We are a 501(c)(3) non profit organization created “to provide a place for 3-Dimensional artists to create their art and develop their careers; to foster appreciation for the arts in the community; to foster cultural awareness, creativity and positive self esteem with outreach programs”
We need and welcome your support.
We provide a place to see exhibitions and artists demonstrations, attend lectures, tour working artist’s studio spaces, and take workshops.
For 3D artists of all skill levels we provide a well-equipped studio and space to create work, a showroom to share it with the community, workshops and a mentoring program so they can broaden their skills, and a gathering place for shared values, ideas, support, and friendship. We are also a location for community activities and events.
Our hours are Tuesday and Thursday 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
Our News…Some very good…Some very Tragic
A Happy Announcement!
April 2023
Dear Community and Area Visitors,
We are sharing the news that we are a recipient of a
FY23 Arts Organization Support grant from the Indiana Arts Commission
Fire Arts, Inc will be providing inclusive arts opportunities in your home district.
Established in 2006, Fire Arts is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization with the mission to provide 1) a
place for 3-Dimensional artists to create their art and develop their careers; 2) to foster appreciation
for the arts in the community; 3) to foster cultural awareness, creativity and positive self esteem with
outreach programs. We provide a place to see exhibitions and artists demonstrations, attend
lectures, tour working artist’s studio spaces, and take workshops.
With the support of this grant, Fire Arts will impact the community by strengthening inclusivity in all areas of our mission by providing art experiences that are adaptable and welcoming to all, leading us to develop stronger partnerships with other service providers in the greater South Bend area.
Sincerely,
Ralph Lampkin, Jr
Board of Directors, President (from 2011 thru June 2023)
July 2023 update
FAI is working hard with adjusting after sudden passing of Ralph Lampkin, who faithfully lead us as a non-profit for 12 years. We miss him dearly and will always cherish his memory and efforts to make sure we maintain a vibrant and creative community.
We are moving towards being accessible to all members of the community. These improvements will include the addition of braille signage, access to deaf interpreters during some of our events as well as financial support to keep the doors open for the creative folks of Fire Arts Inc. and our visitors.
We would like to share that Fire Arts Inc. is unusual because it is and has always been staffed completely by dedicated volunteers.
Many thanks to the Indiana Arts Commission, the state legislature and federal government for making these funds available.
December Roundup
We here at FAI are rebounding from the pandemic’s effects. Our classes have started back up and have had great success. Our IAC disability grant allowed us to have some new braille signage made and installed. Two of our gallery talks benefited from the presence of deaf interpreters. We have been using FB live to stream our gallery talks. FAI hosted a full schedule of exhibitions and again had a juried show in the Spring. There are a growing number of artists joining the FAI family and they are adding their creations to the showroom.
We have committed to and made a sizeable down-payment for getting our roof repaired. This is a huge but necessary financial commitment for us. Don’t be surprised to see fund-raising efforts from Fire Arts throughout 2024.
Sincerely,
Yvonne Desrosiers
Board of Directors, President
Board Members
The Fire Arts Inc. family is mourning the sudden loss of our longtime President, Ralph Lampkin, on June 24th, 2023. Ralph worked tirelessly for Fire Arts Inc, a non-profit that is staffed completely by volunteers. He is and will always be missed and we posthumously thank him for his 12 years of service.
- Yvonne Desrosiers -President
- Julie Neises – Vice President
- Marilyn Shaul – Treasurer and Julia Malott Treasurer understudy
- Jackie Carlson – Secretary
- Nemo Miller – Artist Liaison
- Chuck Leone
- Kay Westhues
- Carolyn Anderson
- Len Cockman
- Valerie Schroeder
Read our Mission, Vision, and Values.
For Art Production
Our open studio includes spaces for sculpture, pottery, and jewelry. The sculpture areas accommodate modeling in clay, woodworking, rubber mold-making, plaster work, wax casting, stone carving, and a metal finishing area. The studio is equipped with communal tools such as power saws, drills, grinders, and more. The pottery area has wheels, a slab roller, work tables, glazes and ingredients to create glazes. Our kiln room contains electric and gas kilns for pottery and a wax burnout kiln and metal melting furnace for casting bronze. We also have a jewelers area with small kilns, where artists and students can explore silversmithing, enameling, engraving, and other techniques.
Interested in becoming an Artist-in-Residence?
For Art Education
Schools or organizations may arrange for a lecture tour, with or without demonstrations. Organizations may arrange for meeting space at Fire Arts.
Our Beginnings
In 2004, a group of 3-dimensional artists led by sculptor Lane Laffoon, with the help of sculptor Tuck Langland, Professor Emeritus at Indiana University South Bend, were looking for a building with enough space for a small foundry, metal working, ceramics, and a gallery area. Lane, working with the South Bend Redevelopment Commission, did the legwork of investigating abandoned buildings the city owned.
A perfect fit — the 8,500 square foot building at the corner of Colfax and Sycamore — was originally acquired by the city to tear down and expand parking for development on the other side of Colfax. We are fortunate their development was delayed. In August 2004, the Redevelopment Commission gave temporary use of the building to East Race Fire Arts, a for-profit organization, with the responsibility for insuring, cleaning and maintaining it in a safe condition, pending demolition; they could have come in at any time and said, “You have to be out in six months.”
Thirteen artists pooled their money (for insurance, building materials, gas, electric, water, tools, and equipment) and invested a great deal of sweat equity into the building. The roof leaked, the building was full of trash and the pipes leaked. And, the roof caught on fire once.
Fire Arts saved the city money on maintaining the building and demolition costs and helped toward the Redevelopment Commission’s goal of establishing an arts corridor, bringing more people downtown. Toward the end of the year, it was decided that we would be more viable as a not-for-profit organization.
During our first few short years, we have had a cultural exchange of artists from the Sculpture Department of the Thailand National Arts Office, we have hosted a bus-load of visitors from Nathan Manilow Sculpture park in Illinois, as well as friends of the Snite at Notre Dame, Hoosier Art Patrons, the Sons of Norway, and art classes from Saint Joseph High School, ITT, Ivy Tech and IUSB. We have brought regional artists to town to share their work in our showroom, and have hosted lectures by regional and nationally-known artists about their work. For the second year in a row we have shared our space with young people from our local Down Syndrome community to create ceramic tiles for a fund-raising auction for Down’s research.
The city of South Bend was so happy with what transpired at 305 E. Colfax, that in 2008 they offered to sell us the building. We continue to improve our offerings to the community in the form of classes and artistic/intellectual events.
