Local Organization Evolves to Launch New Downtown Arts & Innovation Center

If you’re familiar with local organization Trailhead and its ‘Awesome Grants,’ which award $1,000 to locals making State College a better place, then you’ll be glad to hear that the organization is evolving into its next phase — Three Dots Downtown. As this new organization absorbs Trailhead, it emerges as something new and exciting on the downtown scene.

“Trailhead’s purpose in 2018 was to rally community members interested in making Centre County an awesome place to call home,” says Trailhead founder Spud Marshall. “Together, we spent the year exploring where we might best funnel our energy to make a positive dent in our community. Through many conversations and explorations, we realized — alongside other partners and funders — that there was a big need to more concretely support the local arts and innovation scene, particularly with a physical space.

“So in 2019, we are funneling the social capital energy we harnessed toward launching the arts and innovation center downtown, which will be structured as its own nonprofit. Trailhead as a brand will then fade away in 2019 as this new organization launches, however elements of what Trailhead provides will be repackaged into the new group.”

Molly Kunkel, executive director, Centre Foundation, is a Trailhead trustee and Centre Foundation is heavily supporting Three Dots Downtown’s launch. She seconds Marshall’s point on the need for a new arts and innovation space in downtown.

“There seems to be consistently a real need to enhance the arts and maybe the innovation downtown. There’s been a lot of interest in that going on,” she says.

Three Dots Downtown, planned for 137 E. Beaver Ave., is described as “a vibrant downtown space that will host artistic and innovative experiences. Community members will be able to watch performances, engage with a wide variety of art and participate in innovative community activities.”

The name evokes an ellipses (…) and the limitless possibilities that can follow it.

Speaking of Three Dots Downtown’s goals for the upcoming months, Kunkel says, “What we’d like to do is get people more engaged and involved downtown. For the first year, what we’re really hoping is that we get lots and lots of community members to come down and see what’s happening; a variety of different arts involved, fine arts, some gallery space, performance arts; groups to meet in there and maybe some classes.

‘There’s actually a lot of interesting arts groups and arts things happening in town but they have trouble getting exposure. We’re hoping that by having this one space that’s very public, it’ll be a great opportunity for a lot of those groups to get the word out about what they’re doing.”

This week, the organization hosted design charrettes, open to the community, at the center’s future home to help shape what it will look like.

Following these gatherings, volunteers will spend February finalizing the space, making cosmetic changes and acquiring furnishings. During this time, Kunkel says there will be additional efforts to continue branding and marketing the center.

“We’re hoping to get the space open and have the first events in late March or early April,” she says.

Visit the just-launched Three Dots Downtown website to volunteer with the new organization in a variety of ways.

Community members take part in a design workshop for the future home of Three Dots Downtown, 137 E. Beaver Ave.