MARCIA WEBER / ART OBJECTS
1050 Woodley Road
Montgomery, Alabama 36106
(334) 262-5349
Fax: (334) 567-0060
weberart@mindspring.com

Hope's House

In November 2004 we began a huge huge project - restoring a 120 year old house in a tiny south Alabama town to serve as an artists' shelter as well as a second location of Marcia Weber Art Objects. Hope Atkinson begain living in three rooms of the house Thanksgiving of 2004 in lieu of her barn on the shore of Lake Superior. Since her only heat in her barn is a wood-burning stove, winters there are very difficult. The week of Thanksgiving 2004 was very special for a group of individuals who were motivated to help Hope have a better winter existence. I am so grateful to John and Ellie Blue, Tin Flinn, Ned Berry, Paulette Riley, Suzie Ham, Kenny, Helene, and Stephanie Roman who came together at various times and helped Hope and me to get three rooms of the house ready to be her winter home.
View Works by a Specific Artist

At the end of November 2004 the house had new wiring, new plumbing, a new bathroom floor, a few new rafters and roof over a porch studio area and some new interior paint. The house still needed an enormouse amount of work but little by little it has been transformed from a place that birds and squirrels called to a very pleasant rustic abode. Hope has done the most work since the "work party". She has removed a number of windows, reworked them and put them back in. Since we are truly restoring the place, the old tongue-and-groove and bead board is being refurbished with oils unless previously painted.

Now in 2007, three years later, the restoration is nearly complete and it has been a labor of love for Hope Atkinson who has spearheaded the workforce and has continued to do much of the work herself. We are so grateful for the many miracles that have occured and for the many people who have faithfully worked with Hope on the project to complete it:

Mike Harmon, Willie Ingram, Lisa Mantalaba, Lee Welch II, Jessie Thompson, Keith Tolliver, Steve Lindsay, John & Carol Moellendorf (who drove from Wisconsin!)

We appreciate the help of our neighbors Mr. & Mrs. Deal and Mr. & Mrs. Mattson. A special thanks goes to Bryan Alloway, the mayor of Ashford, and his very able town work crew lead by Mr. Hubbard for their help and support of our project.

Hope's House is now a second location for Marcia Weber Art Objects with an on-going exhibition of contemporary folk and outsider art. There is a spare bedroom ready for a second artist-in-residence and we hope to eventually host art fairs and have art workshops for families at Hope's House.