By David Stenklyft for Wausau Pilot & Review
On Thursday night, RISE UP Central Wisconsin officially opened up its new hub in Whitewater Music Hall, a space that will allow the group to better serve its mission to heal, strengthen and unify the community.
The space, at 130 First St. in Wausau, will have multiple uses: a workspace for future artist projects, a central location where previous volunteer artists can assist with future mural projects and a space where resident artists can host events such as birthday parties, work retreats and more.
Rise Up President Christy Black Keele said the new facility has been needed for a while and recent fundraising helped secure the spot.
“One of the really nice features of the hub will be to provide interaction with past artists who want to continue to be part of the rise up projects,” she said. “Many of those people still suffer from mental and addiction illnesses and continuing to work with the artistic projects is something they really want to do.”
Keele said the location was made possible in part from a substantial award from the Impact 100 organization.
“We will continue to pursue other sources of revenue to keep the hub available to all members of the community,” she said.
The current mural project, designed with input and guidance from the Women’s Community, focuses on the trauma of domestic violence and is being prepped for installation on the Whitewater Music Hall building and should be completed by Sept. 11.
This is the fourth art project RISE UP has created. Previous murals can be seen at Aspirus Wausau Hospital, Wausau on the Water and the Frontier building in downtown Wausau
