Let's Buy The Big Yellow House!
Follow Your Art Community Studios currently rents The Big Yellow House. The owners want to sell, and we want to buy.
Our goal is to raise $500,000, which sounds like a lot, but we’ve got help!
We have received a $200,000 matching opportunity from Mass Cultural Council and Mass Development. That means once we raise $200,000 we will get an additional $200,000. You can help make this happen!
The “Big Yellow House” is Follow Your Art’s indisputable home and essential to the local creative community. Investing in the purchase of 647 Main Street ensures that Follow Your Art remains your community arts center.
Beyond creative classes, the space is a springboard to partnerships and creative engagement in the broader community, including:
- Free public events that build community
- Individualized adaptive support and subsidized programming to remove barriers to participation
- Free storytelling events that have led to the creation of a new disability-focused storytelling group
- Studio space for three dozen local writers and artists in residence with opportunities to share their work
- Mentorship and employment for high school youth
- Opportunities for young adults with disabilities to access creative experiences both at the Big Yellow House and off-site
- A venue for live music featuring local and nationally-renowned performers
Online Giving
Checks and Donor-Advised Funds
Donations by check and through Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) are also gratefully accepted. Please send checks to Follow Your Art Community Studios, 647 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176.
Workplace Giving
Does your employer have a charitable program or match your charitable giving? Please consider submitting for employer matching to make an even greater impact!
Other Ways to Give
If you would like to donate stocks or make a contribution in another way not listed here, including multi-year pledges, please contact our Communications and Development Coordinator or call 781-665-4140.
Donations toward the capital campaign in 2025 will automatically be applied toward the Cultural Facilities Fund match.
Other questions about donations, the matching grant, or general campaign questions, click here!
What People Are Saying...
Get Involved!
YOU are our biggest champion. We would be grateful if you can help spread the word about FYACS and the capital campaign to your friends and family. We have materials to help you get started, including brochures and postcards. Just email us or fill out this survey letting us know what you can do and we’ll be in touch to coordinate!
Here are a few ideas where we can use your help:
- Hold a house party: Invite some friends for an informal summer get-together and our Executive Director can share our vision of a permanent creative community center at The Big Yellow House!
- Hand out postcards in your neighborhood this summer to share the news about us buying the building.
- Contact prospective supporters: share information about the capital campaign and opportunities to support FYACS
- Make connections: Introduce us to people you think should know about FYACS and what we do
Frequently Asked Questions
Overview
Follow Your Art Community Studios’ home is the Big Yellow House at 647 Main Street in downtown Melrose, Massachusetts. We have rented the space since 2019 with the intent of purchasing the property once we were firmly established in the community. Our initial purchase timeline was slowed due to COVID, but the owners need to sell now, and we want to buy! Owning the building means we’re not going anywhere and can continue to grow as a community resource.
In 2024, FYACS celebrated its first five years of building creative community. Our small staff invites more than 1,000 adults and youth from the greater Boston area into the “Big Yellow House” each year for classes, gallery shows, performances, and special events. Our signature Arts for All program has provided financial and adaptive assistance to dozens of individuals, and our collaborations with local partners enrich the broader community. Owning our own space will allow us to do even more to make creative experiences available to everyone.
647 Main Street is currently owned by Art Ventures, LLC, which was created by a group of founding supporters with the intent to one day sell the property to FYACS. Art Ventures has leased the space to FYACS since it was incorporated as a nonprofit community arts center in 2019. Thanks to the generosity of these early supporters, FYACS has been able to establish itself in the community and grow into the Big Yellow House, which has become the art center’s indisputable home.
Owning the property will be transformational for FYACS and how it makes creative experiences accessible to all. With this significant capital investment, FYACS will purchase the property we currently inhabit and make much needed improvements, including envelope maintenance and an expanded ceramics studio. These additions mean more special events and more classes for YOU!
By purchasing the property, FYACS can save more than $9,000 a year in taxes that we currently pay on the property. This added financial flexibility means funds could be reallocated to support creative projects in the community, also overcoming the challenges of currently limited city, state, and national funds for arts and culture.
Giving to the Capital Campaign
FYACS is raising $500,000 toward the purchase of the Big Yellow House between 2024-2026. Given the accelerated timeline on which the owners want to sell, we are raising funds for a significant down payment at this time rather than the full amount to buy the building outright. With $500,000, we can make a significant down payment toward the purchase of the property to secure a more favorable mortgage, as well as create a maintenance and renovation fund to make much needed improvements to the property.
There are multiple ways you can contribute:
- One-time gifts online or by check
- Employer matching
- Contributions from Donor Advised Funds
- If you would like to spread your donation over multiple years or make other arrangements, please contact our Communications and Development Coordinator.
Gifts of all amounts are vital to helping us reach our goal, and we hope that members of our community will make donations in amounts meaningful to them. All donors will be recognized on our campaign website, and donors of $10,000 or more will receive special recognition on entryway signage at FYACS.
- Big Yellow House Circle: $10,000+
- Community Builders: $5,000 – $9,999
- Patron: $2,500 – $4999
- Advocate: $1,000 – $2,499
- Supporter: $500 – $999
- Friend: $250 – $499
- Community Level: up to $249
If you have questions about making a leadership donation or would like to discuss naming opportunities, contact our Communications and Development Coordinator or call 781-665-4140
Yes! We would be happy to work out a pledge and donation plan that works for you. Please call 781-665-4140 to learn more.
Yes, to the extent allowed by law. Follow Your Art Community Studios is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Tax ID 83-1372132
Yes, gifts of all amounts will be recognized on a digital donor wall on our website unless a donor prefers to remain anonymous. Artwork will be created in the entryway of Follow Your Art with special recognition for donors over $250, $500, $2,500, $5,000, or $10,000+.
Additional Questions
Our goal is to secure the match by the end of 2025.
YOU are our biggest champion. We would be grateful if you can spread the word about FYACS and the capital campaign to your friends and family. A few ideas:
- Hold a house party: Invite some friends for an informal summer get-together and our Executive Director can share our vision of a permanent creative community center at The Big Yellow House! We have materials to help you get started.
- Hand out postcards in your neighborhood this summer.
- Share details with your connections – we have digital and print flyers you can use!
- Can you think of anyone who should know about FYACS and what we do? Let us know and we’ll reach out to them!
