Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1184230
A P R I L / M AY 2 0 1 9 M A C O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M 1 0 3 things like the Mill Hill Community Arts Center in East Macon. I see an evolution from what's been happening in Macon through the years and an evolution from the Arts Exchange." Now closed, the legendary Contemporary Arts Exchange saw a very loose collective of artists form in the mid-1990s after Macon businessman and art appreciator Tony Long thought artists might like to use the undeveloped office spaces on the upper floors of 590 Mulberry St. They paid a pittance for electricity, $10 a month, and it didn't seem to bother most that there was no heat or air conditioning. Arts Exchange artists, loosely organized, decided to let the public in to see what they were up to on the first Friday of each month—and party with them a bit into the wee hours. That decision is what led to Macon's First Friday downtown celebrations. The Arts Exchange was the epitome of cheap, usable studio space for artists, photographers, musicians and writers. Few of the artists expressed outrage last year when the building sold and new developers asked them to start moving out. Collectively, they knew it had been a good ride but it was now time to move along to other spaces. Some went home with their supplies and years of work, others found new spaces, and some are still looking for the right spot. O'Dell was one of the early artists at the Arts Exchange, and is slowly moving out of the Arts Exchange to a spot made available to him above the Hummingbird Stage and Taproom on Cherry Street. As a Mercer art educator, O'Dell is a key figure in another of the new artist studio spaces downtown, Mercer's McEachern Art Center, which opened on Second Street in February. Above the ground floor gallery, the building has spacious student studios. "The Arts Exchange was a creative engine," O'Dell said. "Its day came and went, and what I see now is people "ere's tremendous creative energy in Macon, and I'm one of those who believes something is in the air, something's happening and it's going to surprise a lot of people." -COLIN PENNDORF DANIEL MONTOUTE AMPERSAND GUILD AMPERSAND GUILD