Anton Art Center facts for kids
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| Established | 1904, 1969 |
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| Location | 125 Macomb Place Mt Clemens, Michigan 48043 United States |
The Anton Art Center is a beautiful historic building in Mount Clemens, Michigan. It started its life as the town's first library, called the Carnegie Library. Today, it's a busy art center where people can see and create art. Because of its special history and design, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
Contents
From Library to Art Center
The building has a long and interesting history, changing from a place for books to a place for art.
A Gift from Andrew Carnegie
The building was designed by an architect named Theodore VanDamme and was built in 1904. The money to build it, $17,000, was a gift from Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was a very rich businessman who gave away much of his money to help communities. He helped build over 1,600 libraries across the United States.
At the time, Mount Clemens was a popular tourist town because of its mineral baths. So many people visited that the new library was quickly too small for both the town's residents and all the tourists.
A New Life as an Art Center
In 1969, the library moved to a bigger, newer building. The old Carnegie building was given a new purpose. It became home to The Art Center, a non-profit group that supports art in the community.
The building was recognized as a historic place by the state of Michigan in 1978. In 2005, a generous donation was used to build a new addition. To honor the donors, the building was renamed the Anton Art Center.
What's Inside the Art Center?
The Anton Art Center is a hub of creativity for the community. It offers many different art experiences for people of all ages.
Art for Everyone
The center shows art from local artists as well as artists from around the country and the world. It also offers art classes for anyone who wants to learn.
The center works with the famous Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Sometimes, the DIA loans amazing artwork to the Anton Art Center for everyone to see. In the 1990s, the center even displayed a painting by the world-famous artist Vincent van Gogh.
A Look at the Building's Design
The Anton Art Center is built in the Neoclassical style. This style was inspired by the grand buildings of ancient Greece and Rome.
The building is made of a reddish-orange brick and sits on a raised basement. The front is symmetrical, meaning both sides are mirror images of each other. The most noticeable feature is the main entrance, or portico. It has large Doric columns and is made of a lighter, buff-colored brick.
This lighter brick is also used for the basement level and for decoration. You can see it in the cornerstones, called quoins, and in a decorative band, or frieze, that runs along the top. A heavy, decorated ledge called a cornice sits at the very top of the building. In 2006, a modern addition was built onto the back of the original 1904 building.
