The flood-damaged Texas Artists Museum may be down but it’s not out of the game — it just needs a little help, proponents say.

The museum at 3501 Cultural Center Drive is a non-profit art gallery highlighting local and regional art. Tropical Storm Harvey’s floodwaters laid waste to just about everything from the ground up to about 4 feet.

Some of the paintings from the permanent collection were a total loss while some have mold on matting and frames. The entire kitchen area, which was used for events, is a loss as well as computers and other technological devices.

The list of woes goes on.

Woe after woe

But the story actually began before the flood. Nadine Kebodeaux, the former president of TAM’s board of directors, stepped down prior to the storm but with no other leadership available, she was forced to stay involved to some extent.

Then came Harvey.

Early on, volunteers with Operation Blessing gutted the facility but some stuff remained to be cleaned.

Beaumont artist Mark Nesmith, whose art is shown across the nation, was contacted by Sue Bard with Southeast Texas Arts Council and recently took over as president of the TAMs board.

Clean-up day

“When the storage building was opened this past weekend during a clean-up day, there were tubs that still had water in them,” Nesmith said. “We hadn’t had anyone able to clean them out. There’s a lot to do and we made a big dent last weekend.”

The city of Port Arthur owns the land but the building is owned by the non-profit organization. TAMs had no flood insurance and did not qualify for help through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. TAMs was advised to get a loan.

“Basically we are left on our own to come up with the money and means to repair it,” he said. “And for the past year everyone has been rebuilding. I’m sure there are other non-profits in a similar situation.”

The original estimated cost to repair the facility came in at $80,000 but at that time it was not known whether the heating ventilation and air-conditioning would work. A more recent estimate is between $40,000 to $50,000.

“We’re running barebones to pay the basic utilities and try to get the place fixed,” he said.

Help coming

Help has come in the way of grants. Tammy Kotzur, executive director of the Port Arthur Convention and Visitors Bureau, has been assisting the non-profit in obtaining grants and Sue Bard has helped seek out the grants, Kotzur said.

TAMs has received grants from the Southeast Texas Arts Council and Texas Travel Industry Association, so far.

“With those grants we are probably at the point where we can put the walls together,” Nesmith said.

Kotzur sees TAMs as important to the city as a community art facility. Prior to Harvey, the TAMs was host to numerous events such as art classes for youth and adults, ArtSmart summer program, and art shows as well as being a rental venue for a host of events.

A lot more work cleaning is needed before moving on to reconstructing walls and more and it will be likely be several months before TAMs will reopen.

 

High hopes

Nesmith does have high hopes for the future, such as continuing the vision of promoting and showing art and supporting local artists. He’d like to see the museum grown, so to speak.

“But right now we don’t have anything concrete,” he said. “We are focusing on cleaning up, getting the repairs done so we can reopen. It will be months before we even get to open to the public.”

In the future, perhaps, events might be held there and it might become a bit of a tourism spot.

“But that’s too far off to think about,” he said. “Right now we’re thinking walls, sheetrock and flooring.”

Persons wishing to volunteer to help can contact Nesmith at 409-548-8060 or email him at art@marknesmith.com

They can also go to the Texas Artists Museum Facebook page.

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