On Thursday, we learned that a longtime cultural hub in the community, the Butler Art Center, is in dire straits.

Following a boiler failure in December, the establishment was also forced to drain all the pipes in the building to prevent them from freezing and bursting. As water remains shut off indefinitely, the center had to close its doors and was unable to host events and bring in revenue.

Now, the nonprofit must meet operating costs from a dwindling reserve of just over $12,000 if it is to avert closure in the next six months.

Art, like many of the humanities, is an increasingly underappreciated field. Creators are finding it more difficult to properly showcase their work with each passing year.

It’s easier if one is pursuing an education in the subject, as many colleges tend to have some sort of gallery with showings of student work, but someone outside of academia with a passion might not be so lucky.

To lose the center would be a devastating blow to the community. There’s a reason that art falls within the realm of the humanities. It makes us focus on emotion and thought, the things that make us living, breathing individuals with souls.

Without it, we might as well be hive-minded drones.

“No matter where you go, there’s art,” said Anne Stockert, center treasurer. “You pick up a magazine cover, that’s art. You see a picture on the wall, that’s art. You drive down the road, there’s sculptures. If the art center closes, it truly is a part of the history of Butler that you’ll never get back.”

While the center has reached out to a fair few landlords and property owners within the city in case a move in necessary, they’re also actively looking for board members.

Any donors who would like to help the arts center by making a tax-deductible contribution can do so by visiting www.cognitoforms.com/ButlerArtCenter1/Donate.

The community has worked to save important historical landmarks in the past. Maybe, we can do so again.

—CM