Two years ago, Stoughton was hoping to create an ambitious "artspace." The plan called for transforming a three-story tobacco warehouse into quarters and workshop space for as many as 25 artists.
The facility was to be developed in a three-way partnership between the city of Stoughton, its chamber of commerce and Minneapolis-based Artspace Projects Inc., which operates more than 20 similar nonprofit facilities nationwide.
The project completed its second phase, a survey of state and area artists, but it's now on hold.
"After the study was completed, the group with whom we were working in Minneapolis indicated we would need to come up with $750,000 to move to the next stage," says David Phillips, executive director of the Stoughton Chamber of Commerce. "Neither the city nor the chamber had funds available to continue."
