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Quality for 40 years. Space for 40 more.

About 130 years ago Charles W. Snow built a barn, which he used for various purposes, including keeping a team of horses, storing equipment for his building trade, and serving as a retail paint store. The enterprising Snow also rented sections of the barn to a number of tenants. It was, in its day, a hub of activity in Truro. Forty years ago,

Snow’s barn sat vacant. Its new owner Peter Brown intended to demolish it unless a group of local artists wanted to use it for studio space or for a school. Those artists banded together and reclaimed the structure as a hub of artistic instruction and practice.

Following Snow’s lead, the founders of the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill turned his beloved structure into a multi-use facility, renting out studio space and offering expert instruction in diverse artistic disciplines. Four decades of growth Today Castle Hill offers classes in painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, jewelry making, and writing.

Throughout the lower Cape, the Center has become an important community resource, enriching the lives of children and adults, residents and visitors, teachers and students, both within the Center’s main facility at 10 Meetinghouse Road, its annex at 1 Depot Road, and at local schools and nonprofits. While Castle Hill's programs and reach have grown, Snow’s old barn has not. And now the lack of space is limiting the number of artists and distinguished visiting lecturers we can host. Rather than turn away artists and those eager to learn, rather than confine our offerings to the immovable dimensions of the facility’s footprint, we have an extraordinary opportunity to integrate Castle Hill and the Center’s programming

– by purchasing the adjacent property at 12 Meetinghouse Road.The down-market price of the new property is $675,000. In a few years, it will likely be valued at more than $1 million. The time to act is now. With your help, we can.

Since 1971, the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill has provided Cape Cod residents and visitors with the opportunity to learn from some of the country’s most distinguished fine arts faculty. In addition to highly accomplished local teachers, the Center has attracted such distinguished visiting artists and writers as Michael Mazur, Faith Ringgold, Judy Chicago, Saul Bellow, Robert Pinsky, and Erica Jong. There is no question that Castle Hill as it currently stands is a model of success.

Consider these facts:

·         The Center’s programs bring art instruction to students from Provincetown to Orleans.

·         The Center offers workshops year-round, including more than 125 during the spring and summer, and 10 specifically designed for children and teens.

·         The Center sponsors a summer Tuesday Night Lecture Series that is free for members.

·         The Center offer free programs for local senior citizens.

·         The Center provides scholarships to artists living with AIDS for the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod.

·         The Center’s free public gallery features works by faculty, local artists, and students.

So why more space?

The simple reason is that for all we currently do, there is so much more that we could do with adequate space. Not just more workshops and classes, but better and more diverse ones. Not just more visiting lecturers, but more arts “superstars” who could stay comfortably and accomplish more.

Castle Hill could also measurably increase its economic impact on the local community. The 5th Annual International Encaustic Conference held at the Center last June attracted 250 attendees from more than 35 states and five countries. Local hotels and restaurants were filled, and next year’s event could be even larger.

Furthermore, expansion is relatively easy and painless. This is not a new construction project with extended time frames and myriad licensing, permitting, and other costly and time-consuming processes. The opportunity is to purchase an existing, adjacent building. In a buyer’s real estate market, the purchase price of $675,000 is a bargain compared to what it will cost in a few years’ time.

Growing larger does not mean becoming less intimate. The same culture, mission, and values that drive the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill today will be transplanted into the Center’s second home at 12 Meetinghouse Road, and we will be integrated as a campus.

What to Expect

The property at 12 Meetinghouse Road will require minimal renovation to suit our needs. That means that the time between purchase and usage will be short, enabling the benefits and returns on the transaction to be realized quickly.

The new facility will enable us to host new workshops in such areas as painting, drawing, and writing; house 24 more faculty throughout the summer months; and provide additional parking spaces to meet the needs of Castle Hill's growing audiences. By enabling our offerings to grow in pace with demand, we will be better positioned to continue playing a vital role in expanding arts education for all ages in the local community.

By contributing to the Campaign for Castle Hill, not only will you enable us to purchase the property at 12 Meetinghouse Road, you will also make possible these other initiatives we are planning:

·         The Castle Hill Media Lab, which will provide classroom, personal, and instructional technology support for our students.

·         A Community Gathering Space, which will provide opportunities for artists at various levels of experience to congregate,celebrate, and share work of every variety in an informal, relaxed setting. This kind of interaction between students, instructors and the community at large has been a goal of the Center for many years, but to date has been impossible due to space constraints.

·         A proposed Artists Residency program that could provide four-month residencies to local artists to pursue their work independently in a supportive community.

·         Increased scholarships for students interested in the visual arts.

·         An expanded work/study program for those who can’t afford to take classes.

For more information call (508) 349-7511