WonderRoot grows into mission with 20-year lease addition

Atlanta-based arts nonprofit gains 54,000 square feet of wonderful

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  • WonderRoot
  • BUILDING AND NAME BIGGER, BUT MISSION THE SAME: WonderRoot Center for Arts & Social Change



An Atlanta-based arts nonprofit has gained 54,000 square feet of wonderful.

In a unanimous vote on Monday, the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education voted to allow WonderRoot to rent an unused school building for a span of 20 years. With the physical addition comes a new name - WonderRoot Center for Arts & Social Change - meant to encompass the small, decade-old nonprofit’s expanding role into a mid-sized arts organization continuing its mission to unite artists and inspire positive community change.

The vote was the last formality in a deal that has been in the works for two years, according to WonderRoot’s executive director Chris Appleton. The new acquisition gives the Atlanta-based nonprofit arts organization an expansion of 54,000 square feet. Half of that space will be used to rent out 40 to 60 individual artist studios that will provide a three-fold increase to the nonprofit’s annual operating budget.

“It’s a deeper investment in our founding mission of working at the intersection of art and social change,” Appleton told Creative Loafing today. “It will also strengthen WonderRoot’s capacity financially.”

The building at 1043 Memorial Drive in Reynoldstown originally opened as John F. Faith Elementary School in 1922. It has been vacant for two years since its last occupant, Tech High Charter School, closed after a decade in June 2012. That same year, WonderRoot began negotiating with APS to attain the building, which is located one block up from WonderRoot’s 4,500 square-foot headquarters of the last seven years at 982 Memorial Drive.

WonderRoot will launch a $2.8 million capital campaign in order to fund renovations on the building, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in a breaking story yesterday.

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As the deal with APS began to solidify, WonderRoot began inviting artists to pre-lease space in the building about eight to 10 months ago, as a “strategy on our part to test the demand or interest for studio space,” said Appleton. About 40 percent of the individual studio space has since been pre-leased at a rate of $1.50 per square foot. Most of the spaces are between 300-500 square feet. The nonprofit is still offering an “early-bird special” to artists who apply before October 1, according to the website.

In addition to the 28,000 square feet of studio rental space, the new center will house shared production facilities to include a printmaking studio, ceramics studio and dance rehearsal studio, darkroom, digital media lab, recording studio, performance venue, visual arts gallery, and education space.

According to Appleton, WonderRoot secured “a favorable rental rate” in the lease agreement with APS.
The underutilization of old APS school buildings has saddled certain intown neighborhoods with such empty often historic facilities. In addition to renovating the facility, WonderRoot will be responsible for maintenance and upkeep.

“From WonderRoot’s perspective, it’s a big win for the greater East Atlanta community and the arts community at large,” said Appleton. “And we look forward to continuing to being a partner with the other arts organizations in our facilities that we’ve been working with for the last several years.”

UPDATE: According to APS and public records from last night’s board meeting, WonderRoot’s annual lease for the former school at 1043 Memorial Drive is $51,434.00 with a three percent increase each year. The lease agreement is for 10 years with two five-year renewal options.