This arts destination makes Downtown Groove-y

As much as Erika Harding loves creating art herself, she gets more joy out of helping others create it.

“I love that experience of making art with other people,” she said.

A mosaics artist for the past 10 years, Harding said that love was one of the driving forces behind The Groove Artspace, a new Downtown community arts learning center.

Opened in August, The Groove is a small, women-owned business complete with a gallery, retail art space, studios and a dedicated teaching and art-creation space.

Located in a former 100-year-old bank at 309 Gold SW, the antique wooden walls and old bank safe wouldn’t normally scream art space, but Harding said it was the first and only building they looked at.

“It checked all of our boxes,” she said. “We like being Downtown. We’d like to demystify and bring people to these blocks. These blocks need love. They need action.”

In order to help demystify Downtown, The Groove Artspace has embraced a community-first philosophy by partnering with neighbors on the block, working with schools in the area to provide additional art education for low-income families and reaching out to other small businesses.