When the Berrien Artist Guild was founded 57 years ago in 1962, Jean Gast was there. Some 33 years later, when the Guild elected to purchase the former Williams Brothers Paper Box Factory in St. Joseph, Jean Gast was there to help found today’s Box Factory for the Arts. While Jean passed away three years ago, her impact is still being felt even as the Box Factory for the Arts is in the throes of a financial crisis. The family of Jean Gast has announced a major donation in her memory, with the stipulation it be matched by community donations.
The Berrien Artist Guild and Box Factory for the Arts are thankful for members who have already answered the clarion call and donated to the organization’s recent appeal for funding. Then came a very timely telephone call from an unexpected source, just days before Thanksgiving.
Last week the family of the late V. Jean Gast announced a donation of $15,000 to the Box Factory in memory of their mother. The only stipulation is that members of the community must raise the funds to match the gift. It was the family’s response to that letter recently sent to Berrien Artist Guild members asking for donations to help the struggling organization meet its financial obligations.
While Jean was both a founding member of the Guild and actively involved in the purchase of the Box Factory building, she continued well beyond both milestones as an active board member, volunteer, and artist until her death in 2016. Jean and her husband, the late Sen. Harry Gast supported the Box Factory throughout their lifetimes.
Judy Sokolowski, President of the Board of Directors of the Berrien Artist Guild, says, “Jean was a good friend and mentor of mine for many years,” and adds, “She was one of the first people I met when my husband, Dan, and I moved to St. Joe in 1996.”
Sokolowski reminds us, “The Guild named the Box Factory classroom in her name acknowledging her years as an educator and for her dedication to the arts,” and concludes, “I am so happy her family is continuing her legacy in this way.”
In light of this potentially life-saving gift, the Berrien Artist Guild asks everyone to please consider donating to help support the Box by sending matching dollars to the V. Jean Gast Memorial c/o The Box Factory for the Arts, 1101 Broad Street, St. Joseph, MI 49085 or online with PayPal at the link below:
http://www.boxfactoryforthearts.org
The Box Factory is facing this financial crisis because they have been unable to secure a tenant for the third-floor space vacated when a previous tenant purchased their own building and moved out. The lost income, coupled with escalating utility costs and maintenance issues, has been a drain on all available resources. The organization has received a $25,000 challenge grant from the Frederick S. Upton Foundation for much needed repairs to the building’s roof; however, any money collected in donations earmarked for matching the Upton grant cannot be used for operations.
Over the years, Polaroid Digital Solutions, Whirlpool Corporation, and Fathom Works Advertising have leased office space on the third floor or sky level. The exposed brick walls, heavy wood beams and natural light from clerestory windows provide amenable space like no other in the region of Western Michigan and Northern Indiana.
Half of the third-floor space has been developed into a blend of commercial office spaces and artists’ studios. The Box Factory is seeking the perfect tenant to join this eclectic melding of creative and commercial tenants. Interested parties should contact Jenny Waters at Jenny@boxfactoryforthearts.org for details on having a presence at the Box.
We detailed that available space in an earlier story here on Moody on the Market, and you can read that piece by clicking the link below:
https://www.moodyonthemarket.com/renowned-idea-generation-space-at-the-box-now-available-for-lease/
Here is an additional link directly to a GoFundMe campaign established early Monday to encourage community matching dollars for the Gast challenge:
