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We love hearing stories about one-room schools that are restored and repurposed to serve a community need, education, and even art! We want to share a wonderful story written by journalist Jonathan Turner for QuadCities.com about a repurposed country school in the hamlet of Cambridge, Illinois, and a dream come true for artist Melody Sloat.
New Cambridge Art Gallery a Light After Much Darkness
by QuadCities.com columist Jonathan Turner
After so many shutdowns, economic devastation, and death caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, there’s something new and life-affirming opening in the Quad-Cities art scene.
The Excelsior Studio and Galleria – owned by self-employed artist Melody Sloat, and her husband Jacob – will open Friday in a former antique shop at 13013 N. 700th Ave. (Route 19), in Cambridge, Ill., 40 minutes southeast of Moline. The couple bought the historic building, and did much clearing, repairs and renovations in preparation to open.
“It’s always been a dream. I’ve worked retail for a very long time and I’ve always wanted to have my own shop,” Melody said recently. “I have lots of friends that are artists and they’re kind of creating in their basements and didn’t have anywhere to go. I’ve always wanted my own space too, and we’ve outgrown the studio in our basement, and I needed my own space.
Read the rest of the story HERE!
Kelly and Tammy Rundle, of Fourth Wall Films, are the producers of four regional Emmy® nominated films including Country School: One Room - One Nation, Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street; and over a dozen award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery, The Barn Raisers, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg. All of their DVD titles are available at FourthWallFilms.com.
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