Comment on Waterfall Arts wants to bring its home into the 21st century

BELFAST, Maine — On a recent afternoon, a boisterous crowd of sixth graders drew, painted, wrote, doodled — and chatted and giggled — in a classroom at Waterfall Arts. The students were part of BRIDGE, a free after-school program for young artists to explore and support each other. It is clearly a hit with participants. “I just like drawing and being able to be myself without people judging me,” Dani Domenichelli, 11, of Belfast said. Another young artist, Dawson Yeaton, 13, of Belfast, agreed. Linda Coan O'Kresik | BDN Linda Coan O'Kresik | BDN Bridget Matros (left), youth and families outreach coordinator for Waterfall Arts, shares a laugh with Ariel Neal, 11, who attends the Bridge program there. The Bridge program is a free after-school art club for sixth graders. “It gives you a lot of creative freedom,” he said of the program. But the classroom also has some issues, including an art supply closet so cold that paint stored there froze during the recent coldsnap. That’s a problem that Bridget Matros, the youth and families outreach coordinator at the nonprofit community arts center, said should be solved soon, thanks to the “Waterfall Rising” capital campaign, which just entered its public phase. Linda Coan O'Kresik | BDN Linda Coan O'Kresik | BDN Mike Fletcher is facilities manager of Waterfall Arts, a year-round nonprofit arts center in an old elementary school in downtown Belfast. The $2.6 million fundraising campaign has the goal of transforming the 84-year-old former elementary school building by buttoning up its exterior, reducing its energy use and making it accessible to more people thanks to a new three-story elevator and ADA-compliant facilities.