Community support helps Millheim gallery survive, transition during COVID-19
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For a decade, the Green Drake has served as a space for creativity in Millheim, but community support has kept the space alive as managers transition amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Located in a 130-year-old building on Main Street, the Green Drake has been host to dozens of art shows, music performances, poetry readings and receptions since it opened in 2011. But when the pandemic and subsequent mitigation efforts resulted in lost business, the space had to reevaluate operations.
“Since March, it has been impossible to have special show receptions, music concerts and music jams — greatly limiting our ability to bring people in,” Karl Leitzel, outgoing managing partner, said. “Between that and the general reduction in people shopping in brick-and-mortar establishments, our income has been severely curtailed.”
Though artists, including Leitzel, pay for studio space at the Green Drake, some volunteer crew members have been unwilling to cover gallery shifts due to the coronavirus, he said. To adjust, Leitzel said the gallery cut expenses to a “bare minimum” and shortened its already limited open hours.
“We were still losing ground all year,” he said.
But with help from $5,000 in county CARES Act funding, a strong holiday shopping season and fundraising efforts, the Green Drake was able to get by and transition into what Leitzel hopes is a “rosy future.”
After serving as managing partner for 10 years, Leitzel will be stepping back from his role at the Green Drake to focus on art, artisan services and family. Though he’s helping with the transition, local artists and Penns Valley residents Niké Koós and Kurt Grotz will be taking over managing the Green Drake. They’ve already taken steps to enhance the Green Drake’s online and social media presence — aspects Leitzel said are sure to outlast the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Art is the one language that transcends political and civil divisions,” Koós wrote online, promoting a “Save the Green Drake” GoFundMe. “It is the one expression that brings hope and joy to those struggling through a pandemic. It is one language that can unite communities — rural and urban.”
Since December, the fundraiser has garnered more than $4,000 in support toward its $10,000 goal. As a result, the managers have been able to pay artists and outstanding debts, complete a new temporary lease agreement, update and reorganize mailing lists and modernize operations.
“The Green Drake is called a gallery and art center, but it has always been a lot more than that,” Koós wrote. “Our goal is to continue this tradition (and) make the Green Drake a welcoming and lively community center again. So once again, we thank you all for your invaluable contribution. Without you, we could not go on.”
Moving forward, the managers are considering shifting the business model and transitioning to a nonprofit, but Leitzel said nothing has been made official.
“We are blessed to live in this community,” he said. “The strong show of community support has taken us from the brink of going under to having a potentially rosy future ahead of us as we strive to serve as a community center for arts and culture.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
