Every Kid Can Cook Executive Director Kim Young had been working out of her garage and was considering moving her business to Catonsville when she discovered she could lease affordable space in Suite 4 of Long Reach Village Center in Columbia.
Home to the Columbia Association’s Columbia Art Center and Stone House Community Center, the Long Reach Village Center is being revitalized as a hub for artists, with local artists, educators and organizations encouraged to apply for studio space.
The once thriving village center opened in 1974 with an arts and crafts theme chosen by village residents. With the development of new commercial centers nearby, most of the village center had declined in recent years; the anchor Safeway grocery store closed in 2012.
In 2014 and 2015, under the Urban Renewal Law, the county purchased parts of the village center — including office space, ground floor retail space and the space previously occupied by Safeway — for $7.5 million.
Efforts to revamp the community hub have experienced delays. Last June, Orchard Development Corp., a private development firm approved by the County Council, announced that it would no longer pursue redeveloping the village center.
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced this year a short-term renovation and long-term renewal for the center.
The Howard County Arts Council plans to rent three suites of artist studios on the second level through the Long Reach Artist Studio Program.
Young, who runs the nonprofit that teaches young people nutrition education, heard about the county’s community-based leasing strategy from Howard County Sheriff Marcus Harris, who is “passionate about serving Howard County youth," she said.
Tie-dye artist Erin Cassell of Roll Up N Dye — whose main business is teaching private parties and team workshops — is already setting up shop in Suite 6, where she plans to continue incorporating projects such as Columbia Clean Up Day into her business and collaborating with other artists to “empower the local community through art.”
The Long Reach Artist Studio Program is currently accepting applications from artists to rent individual workspace at affordable rates. Artists selected will have 24-hour access and can show their work in pop-up galleries and other village center special events.
A first wave of new tenants is starting to move into the center.
Every Kid Can Cook will set up a classroom around the end of March, with a small film studio on site where kids can shoot video and film to show online and in schools, Young said. A plant-based cafe will provide job opportunities for Long Reach high school students. e the food, is also planned.
Young said the recipes she teaches are 98% plant-based and customized to young children’s food allergies and eating preferences.
“We provide over 180 mobile classes a year and enjoy great partnerships in the community,” Young said. “That’s not going to stop with this space. It will continue to grow.”
Cassell won a 2017 Changemaker Challenge Award from the Horizon Foundation and United Way for refurbishing a bus shelter on Route 1 with mosaic tiles, a free mini library, a rock and gnome garden and a bench composed of recycled materials, all made by local artists and schoolchildren.
As the owner of Roll Up N Dye, she partners with Grateful Heads, an international tie-dye artist network, and the Casey Cares Foundation, which serves ill children.
“My passion is finding ways to beautify the community and make things more colorful,” she said. “This place is going to be so vibrant. I can’t wait to see the energy of my fellow artists breathing life back into this village center.”
Around the corner, where the Safeway once stood, Lee Andersen, founder and owner of the nonprofit ManneqART, has installed dozens of fantastical, interactive installations at DoodleHATCH, a pretend “department store for mythological creatures, time travelers and galactic tourists.
“And, of course,” Andersen said, “humans will be welcome, too.”
The destination location will feature about 100 life-size pieces of “Sculpture on the Human Form" or wearable art pieces, from the nonprofit’s collections (formerly the ManneqART Museum in North Laurel). Some will be worn by actors.
DoodleHATCH, occupying about 15,000 colorful square feet, is planning its ribbon cutting ceremony for April Fools’ Day, and will open to the public on April 4.
Andersen-Becker Inc., an art clothing business owned by Andersen and Joan Becker that ships art clothing sewn under the Lee Andersen, ZooLOLogy and Victorian Doll labels to a national market, is also relocating from Laurel to Long Reach. It will occupy about 10,000 adjacent square feet.
Andersen is currently working on a new T-shirt line there.
Andersen is also providing storage space to village center neighbors Young and Cassell.
The last day of Black History Month marked the return of the African Art Museum of Maryland to Columbia as the first new resident as the Long Reach Village Center opened its doors to the public.
Founded in 1980, the museum resided in the 19th-century Oakland Manor house prior to moving to Maple Lawn in 2011.
“Mr. [James] Rouse used to say how happy he was that the first museum in Columbia was about Africa,” said Doris Ligon, president and founder of the museum celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Ligon said she was pleased to be invited to be part of Howard County’s revitalization of the village center, a project Ball calls Long Reach Rising.
Ligon and museum board members Rose Gaskins and Jackie Kakembo presented the exhibit “Introducing the Space,” on Saturday afternoon with numerous officials from Howard County, including Ball, Deputy Chief of Staff Jennifer Jones and C. Vernon Gray, from the Office of Human Rights. The first woman elected Howard County executive Liz Bobo also attended.
A few of the museums 3,000 pieces (about 425 still remain in storage) gave a preview of the rich culture that will be on display when the museum is complete.
Guests young and old appeared fascinated by a Nigerian Yoruba Throne, a royal chair from Ghana, and a carved wooden Nigerian House Post. A glass display case showcased items commemorating the first Africans to arrive in North America 400 years ago.
Carolann Alt, an African Affairs commission member in Gov. Larry Hogan’s office, said that she thinks “the African Art Museum of Maryland will be a bright beacon” in the village center’s revitalization.
Long Reach High student Justin Diaz, 16, received resounding applause for his performance of “Make Them Hear You” from the musical “Ragtime.” He chose the song, he said, because it has cultural significance and “the lyrics are still relevant today.”
Ball was excited to see the museum expanding its “excellence, amazingness and African art and culture” as part of Long Reach Rising. Doing it on a leap day, he said, is a message that “we’re going to keep leaping forward!”
Ligon announced several upcoming events, including a visit by Dom Alfonso Nunes, the Bishop of Angola, and a performance by Charles Rahmat Woods, a jazz artist, in a celebration of International Jazz Day 2020.
Ligon said that under Ball’s leadership and guidance, “We are going to be the talk of the town.”
Ball confirmed the county is also in the discussion phase of renting space to a commercial kitchen — similar to the Common Kitchen located in Clarksville —next to DoodleHATCH.
The county’s web page lists Head Start, Power 52 and Roving Radish as other incoming tenants.