The Vision for Stuart High School
MartinArts has signed a long-term “Intent to Lease” with Martin County School District for Stuart High School, located on the east end of the main downtown corridor. This project will bring this historic building back to life as a new central arts hub.
What will this renovation offer to the community?
First, it will be a backbone for the arts. Small organizations and individual artists will have access to beautiful, centrally located space that is perfectly equipped for creating and sharing their art forms. Sharing this set of unduplicated facilities and functions will make all of the participants more financially viable and efficient. It will also provide many new opportunities for collaboration on bigger, better, and bolder presentations. Artists will be able to afford to be artists, and organizations will be able to pay staff a sustaining wage. This campus will incubate financially sustainable arts organizations, allowing them to mature and grow.
Second, the new facility will increase access to the arts. Year-round residents will have local access to cultural opportunities. This central campus will encourage them to sample new art forms in a single stop, while keeping their spending in Martin County.
And third, the new building will increase the economic impact of the arts in Martin County. This project has the potential to be a game-changer for downtown, leading the next evolution of the bustling Ocean Boulevard. With MartinArts as the “anchor tenant,” the arts and culture corridor will be able to grow an additional half mile to the east.
In addition to these benefits, this project will embrace adaptive reuse. The high school reflects the historic charm of Stuart. It is one of the few remaining buildings from the 1920s, possessing the unique character of old Florida. The original layout of the building serves this particular project extremely well. It is, in the words of the architect, “a renovation that doesn’t fight its bones.
Join us for a Tour of Stuart High School
Interested in learning more? Join us for an upcoming walk through of the site and vision. We'll meet at 500 SE Ocean Boulevard in the lobby of the main building. The tours typically take about 1 hour. When you register, you can see the times of the tours on the following dates. Registration is required so we can plan appropriately and share additional details with you.
