Attending programs and classes at the Markeim Arts Center has been a transformative experience for Haddonfield residents over nearly 70 years.
A community nonprofit, the historic arts center offers a myriad of programs for children, teens and adults, including pottery and art classes, movement and fitness sessions and children’s camps.
It also accommodates art parties, private art lessons, cultural programs and art exhibits, and is also a rental venue.
But for board members and participants, MAC is also about cultivating community.
“Supporting the arts is essential to building a vibrant, connected community,” explains Megan York Parker, who served as MAC board’s vice president for six years. “I have great pride in being able to contribute to an organization that’s truly a cornerstone of the arts in our town.
“I believe there’s something for everyone here.”
Parker is now MAC’s interim executive director until a full-timer is hired for the role.
“With continued community involvement,” she offers, “we’re confident that the
Markeim Arts Center will remain a thriving arts hub for generations to come.”
MAC was formed in 1956 as the Haddonfield Arts and Crafts League and has been refined through the years into a sought-after community center.
“A group of area residents has stewarded each iteration with a commitment to Haddonfield and our region,” Parker notes.
MAC has also demonstrated resilience. Parker recalls how the organization weathered COVID and the resulting downturn under the current board’s leadership.
“We worked tirelessly to bring the center back to life after the shutdown,” she recounts. “Today, I’m proud to say it is as vibrant and thriving as ever.”
Parker also noted that MAC’s goal is to bring art to the larger community.
“We believe in accessible art, taught by passionate teaching artists, in a community center with a hometown feel,” she points out. “All levels are welcome, and we work to bring a variety of programs for all tastes and interests.”
Valerie Schlitt and Joe Carwile – borough residents for 36 years -attend pottery classes at MAC to pursue a hobby they enjoyed together as they neared retirement.
“I love that it allows me to be creative,” Schlitt says. “When you throw pottery, it’s meditative, because you’re only focused on the pottery, and you can shut out the rest of the world.”
Carwile appreciates the MAC potters and their techniques, as well as their willingness to help.
“When I get in trouble throwing a pot, they can be in the middle of their own work and they will look and help me save my creation,” he relates. “There is a great deal of camaraderie.
“We all started together and can enjoy one another’s progress. We empathize with one another and celebrate when someone makes a great pot.”
MAC’s pottery studio director, Jennifer Coelho, explains that there are two sides to the center’s building and programming: the gallery and the studio. The former houses art classes for children in subjects like photography, graphic novels and sketching, textile arts, mixed media and painting.
Adult classes offer everything from watercolors and sketching to Pilates, yoga and Tai chi. The pottery studio features ceramics programming that includes pottery wheels and kilns.
Among its other cultural offerings, MAC has partnered with the borough and community leaders to host art-related programs for events such as Lunar New Year, Irish heritage, Eid al-Fitr and Passover.
Children from Camden also host a poetry night at MAC and there is a Diwali celebration in tandem with the flash mob event downtown, all of which have been well-attended, according to Coelho.
MAC holds camps during the summer and during school holidays – including spring break – that offer innovative arts options to students.
Coelho is particularly proud of the “vibrancy of the pottery studio kindled by high-quality teaching and the collaborative, encouraging nature of our artists.”
“Pottery is an expensive hobby,” she continues, “and an important goal of mine is to share it with other people who might not have the opportunity to participate.”
Especially rewarding for Coelho has been MAC’s sharing of clay with artists from Lifting Up Camden Youth (LUCY) and Covenant House.
“I love that the studio is a space where all artists can come to have a professional art experience,” she adds. “There is nothing greater than hearing an artist say, ‘This is the most mindful thing I have done in a month.’”
While students from Haddonfield Memorial High School’s National Arts Honor Society help out at MAC, volunteers are still needed, as are talented board members.
The better to keep the center a borough resource.
“We have great instruction, we’re celebrating culture through art,” Coelho relates, “and we are building community.”
Interested board members or volunteers can reach MAC at markeimartscenter@gmail.com
