Railroad
Square Art Park is no longer Tallahassee's best-kept art secret.
Today, Railroad Square Art Park is home to the shops, studios and
galleries of nearly 50 local artists who create their works alongside
the eclectic mix of other tenants, including a rock-climbing gym,
a belly dance studio, a yoga studio, a karate school, a community
theatre, a Buddhist center, and a cafe uniquely housed in a real
railroad caboose. When "circling The Square" you will
find a myriad of brightly painted metal warehouses that quietly
hold secret treasures within.
But, come on a First Friday Gallery Hop evening, and you will see
many of those secret treasures on display. The warehouse spaces
open and the Park is vibrant with 1,000 - 3,000 art-seeking patrons
of all walks of life. The gallery hop on the first Friday of each
month is the best opportunity to be introduced to the exciting and
rich diversity of art within the Park. Visitors can meet the artists
and gallery owners, pick up a business card or brochure, buy some
art, or make appointments for future visits. Renting nearly 100,000
square feet of commercial space, Railroad Square Art Park boasts
more artists-per-capita than any other spot in Florida.
Railroad Square encompasses 10 acres in downtown Tallahassee, the
previous site of the historic McDonnell lumber yard, which became
the Downtown Industrial Park in the 1960's under owner William J.
Boynton, Jr. In the mid-1970s his daughter, Nan Boynton, re-envisioned
the park as a mecca for artist's studios and galleries and began
to manifest this plan, replacing industrial tenants with regional
artists looking for inexpensive studio spaces, including Florida
State University's studio artist program. The current owners, Lily
Boynton Kaye and Adam Boynton Kaye, have continued to keep their
mother's dream alive.
In the center of Tallahassee, Railroad Square Art Park is within
ten-minutes walking distance of both Florida A&M (FAMU) and
Florida State University (FSU), and Florida's State Capitol Buildings
are just one mile away. Railroad Avenue, the road on which one enters
the Park, is a business artery between the two universities and
home to the historic Amtrak train station. Railroad Square also
borders the exciting Gaines Street corridor redevelopment project.
Over the past thirty years, many renowned artists have rented studios
in Railroad Square, as well as other artisans and craftspeople.
Railroad Square houses studios of art professors and graduates from
both universities, FSU's Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) student studios,
as well as self-taught and outsider folk artists and fine crafters.
Academy Award-nominated film director Victor Nunez has an editing
facility at Railroad Square. Many of the spaces are working studios
and only open to the public on occasion. Others are full-time galleries
and shops. The Art Park has fair-traded Asian-Island imports in
one such store and vintage/retro goods in another. There is an art
supplies shop and a knitting supplies shop. Soon there will be an
American fine crafts gallery, and by the end of 2007, a metalsmith
teaching studio will open in the Art Park.
Railroad Square's time has come. In a neighborhood destined for
positive redevelopment, the Art Park will continue to show leadership
in the creative arts. Railroad Square Art Park is a place where
students and working artists coexist, where the community has the
opportunity to experience culture and art-making first-hand, and
where anyone looking for relaxing and enjoyable entertainment in
Tallahassee will want to come back again and again.
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