Expansion for creation: Keyes Art Barn opening adds studio space

With the snip of a ceremonial ribbon, the creative space at Acton Art more than doubled in size. 

After over five years in development, the Keyes Art Barn opened its doors to the public on October 1.

“This space is incredibly inspiring for art education in Acton,” Jared Keyes of the barn’s namesake family said at the ceremony. “I see a great future ahead for it under the current stewardship of Acton Art.”

The new building, erected behind Acton Art’s longstanding home in the John Ball House on Lexington Road, will house arts education and related programming.

The Keyes family’s history with Acton Art stretches to its founding, when Grace Keyes, in association with local artist and lifelong companion Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts, founded the Acton Art Association in 1917 to establish a permanent exhibition space in Acton.

“To see [Grace’s] legacy preserved in a space for education is very meaningful,” said Keyes, reflecting on the family’s legacy of community service, which he strove to continue during the fundraising period with donation matching. 

“Hundreds of individual donations contributed to this project,” said Sig Roos, co-chair of the Centennial Campaign Committee, which oversaw Acton Art’s fundraising. These donations included a $200,000 grant bestowed by the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2023, owing to the support of state Rep. Simon Cataldo of Acton.

A look inside and out

The barn itself covers 2,400 square feet, including the space previously occupied by the John Ball House’s Loring Coleman Room, dominated by a large studio space for artists. Its synthetic wood paneling exterior, made from rice hulls and recycled plastics, presents a vision of sustainability and a contrast to the white-painted main building.

Floor-to-ceiling windows along the barn’s north wall “provide the artists with consistent lighting while working” even as the position of the sun changes, said Acton Art Executive Director Kate James. “They also give a view of the historic hillside and the old stone wall behind.”

The Art Barn saw its first use for art workshops on September 18, after permits allowing its public use had been registered. “We’ve also created new programming for the Art Barn that’s on the horizon,” James said, “so wait for more to follow.”

“It’s been an amazing process for all of us at Acton Art,” James said in her opening remarks. “Skill, creativity, a lot of care, cooperation, planning, decision-making, joke-making, and so much genius. … We shook it all together, and we came out with this.”

Keyes family members then cut the ribbon stretched in front of the barn door. Inside, several artists were already at work.