So, is Middletown an arts city?
The Journal-News spoke with local artists, leaders of arts organizations and city officials about the role of the arts in Middletown — and whether the city should, or could, be known for a thriving arts scene.
‘We welcome the weird’
The Pendleton Art Center at 1105 Central Ave. was founded in 2011 by Jim Verdin and is managed by his daughter, Jill Crew, vice president of the Verdin Company. The PAC offers events, art and sewing classes, and a book club. About 30 artists rent studio space for $225 to $285 per month — a lower barrier to entry than a standalone storefront, according to artists Teresa Rivers, Sandra Reff and Bethany Tompkins.
“It gives artists a first opportunity,” Reff said.
Rivers and Tompkins co-run Salvage Threads, a sewing reuse shop that recently opened inside the PAC. Rivers has operated Cherry Vintage Design at the PAC for about seven years; Tompkins has rented space for her business, Silly Sewing Goose, for about a year.
“I think opening at the PAC has been the best decision that I made for my business,” Tompkins said.
Credit: Graham
Credit: Graham
Rivers described the PAC as a community.
“I call my fellow artists in here ‘my tribe,’” she said. She sees the center as a “cornerstone” of downtown.
Reff, a photographer who has rented a studio for nine years for her work, said she’s always struck by how many creative people visit the building.
All three artists called the PAC a “third space” — a welcoming place where people can gather, connect and create.
Tompkins said she hopes visitors feel free to “be themselves.”
“We welcome diversity,” Rivers added. “We welcome the weird, too.”
The PAC will celebrate its 15th anniversary in May with a First Friday event downtown.
Though they believe Middletown is an arts city — at least downtown — the artists said many residents might be unaware of the growing creative district.
“It’s like our own little secret thing going on here,” Tompkins said. “But we want everyone to know about it.”
They pointed to numerous arts-related shops and venues, including, but not limited to, BeauVerre Riordan Studios, Design 2 Wear 2, Central Studio Skate Shop and Art Studio, Crooked Dog Comics, Monarch Designs, Three Moons Boutique, Charm & Crystal Wire Wrapped Jewelry, the Sorg Opera House and Middletown Lyric Theatre. Many have opened or expanded within the past year.
“Things are going on all the time,” Reff said.
‘Education is the core of everything that we do’
About a half-mile north of the PAC is the Middletown Arts Center at 130 N. Verity Parkway. Approaching 70 years in the community, the MAC was founded to meet Middletown’s needs, Executive Director Kate Morrow said.
“Our mission is basically to connect people with art through exhibition, education and community outreach,” Morrow said. “Education is at the core of everything that we do.”
Nearly 1,000 classes — totaling about 2,200 instructional hours — are taught each year by 35 contracted instructors. The MAC employs three full-time and five part-time staff members.
A newly introduced event series helped the center double its visitors in 2025 from 7,000 to 14,500.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“It proved that people were hungry for something exciting, vibrant and accessible to do here in Middletown,” Morrow said.
More than 600 artists are exhibited annually across 20-plus exhibitions and four satellite galleries. Signature free events include In The Garden, Community Block Party, merryMIXER and Pour & Explore, which returns March 28.
Morrow said Middletown is “100%, absolutely” an arts city, noting that 65% of MAC visitors come from outside the community.
Earlier this year, Middletown City Council approved a one-year agreement to close a $53,000 funding gap at the center — roughly 10% of its budget.
Mayor Elizabeth Slamka said the support was “hugely important” to ensure residents of all ages have access to creativity and new perspectives.
“We can see things from another person’s point of view, and that’s very important,” she said.
Morrow said the city’s investment recognizes that arts “activate” downtown and contribute to economic health.
Slamka, who grew up attending the Middletown Symphony Orchestra and taking MAC classes, said she views the city as “a steel city meets international arts community.”
“We have a lot of entrepreneurs here, a lot of people who are creative,” she said.
She said she would like to see Middfest — the city’s former international arts festival — return.
“Residents loved it, residents still love it,” she said. “I think it’s something the community misses and would love to have back.”
‘We’ll grow a generation of kids that will appreciate art’
Art Central Foundation, also downtown, was founded in 2005 by Sue Wittman, BeauVerre Riordan Studios owner Linda Moorman and author and artist Linda Fisler.
Wittman, who remains on as director and runs a frame shop inside the PAC, said that when she grew up in Middletown in the 1980s, the city had a symphony, opera company, multiple theater companies and the MAC.
“I grew up just thinking Middletown was an art community,” she said.
Many of those organizations, she said, were created because Armco hosted international business partners and wanted cultural programming for them.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Wittman cofounded ACF after noticing renewed interest in the arts downtown. While helping run a music festival in the early 2000s, she said she frequently heard that Middletown’s blue-collar community might mean residents wouldn’t appreciate art.
“I thought, ‘You know what, we’ll just grow a whole generation of kids that will appreciate art,’” she said.
Today, ACF focuses on children’s arts education through summer programs and fundraising events. Wittman said it has been difficult to resume year-round programming since COVID-19.
“Art is such a great release and a great form of expression,” she said. “Times are really hard right now — chaotic and stressful. For kids especially, being able to come to a space and express themselves without having to say words out loud is incredibly important.”
Wittman said she still considers Middletown an arts city.
“With our history, a lot of people who are involved in the arts organizations downtown grew up knowing that we had all of these resources long ago,” she said. “Some of those don’t exist anymore, but the people who are left here still see it as an arts community.”
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