Tell City Regional Arts Association Plans New Community Arts Center and Green-Space Patio

The Tell City Regional Arts Association is moving forward with plans to transform a deteriorating building and adjacent overgrown lot near the intersection of Tell and 12th Streets into a community arts center and outdoor green-space patio, the nonprofit announced.

The project would convert the blighted site into dedicated space for arts programming and community gathering, aligning with goals outlined in Tell City's planning documents, which call specifically for developing "an arts presence along the riverfront and downtown" and for programs that "incentivize and assist property owners with rehabilitation within the downtown and historic neighborhoods."

TCRA traces its roots to the Perry County Arts Council, founded in 1995. The council was dissolved after persistent funding shortages and ongoing maintenance demands from a facility described in TCRA's organizational history as the former Franklin School. In 2005, the organization was restructured under its current name, retaining the founding mission but starting over with limited capital. "Fast-forward to 2005, and changing the PCAC name, the Tell City Regional Arts (Association) was reorganized with the same mission and vision as its original founding members, but with a small fund left to kickstart its initiatives," the organization notes in its history.

The group went nearly three years inactive before a new cohort of artists revived it in 2017. "In 2017, and nearly three years inactive, a new group of passionate artists put it back into motion," according to the TCRA's own account. Since then, the organization has grown its membership and expanded its programming calendar.

Three of the original Perry County Arts Council members remain on the current board as officers. The board also includes Tony Hollinden, an original member serving as vice president, Cassidy Hubert, who heads member services, and Katie Pappano. TCRA describes its board as "a very passionate group of artists and enthusiasts, all with local roots to the region," noting that most hold full-time jobs outside the organization.

TCRA currently operates out of the Swiss Art Center, housed in the former Swiss Plywood Building, which includes space for music programming, a theater, and in-house art events. The Swiss Players, the organization's theater ensemble, perform there throughout the year. Whether the Tell and 12th Street project would supplement or eventually replace the Swiss Art Center has not been specified in available planning materials.

The Perry County Community Foundation has recently awarded TCRA $1,400 to host quarterly Artist Lectures and Demonstrations in 2026 and $1,000 to cover clay, glazes, and instructors for community art classes. Those grants support ongoing programming rather than capital construction; no funding source for the Tell and 12th redevelopment has been publicly identified.

Tell City's planning framework identifies a broader need for community event infrastructure, noting that the city "has also expressed interest in seeing the construction of a building which could hold large gatherings and events" alongside planned upgrades to Hagedorn Park. The TCRA project, if completed, would add to an existing network of community spaces that includes City Hall, the Schergens Center, and Tell City Depot.