The North Topeka Arts District (NOTO) project was developed in 2009 through a community effort to revive North Topeka while increasing the cultural opportunities in Topeka and Shawnee County. The project was spear-headed by John Hunter and Anita Wolgast and their community visioning partners.

 In December of 2010, NOTO’s first artist, Barbara Waterman-Peters opened her space “831” to act as a studio and showcasing center. A year later, NOTO welcomed 11 new store fronts and 30 new artists to the neighborhood.

NOTO, in collaboration with Washburn University Mulvane Art Museum and Topeka Public Schools, has created the NOTO Community Arts Center, which provides a space to hold regular art classes and act as a center point for various activities. The district now also hosts First Friday Art Walk events each month. NOTO is hosting a Saturday Arts Market, which will officially open April 7^th and run through November featuring local vendors, food, music, and art.

In March, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) chairman, Rocco Landesman, visited NOTO providing encouragement for the newly formed arts district and its potential, both culturally and economically.

The Plan: Heartland Visioning's Arts and Culture Alliance will market the NOTO project of studio space at affordable prices in a redevelopment project of the historic NOTO area. The goal is to attract a cadre of artists in a cross-section of representation: from the young, budding artists already in Topeka doing amazing things, to the more mature artists in the area well into their careers, to the established entrepreneurial artists in Topeka as well as in the Midwest. This will provide a lively arts district which in turn will attract economic development in the thriving area. This will include:

• A core of professional, entrepreneurial artists from the Midwest (including Topeka) to be pacesetters to relocate to Topeka to set up studio space
• Professional artists in Topeka and the surrounding area to rent studio spaces at economical prices, either single space or shared space
• An “incubation studio” for several budding artists in Topeka and the surrounding area, working to get established

For more information on the NOTO project, please go to www.NOTOArtsDistrict.com.