One of Lakeland’s hubs for artists and creative minds will close its doors in September because of financial struggles.
ART/ifact announced Friday via Facebook that it would close its doors after seven years serving as a nonprofit providing a collective space for artists to create and exhibit their work in Lakeland. The gallery’s last day will be Sept. 23.
“I’ll confess I’ve been dreading making this announcement, and at a total loss for words with how to even begin making it. It is with the heaviest heart that I share the difficult news of ART/ifact’s closure. After 7 years of service to our artists and community, the physical building we occupy is being sold,” reads its Aug. 16 post.
Elizabeth “Eli” Hults, director of ART/ifact, admitted that it’s a more “nuanced problem with nuanced reasons” to The Ledger.
ART/ifact is located at 820 N. Massachusetts Ave., a building it has leased from the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency since 2016. The building was formerly occupied by The Salvation Army.
Valerie Farrell Vaught, Lakeland’s CRA manager, said the property is not being sold, but rather ART/ifact was more than eight months past due on its rent. Earlier this year, Vaught said the CRA provided appraisals to each of the CRA’s tenants to give them an idea what each building was worth and allow them to get their finances in order to purchase their space.
Hults said they were led to believe there were already multiple bids to purchase the building.
On July 9, Lakeland CRA sent a notice to Artifact Studios Inc. that it had failed to pay rent dating to March 2024 with a past-due balance of $10,667.40. It said the organization failed to meet the terms of its lease agreement because it did not have a general liability insurance for the leased space as required by the city.
The CRA gave ART/ifact studios 10 days to come up with the money and procure insurance.
Hults said a partial payment of $5,000 was made on July 9. Hults, who uses the pronouns they/them, said they didn’t expect what came next.
“We have been late long before on payments and it’s never been an issue,” Hults said. “We always eventually caught up.”
On July 25, Lakeland CRA served ART/ifact with a formal notice of default terminating its lease. The lease had been slated to run through May 2027.
“I understand the terms of business. In business, a landlord can come down as hard as they choose to. If you want to evict a person, you evict a person. If you want to see a business flourish, you work with the person,” Hults said. “The choice to come down as hard as they have is unfortunate and disappointing.”
Hults said they feel the termination of ART/ifacts lease is in a part a shortcoming on their part, and is concerned how it’s going to impact Lakeland’s artists and creative economy.
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The artistic nonprofit had been heavily impacted by the COVID pandemic, Hults said. More than 50% of the gallery’s tenants left in a three-month period.
“There are so many people relying on this space for their livelihood,” Hults said. “We were finally in a place where we were generating additional revenue from events to get up to date and in good standing again.”
Currently, ART/ifact has 19 tenants, or artists in residence, with an additional five co-working tenants. These individuals will need to find new offices and studios by mid-September.
Hults said they have never taken monetary compensation for their work with ART/ifact. The nonprofit has no employees and relied on volunteers and the community.
“I am not done,” Hults said. “I am going to take a hiatus to figure out what is next. I believe in having a dedicated artist facility.”
The nonprofit’s last public event in the space will be Chroma Fest on Aug. 30 from 6 to 10 p.m. The event will feature a fashion show, live performances and vendors. It is the second business within that block of Lakeland CRA owned buildings to close in recent months, after the Yard on Mass. The CRA put out a Request for Proposals and has received two potential interest offers. It’s selection committee will review them before recommending to the City Commission which party to begin negotiations with.
