The L.E.A.F. Initiative is a Commonwell program to support capacity, resiliency and growth in the communities we call home.

Priest’s Mill Arts Centre Rejuvenation — Rebuilding the Warm Glass Studio

16 Mill Sq AlexandriaK0C 1A0

What is this project about?

The Priest’s Mill Arts Centre — a not-for profit organisation in Alexandria — is undergoing a rejuvenation.

In the two years since incorporation as a not-for-profit organisation in May 2021 through to April 2023, and despite COVID-19 impacting operations, the Centre hosted more than a thousand guests and members who enjoyed immersive, enriching experiences, predominantly in glass blowing. Historically the Centre operated mainly on weekends with some extended hours over eight weeks in summer.

In consultation with our stakeholders, we are now rejuvenating the organisation to give equal weight to the other glass-centric art forms such as stained and fused glass. And we’re broadening our scope of operations to include non-glass art forms identified by our stakeholders. As more volunteers come forward, we will be expanding hours of operation with a mix of volunteers, artists, and paid staff. The goal is to ultimately have our doors open more than 40 hours a week.

The intention is to become an accessible creative hub — a safe, collaborative space — where our community can create and enjoy the arts, regardless of their talent or experience.

Our gallery is being redeveloped to a professional standard to give our community’s artists an outlet to share their creativity.

As part of our organisational rejuvenation work, we’re also rebuilding our studios. This project focuses on building a warm glass studio which dovetails with the self-funded stained-glass studio and gallery rebuild currently underway. The warm glass studio ranked as a high priority in our stakeholder surveys. Warm glass is a widely accessible artform including: • fusing • slumping • pâte de verre and • casting.

The rebuild efforts form part of a larger strategic plan to broaden the centre’s scope and reach — the future focus is on inclusivity and serving our community at large with expanded programming across multiple artforms, engaging the many artists in our community as well as the youth and seniors through outreach programs.

The organisation anchors its name in the oldest standing building in Alexandria — a small eastern Ontario town, (population 2,900). Built in 1819; the stone and masonry erstwhile grist mill homes a 1,313sqft studio and gallery with a cadre of 20 artists who create and/or teach.

Our mission
Priest’s Mill Arts Centre — in partnership with our stakeholders — aims to be a creative hub, where our community can participate in enriching creative experiences and where aspiring and established artists and creative makers can collaborate in a nurturing environment, showcase their work, and thrive.

PMAC-Mission-Vision-Strategy-2028-Headlines.pdf

Why is this project important to the community?

A detailed peer and near-peer study conducted by the Centre confirms that Alexandria and the 27,000 households in the surrounding communities of The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG) — just like 72% of small communities in Ontario — are not well supported by cultural infrastructure and resources. Collectively, the 222,000 residents of United Counties and Prescott-Russel, including Cornwall are underserved. There are only three arts-minded collectives (some mostly or entirely virtual); two public galleries, and seven art educators. Support is somewhat concentrated in the city of Cornwall and van Kleek Hill. Neither offers glass-centric facilities. Cornwall had, in past, supported Chalet Glass, a glass-blowing company from 1962 to 1974. There is no support for glass-centric art in the SDG or Prescot-Russel; the nearest are based in Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston. The Priest's Mill Arts Centre, offering gallery space to support glass-centric and other artforms is quite unique. The importance of this project is well summarized by Bobi Leutschaft-Poitras, President, Collectif d'artistes de Glengarry Artists' Collective: “Alexandria and the surrounding area is a hub of artistic talent. Although we have several art-focused organizations, including the Collectif d'artistes de Glengarry Artists' Collective, we lack a meeting place where artists of all types can meet, learn, and tap into the vibrant art scene. I believe that our area would benefit greatly by having PMAC up and running.”