Everyone Is an Artist at Art & Connection

The arts hub offers a safe and accessible space to create in Elk Rapids

By Ellen Miller | July 27, 2024

In a bright room with bins of colorful materials lining the wall, Sheri Reid Grant stands over a mold filled with fresh flowers. She recounts the history of Art & Connection, the organization she founded and runs, while stirring a jar of resin, testing ways to preserve her niece’s bridal bouquet. “This is kind of an experiment, because usually flowers float in the resin,” she says.

That spirit of experimentation is ever present at Art & Connection, which opened in Elk Rapids in 2022. The organization offers free workshops and classes in addition to providing space for the public to create, meet, and host events.

The first seeds of the organization date back to Grant’s father, Glenn Reid, who started the Reid Family Foundation. He also owned a collection of miniature engines and model vehicles and opened the Museum of the History of the Industrial Revolution in southeast Michigan. After he passed, Grant liquidated the museum to fund the Reid Family Foundation for future generations.

The foundation went dormant during the pandemic, and Grant experienced a health scare that was a wake-up call. “My life changed, and I wanted to put down some roots,” says Grant. “I wanted to come home.”

Creating a Hub for the Community

Home meant northern Michigan, where she had summered as a child, and putting down roots meant buying a building, even if she didn’t yet know what it would house.

“Elk Rapids chose me,” she stresses. “I almost didn’t even look at the building because it was rough on the outside, but when I walked in there was something about the energy—warm, welcoming, full of possibility. It was visceral. I knew immediately this was the place. It didn’t take long to realize that the people here matched that energy.”

Grant knew she wanted to create a place for people to come together, a comfortable, safe place to learn and grow. As she soul-searched, she recalled how impactful art had been in her life.

“Art was a healer for me,” she explains. In a watercolor class for her 50th birthday celebration, an instructor took a more playful approach, encouraging them to “Choose a color! Let’s see what happens!” Grant realized that art could be both healing and fun.

Art & Connection became a project of the Reid Family Foundation. Grant put her stamp on the building, creating a colorful and imaginative space where children and adults alike can play. Light wood panel walls and soaring ceilings make the space feel open and welcoming, as do colorful art supplies and the models and artwork Grant kept from her father’s collection.

In the classroom area downstairs, participants sit at tables working with an instructor at the front of the room. Nearby at the “Imagination Station,” anyone can drop in and choose one of 20 craft projects to work on independently.

Upstairs, most of the space is being retrofitted to host artist booths. Slated to open in early 2025, the retail space will host teachers as well as artists who have not had the chance to exhibit elsewhere—and unlike a traditional gallery space, will be both commission and rent free.

More than a Building

Speaking of free, that concept extends to the wider community as well. The wall above “the parlor,” a cozy area with couches, is decorated with colorful hexagons; in each is the name of a community organization. Any community organization can host events for free in the space, while private events can be booked for a nominal fee. Weekly groups currently meeting in the space range from euchre and mahjong players to coffee clubs and a monthly art club.

“I knew that I wanted connection to be a part of the place, but I didn’t know it would have such a profound impact,” says Grant, noting how regulars have shared how the space adds meaning to their lives.

As Grant wanders through the space, she mingles, greeting regulars and newcomers alike. “Ooh, let me see what you did!” she crows to a mom and teenager leaving. Walking outside, Grant points to two benches painted to resemble fish. She hopes to host a competition inspired by the Parade of Cows in Chicago, where winning designs are installed in the town with the rest auctioned.

“I put these out here to start generating conversation,” she says. Someday, she also hopes to add an interactive mural to the side of the building.

Last year, the center was able to offer 140 classes and reached over 2,000 people. Art & Connection also provided matching grants for several local projects; hosted a mobile art program at three senior centers; provided a $3,000 grant to create an art program at Sunrise Academy, the alternative high school in Elk Rapids; and distributed 850 summer art bags to local students, with a focus on students in Elk Rapids and schools where most students receive free and reduced-price lunch.

In time, Grant hopes to scale all these programs, in particular expanding the mobile art initiative to more senior centers and to schools so that students have access to art class more than once a week.

Beautiful Mischief

Grant is cautious to provide context that these are just ideas, but she sees the possibilities. “Everyone has been so accepting of what I’m trying to do. There’s an openness to say ‘Let’s try,’” she says.

She points to Art & Connection’s participation in Art Beat, Elk Rapids’ twice-annual celebration of local galleries around town. While Art & Connection isn’t a traditional gallery, they were warmly included and had a great turnout. They also collaborated with Art Rapids for a children’s class teaching watercolor with ink; art from the project was displayed in local businesses throughout town “so the kids feel like real artists. We’ll do that again next year too,” Grant says.

She envisions partnerships with all sectors—government, nonprofit, and private—to continue to increase accessibility to the arts in Elk Rapids and the surrounding area. “Let’s see what kind of beautiful mischief we can make,” she enthuses.

No matter why you visit Art & Connection, you’re invited to bring your full self to the room. Grant emphasizes a few times in our conversation that the organization’s classes are different from a paint and sip experience adults may be used to. She doesn’t want someone to feel they have failed if they don’t come up with the exact same artwork that their neighbor has made.

“A ‘let’s see what happens’ life was nothing like how I’d grown up—achievement-oriented, goal-oriented, no experimenting. To live a ‘let’s see what happens’ life has felt really good, and as a result I’ve kind of fallen more in love with myself. I’m not as hard on myself,” Grant confides.

“That’s what I want our guests to experience. This inner artist that we all have, that has been lying dormant because somebody told you you’re not a good artist or not creative… Everyone is an artist.”

Looking Ahead: Classes & Events

Imagination Station will remain open through the summer until school resumes. Upcoming summer classes for adults range from a whimsy fish installation painting to creating mosaic windows. Registration is free and opens 30 days in advance. A warning from Grant: classes book up fast!

“All our events and classes are completely free to the public. Our mission is about giving people opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have,” Grant says. “That’s why everything is free.”

Art & Connection will offer fewer classes in August to spend time on strategic planning. Additional classes will kick off after Labor Day.

Further into fall, Art & Connection will host their annual pumpkin carving festival in October, with pizza, popcorn, and donuts. Attendees will play themed games like bowling pumpkins and pumpkin mini golf. Pumpkins for carving will be provided for anyone who cannot bring their own.

To learn more about Art & Connection, visit them online at artandconnection.org or in person at 965 Green Street in Elk Rapids.