Something big has happened over the last five years.
With the opening of our Hugh’s View roof terrace this winter, and the purchase next door
of the historic Carriage Trade, a new home for our Artists in Residence, The Studios has
completed our transition from a startup on the edge of Old Town, to a “forever place,” a
permanent home for the arts in Key West, that started in 2014 when we bought the old
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple at the corner of Simonton and Eaton.
To the extent that histories will be written about the institutions on our little island, we hope
we've earned our place in the books, like the founding of a community bank, but also like a
storied café, where everyone runs into everyone, and they serve an unforgettable conch fritter.
By “we,” of course, I mean you too – all of us in our not-so-small-anymore community that
traces its roots to The Studios’ founding in 2006.
Gratitude, like any emotion, is felt individually, but is an expression of our relationship with
the world around us. We feel grateful in the moment when someone does something nice
for us, of course, but in its truest form gratitude is a sustained emotion, knowing that you’ve
landed in a place where gifts are given every day like the sunrise, and leaps of faith are easy,
knowing the world will catch you.
This is the feeling we hope to engender when you’re in a classroom here, focused on a canvas,
brush in hand, surrounded by others who are immersed just as deeply. Or in the Helmerich
Theater, packed with people, while music, words, ideas and emotions unfurl onstage. Or
when you walk up to The Studios on a night of art openings, and friends pull you into
conversation before you even get through the door.
In short, we hope you’re as grateful for this place as we are, and we plan to be around for a
good long time. We have no doubt that future generations will thank you too.
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See you at The Studios!
Jed Dodds
Executive Director
Gratitude