Board members and interns of Lisbon Art Works were at the shop Thursday to remove artwork and equipment before their last day at the end of September. From left are Kelly Austin, Steve Bradford, 6-year-old Emmie Vosburgh, Kelsie Vosburgh and 10-year-old Oliver Vosburgh. Kelsie Vosburgh said that she homeschools her children and having them help at the shop has been an “awesome experience for them … They have learned what it is to be a benefit to their community.” Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

LISBON — Lisbon Art Works closed last Saturday, less than a year after its Oct. 18, 2023, opening. Lisbon Artist Collective President Kelsie Vosburgh said month-to-month profits could not cover the overhead costs to keep the storefront open.

The storefront provided a space where more than 45 Lisbon artists displayed their work and sold it, according to Vosburgh. The space has provided extra support for the local artist community to gather and build up that group.

“We were so lucky to have this space for a year,” she said. “… We wish that we would have been able to keep it open and that would have worked out but it’s been such a benefit to our collaboration of building this artist community here in Lisbon.”

The storefront has also expanded the opportunities for kids and adults to access art classes in the last year, she said. Many artists and those interested in art have been able to come together in ways they would not have been able to without the space.

“We’ve made a network of artists who get together and just kind of talk about art and have become friends in that way,” she said.

The storefront was operated by nonprofit Lisbon Artist Collective, which formed out of 2020 Maine Community Foundation funding the town received. The funding was to be put toward a program for supporting entrepreneurs.

At the time, Lisbon Economic and Community Development Director Ross Cunningham saw a need to help local artists access retail space to sell their work and provide a space where art classes could be taught — The Artist Collective was formed to do that.

Lisbon Art Works president Kelsie Vosburgh heads to the library Thursday with her two children, Emmie and Oliver, after helping at the Lisbon Falls shop. Lisbon Art Works will close their storefront at the end of September. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Now that the storefront is closed, the Artist Collective will pivot to a new structure to help local artists sell their work, Vosburgh said. It will host outdoor markets in spring, summer and fall at the Worumbo Riverfront Event Center and partner with local businesses with space enough to host some markets indoor during the colder months. She’s hoping to start the first market in the spring.

Though the storefront did not last, Lisbon Artist Collective is the umbrella over multiple local efforts to support the artist community and there are other ways the nonprofit plans to provide support, she said.

“Lisbon Art Works was one facet of our organization,” Vosburgh said. “… Just because this experiment is one chapter that we’re closing, we have big plans for the future and we’re very excited moving forward.”