On a mission: How one arts group has thrived for five years in old Peoria school building

PEORIA – Jonathon Romain knew that everyone thought he was crazy when he and his wife, Nikki, purchased the vacant Greeley School in 2018.

“I didn’t pay any attention to what they were saying because what they didn’t know was that it was an extension of what I have been doing for the last 25 years," said Jonathon Romain. “To me, it was just a natural progression.”

Five years down the road, the Romains have clearly proven everyone wrong. Not only did their dream of creating a community arts center survive, it came out the other end of the pandemic thriving.

Extensive renovations and bats

For Jonathon Romain, the 50,000-square-foot, 100-year-old building was just the next space in a series of art studios he had renovated over the years. Romain’s first studio was a 500-square-foot space he rented in the 1700 block of North Sheridan Road, shortly after he finished serving time for drug-related offenses in the mid-1990s. Each time Romain moved to a new studio, he went to a bigger space.

As his footprint grew, so did the magnitude of his work – not just his artwork, but also his reach into the community.

Romain wasn’t content just to become a successful artist; he wanted to help others, to divert them from the difficult road he had taken during his troubled youth. The school offered the opportunity to expand that work exponentially. His wife, a performance artist, was all-in.

“It took both our skill sets to make this work,” said Jonathon Romain.

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The Romains purchased the building for $30,000 with their own money and embarked on extensive renovations which, before the grants started rolling in, they also funded themselves. Paying cash was important to the Romains because it created a solid financial footing, said Jonathon Romain.

“I knew if I paid cash for this building, no matter what happens, it might slow us down, but it won’t take us out of the ballgame,” he said.

Jonathon Romain handled all the renovations himself, and the building needed everything – electric, plumbing and HVAC. It was also home to a large colony of bats that needed to be evicted.

Growing an arts center

While Jonathon Romain oversees building projects, Nikki Romain handles the day-to-day business of the school, including fundraising. She also manages staff, which now includes 15 full-time employees and about 60 part-timers. This year the school received four different grants that help pay for programming and operating expenses.

Summer camp just wrapped up at ART Inc as Peoria Public School students headed back to the classroom this week. Each day between 85 and 115 students attended the program, said Nikki Romain, who cannot even count how many people are touched by ART Inc on a weekly basis.

“We also have the events like 'That’s What She Said,' and our annual fundraiser. We do some Paint and Sip events still, and we have our adult programming – we do GED classes in partnership with ICC. Then we have things where parents are coming in, and the kids are showcasing their activities. In addition, we go to a lot of community activities,” she said.

ART Inc also does programing inside Peoria Public Schools, an arrangement that helped them get the not-for-profit started and kept it rolling through the pandemic.

“When the pandemic hit, we did a lot of pivoting,” said Nikki Romain. “We partnered with Peoria Public Schools and did a virtual summer camp that first summer. Then we did a lot of online programing.”

A dream to help others

The Romains’ dream of building a community art center is rooted in their own life experiences – both artists credit art for saving their lives and helping them overcome serious issues. Today the pair call on those life experiences to not only help mentor troubled youth, but to have a positive effect on the larger community.

In addition to art programing, the center works to help children improve their mental health and develop life skills. One grant-funded program is aimed at tackling longstanding cultural issues in the community.

“We have an imitative called 'Change the Narrative Through Arts Education and Culture,'" said Nikki Romain. “It's centered on changing the narrative within black and brown communities, dealing with any of the pernicious indoctrination in the community. For example; glorifying drug dealers, gangbanging, having a no-snitch code. Teens research different topics that are important to them and we do teen summits once or twice a month where we bring in an expert panelist. Last year we did programs on bullying and teen mental health. We did another on violence in the community, gun violence, and we did one called 'Let’s Talk About Sex.' All these are issues kids wanted to talk about.”

Plans for the future

The Romains are already working to expand ART Inc to a second campus. They have negotiated the purchase of the old Kingman School building just up the road and are waiting on a grant to finalize the deal.

“We’re gonna turn it into a production studio,” said Nikki Romain. “Each room will be a different set — one room will be the inside of an apartment, then there’s a kitchen and a dining room. So we could film an entire movie, or do a late-night talk show, or a morning show.”

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Jonathon Romain will do much of the set building in the new facility, which will help expand ART Inc's core mission.

“The production arm of ART Inc will carry us through the next 20 years and help give our youth the skills to grow into their potential,” he said.

ART Inc.’s anniversary event kicks off on August 5 with hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar at the Romain Arts and Culture Center, 919 SE Jefferson from 3-6 p.m. The theater will be filled with artwork by Jonathon Romain and entertainment will include music by the Jamika Russell band and a poetry medley by Nikki Romain titled “A Love Note to ART Inc." A $75 suggest donation is encouraged for those who attend. The celebration will continue from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday evening at the center with a family night featuring free food, music and activities. 

Leslie Renken can be reached at (309) 370-5087 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: How these Peoria visionaries have thrived in old school building