborate on ideas.
She graduated from Central-Phenix City High School in 1998, then Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Columbus State University, and taught art at Jordan Vocational High School from 2013 until leaving this year to open the center.
“My heart was to always make a difference in the lives of children with art, as I never would have went to college if it were not for Rosa Martin, my high school art teacher,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “Still, I never stopped thinking about my goals for community outreach.”
Her father, Roger Williamson of Smiths Station, had a similar goal. He was a supervisor at Swift Spinning, but he dreamed of being a carpenter.
“He suffered with depression and truly felt, if he were working in woodwork instead of the mill, he would be much happier, but he had no way of raising capital to do so,” Ouzts said. “He thought, after retirement, he would set up a small shop at his home. He saved up and bought a small Action Building and started accumulating tools. … He would say over and over, ‘If I just had a place to work, if I had a place to sell … .’”
Williamson’s dream was cut short in 2012, when he died in a car accident at 59.
Ouzts heard other folks list logistical reasons they didn’t pursue their desire to be an artist, or that they left the Columbus area because they couldn’t figure out a way to stay here.
“My dream is to make theirs come true,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a stay-at-home mom or a highly accomplished artists. They should all have an anchor here, and I want to give it to them.
“Life is very short, and dreams are the seeds to happiness that God puts in our hearts.”
When she disclosed her plan to Cascade Hills Church associate pastor Bob Hawkins last September, he prayed, she recalled, “If this were not meant to be, for the doors to slam shut. But if it were, for them to swing open.”
It took Ouzts nine months to find the appropriate place for the center and seal the deal for the property at 100 and 102 Sixth Street. She signed the lease May 19 — the seventh anniversary of her father’s death.
As she sat amid the renovations that she hopes will allow the center to open in October, she teared up when asked what her father would think about the project.
“He would be very happy,” she said. “The things he sacrificed paid off.”
Running the center will be her full-time job, and she will be the only staff member.
“This dream is way too big to hand over to someone else,” she said. “If I’m going to serve the artists that are here, it needs every ounce of my attention. So I am dedicated to making this work for them.”
She has learned the difference between happiness and fulfillment.
“I’m very happy whenever I’m in a place where I can create,” she said. “But I’m fulfilled whenever I’m helping other people. This is my ‘I love you’ to my father, but this is my gift to the community.”
Project’s scope
Ouzts envisions the center as a hub for local artists, comprising two adjoining buildings totaling nearly 7,000 square feet.
At 100 Sixth Street, the nearly 2,000-square-foot former laundromat, which most recently was used by a church, will contain 10 private studios with 24/7 secure access for artists to rent, along with a darkroom and a kiln.
At 102 Sixth Street, the nearly 5,000-square-foot former warehouse and grocery store, will contain a community studio for at least 20 members at a time, with work stations, a few pottery wheels, sinks and a restroom.
That space most recently was used as a woodworking shop. Ouzts laughed and, alluding to her father’s passion for carpentry, said it’s another sign she found the right home for the center.
Around 50-75 artists will be able to rent space to display and sell their art in the center’s gallery and on its website.
“They get the power of being collectively shown with other artists,” she said, “and I will handle promotion.”
Ouzts said she is close to finalizing a lease for another 2,000-square-foot former grocery store, this one around the corner on Second Avenue, where she plans to have classrooms for artists to teach workshops and possibly be available for homeschooled students.
Reason for name
Ouzts wanted the center’s name to honor not only her father but also other unfulfilled artists.
The night after this past Christmas, she and her husband, Robbie Ouzts, who teaches construction technology and coaches baseball at Carver High School, were walking around downtown Columbus.
When she glanced at the Heritage Park sign, she thought, “That’s perfect, because it pays homage to him (her father), pays tribute to the neighborhood and the community. … It makes it for everybody.”
Potential impact
Across the Chattahoochee River, the Phenix City Art Council has leased since 1995 the former airport administration building at Idle Hour Park, where the Phenix City Art Center conducts weekly classes, monthly meetings and periodic events. But the council’s approximately 30 members can’t rent studio space or permanently display art for sale there, said council president Dale Raines.
That’s why Columbus Artists’ Guild president Rob St. Clair praised the potential for the Heritage Art Center to fill a local niche for the guild’s more than 200 members and other area artists.
“It’s an exciting new venture,” he said. “… It’s something Columbus has long needed.”
Just ask Julianna Wells, a 2013 graduate of Harris County High School with art degrees from Columbus State University and the New York Academy of Art. She paints and draws in her Columbus home because she can’t afford to rent studio space on her own. That’s even more of a problem for artists who need a darkroom or a pottery wheel or a kiln for their work.
“Once those students graduate, they don’t have access to those things anymore,” Wells said. “So a center like Heritage gives them access to those tools that they need to create their art and to have that community.”
Interaction with other artists is “so vital” to creativity, Wells said.
“We can all get stuck in our bubbles,” she said. “But once you’re with your community, you can get feedback from each other, critiques, learn from each other and just really make each other stronger.”
No wonder Wells hopes to be among the first artists to rent studio space from Ouzts at Heritage.
“I’m on her short list,” she said.
Ouzts suggestsed another benefit from the center.
“When an area has art, people naturally assume it’s a safe area,” she said. “They spend more time in that concentrated area. They buy houses. They go to the restaurants. They build businesses. … It’s about the community and how it can serve artists and how artists can serve it.”
Justin Krieg, the director of planning and programs for the Historic Columbus Foundation, agreed.
“Activating previously disinvested and vacant spaces almost always has a positive effect on the surrounding area,” he said. “This property has been essentially vacant for the past two decades and an appropriate use like this will breathe new life into the block.”
Although he noted the mostly residential neighborhood might be concerned about possible noise and parking issues from the center, Krieg said, “It is a good thing that people are seeing value in historic properties or properties that need a new use or vision. These are efforts that make our community more interesting and unique. They help set us apart from other places.”
Fundraising
Ouzts estimated she has contributed a total of approximately $100,000 from her savings and in-kind labor.
As of Wednesday, her campaign at KickStarter.com to raise $25,000 has collected $2,921 from 24 backers.
“I chose KickStarter because, when someone donates, they get rewards,” she said, “which include the opportunity to name a studio, receive an iPhone case featuring work of artists from the Columbus Collective, photo books, behind-the-scenes stories, blooper reels, etc. There’s a reward for every price point.”
KickStarter’s rules make it an all-or-nothing campaign, so Ouzts must return the donated money if her goal isn’t reached by the deadline, Aug. 11.
“I just need a little help getting things over the finish line,” she said.
To contact Ouzts, email her at info@HeritageArtCenterofColumbusGa.com.
