01907 Summer 2018

Jackie Kinney, center, co-president of ReachArts, shares a laugh with artists Ingrid Pichler, left, and Tereza Swanda.
PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Within Reach
Community arts group works toward town-wide cultural district
BY BILL BROTHERTON
The stately building at 89
Burrill St. was in terrible
disrepair when ReachArts,
Swampscott's community
arts group, moved in a little
more than a year ago.
The cleanup and demo work was only
the beginning.
“We had to de-raccoon the place. It
was a little like ‘Grey Gardens,’” said Jackie
Kinney, co-president of ReachArts, the
nonprofit group of artists and residents
that are turning the long-vacant building
into a cultural, economic hub. The group
signed a two-year lease with the town in
April 2017, at $1 per year, to restore the
place.
These days, the former senior center is
looking mighty spiffy. The porch has been
rebuilt, the exterior has been painted and
the gallery in the basement just housed a
successful exhibition of works by young
local artists.
Kinney praised the efforts of “hero
volunteers,” including contractors Leland
Hussey and Bruce Paradise, electrician
Jesse Kuhlman, plumber Rick Massey,
carpenter Todd Flannery, demo expert
Eric Zakanini and landscape designer
Will Godin who absorbed the labor costs
of various projects.
There's still plenty of work to do in the
3,500-square-foot structure, which was
originally a circa 1885 single-family home
until a fire shuttered it and it was bought
and rebuilt by an American Legion post.
A capital campaign is in the works to
raise $300,000 to install an elevator and
sprinkler system, set up a kitchen next to
the gallery and renovate the second-floor
“jewel” of a ballroom with its coffered ceilings
and art deco touches. The basement
gallery space is now the building's only
ADA-compliant space.
“The library is just down the street and
the waterfront with its restaurants and
shops is just a block away. There is great
enthusiasm from artists in town, and town
officials too,” said Kinney. “There is a focus,
too, on the revitalization of Humphrey
Street, which has been identified as the
'downtown' of Swampscott. That means
more foot traffic, stimulation of a cultural
economy, pop-up galleries and public
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