An art gallery and exhibition space is making the transition from pop-up to permanent in downtown Farmington.

It was only in mid-July of this year when we announced that arts group KickstART Farmington would be opening a weekend-long exhibition space in an old office building downtown.

At the time, we said that if the art gallery drummed up enough interest, Dwayne Hayes, executive director of KickstART Farmington, hoped to find a permanent location for his art space.

Well, they did and he is.

Work is currently underway on the permanent location for the KickstART Gallery & Shop.

As Hayes hinted at in a previous article, KickstART is partnering with local arts groups Thistle Rose Academy of Arts and the Woodshed Agency to make the space something bigger than an art gallery. There will be a gift shop, small events space, and more.

Thistle Rose is a local musical and theater group. Woodshed provides social media and crowdfunding marketing services.

"I view this as a fun experiment in community building through the arts. It’s exciting to see what we can do and what the community wants to see us do," Hayes says.

"We want to be creative and open to change and see where this wants to go."

The KickstART Gallery & Shop is located in the same space as the pop-up. Hayes credits building owner Tom Buck and his partners with bringing their vision to fruition.

Hayes stresses that the organization is actively looking for artists both to fill the walls of the gallery but also to sell their works in the gallery gift shop.

He hopes to open in about week, with a grand opening celebration to follow.

"As we did the pop-up, we got a great response," says Hayes.

"It made us dream a little bigger and now we have permanent space."

KickstART Gallery & Shop is located at 33304 Grand River Ave. in downtown Farmington.

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