Butler Art Center

344 S. Main St. Butler, PA 16001

(724) 283-6922

Website

Overview

The AABC began as a small, informal "artists club" in the late 1920s, and became an official organization in 1934. In 1990, the AABC established a permanent presence in downtown Butler, at the site of the former Furniture Galleries. The AABC now hosts nine major, month-long art exhibits each year, along with smaller solo and small group exhibits that run concurrently with the major exhibits. The Art Center, at 344 S. Main Street in downtown Butler, now contains over 7,000 square feet of gallery space, including the main Rittelmann Art Gallery with over 3,000 square feet of high-ceilinged gallery space, three smaller galleries totaling another 2,000 square feet, the "Underground Gallery" and performance space, a Kid's Art Center and classroom, a ceramics laboratory, and a Members Gallery Shop. Governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors, the AABC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable institution (PA registration # 9441). We are supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency, through the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA), its regional funding partnership. As in our early history, the AABC continues to provide a place for local artists of all ages to gather, socialize, share their talents and techniques, and display their work. Our mission statement remains the same - "to encourage, promote, and foster the Arts in Butler County". We offer art education opportunities such as affordable after-school art programs, adult classes and workshops, and host the Spirit Café weekly to provide budding poets, novelists, and musicians a safe and comfortable venue to hone their craft. We strongly believe that a vital arts community is important to our community, and strive to be both a safe haven for our youth and a place where creativity abounds for young and old alike.