FOLLOW YOUR ART on Main St., Melrose celebrates its five years of business in the community. (Photo by Raj Das, edphotos.com)
MELROSE — Follow Your Art Community Studios (FYACS), a Melrose-based nonprofit community arts center serving the Metro North area, is celebrating its fifth year in 2024. In that time, FYACS has been building community by supporting the creative endeavors of all ages and abilities with opportunities for learning, growth, discovery and outreach through visual arts, ceramics, writing, performance and public art projects accessible to all. Several celebrations will take place throughout the year, including a ticketed birthday party and fundraiser at 647 Main St. on the evening of June 7.
A growing resource for local creatives: In 2018, FYACS’ founder Kris Rodolico developed a plan to evolve Follow Your Art, her small business started ten years earlier, into a nonprofit community arts center. Members of the community came together to make this vision a reality and a small group of investors purchased the beautiful, historic Victorian home, a.k.a. The Big Yellow House at 647 Main St. Built in 1889, this striking building in the heart of Melrose was once the church parsonage for the First United Methodist Church and now provides classroom, event, studio and gallery space for local creatives to share and celebrate the arts. Many of the events are free and open to the public.
Since its founding in 2019, Follow Your Art Community Studios has become a hub in the Metro-North area for the creative arts, having successfully expanded its programming, staffing, youth development opportunities and ability to provide tuition and adaptive support year on year. FYACS reaches over 1,000 children, teens and adults every year with over 200 classes, workshops, summer programs and special events. It provides studio space to over 30 artists and writers in residence and the Gallery on the first floor of the building holds rotating public exhibits and artisan markets featuring works by FYACS students and artists from the greater community. An on-site ceramics studio was opened in 2022 and a new outdoor patio and venue for concerts and other gatherings will open this Spring. Outside the Big Yellow House and in partnership with other local organizations and municipal programs, FYACS has created dozens of community art projects and murals, hosted fellowships for emerging artists and writers and generated commissions for teen artists.
What really sets FYACS apart as an active and growing resource for local creatives is the organization’s focus on financial and adaptive support for individuals and families who otherwise may not have access to creative programs, including post-high school grad students and individuals with disabilities in the communities FYACS serves, including Melrose, Malden, Medford, Everett, Revere, Stoneham, Saugus and Wakefield. To date, more than $25,000 has been provided by the FYACS Arts for All program toward tuition reductions and adaptive assistance so that people of all backgrounds, incomes, abilities and identities can share a sense of belonging at Follow Your Art Community Studios. “You’ve created something really special here,” shared a recent participant. “This place is a gift to the community.”
Celebrating five years of FYACS: To celebrate the five-year milestone and launch FYACS into its next five years, the community is invited to a ticketed birthday celebration and fundraiser at 647 Main St. on Friday, June 7 from 7 to 10 p.m. Performances include live music from nationally-touring professional musician and Melrose resident Mark Erelli and FYACS Teen Coffeehouse stars “The Peanut Gallery” with Oren Santillo, Sammy McQuaid and Jonah Peters, storytelling by RIlda Kissel, poetry by Kerry Kurdziel and much more. A silent auction with artwork by local artists will be held in the FYACS Gallery. Funds raised during the event will go towards the Follow Your Art Community Studios’ capital campaign to purchase and renovate its facilities to better serve the residents of Melrose and the surrounding communities.
For more details and tickets, visit fyamelrose.org/follow-your-art-turns-5. Additional celebrations will continue later this year, including a free, all-community celebration in early September.
