When we purchased the building, that is now the Monarch Art Factory, the best business decision would have been to turn it into high-end lofts. We thought about that idea for about two minutes! God had a different best business decision for the Monarch and us. He poured into our hearts the desire to spotlight and grow creativity and the arts within the community.
Our 16,000 square foot Monarch Art Factory was born out of 16-months of major renovation! We wanted to keep many of the original features of the quaint building and mix in modern touches. Before we moved in, the Monarch Machine Company housed itself in the building for over 80 years. When it came time to name the building, we kept the name monarch from the machine shop to not only preserve history but to express creativity. The monarch butterfly exemplifies transformation and we believe art and human creativity also equal transformation. Adding in the words "art factory" to signify our dedication to the production of art and creativty, the name was a perfect fit.
We never set a rule for the kind of tenants that would fill the Monarch, but we did want to have a family of creative people in some form. Besides our Randy Bacon Gallery and Figment Art Gallery, nestled in the Monarch are Monarch Art Factory Film Productions, Harp Productions, Blu Skies Hair Art Salon, White River Engineering, Departika Graphic Design, and Bellwether Gallery of the Arts.
by Shannon Bacon
Figment Gallery is
housed in the Monarch
Art Factory in its very own 2,300 square foot space. It creates a peaceful and serene atmosphere where the culture of art can be taken in. The art that encompasses Figment is unique and second to none and includes a variety of art forms, including encaustics, acrylics, charcoals,
oils, ceramics, and sculpture .
Figment is home to resident artists who utilize the gallery,
not only for displaying work, but also gaining inspiration and creating the art in their very own studio space.
