A Fort Worth nonprofit focused on arts and education is preparing to breathe new life into a Historic Southside building that nearly faced demolition last year.
The Welman Project will relocate to the Kimbell Milling Company building at 2109 S. Main St. in early April as the nonprofit outgrows its current space in west Fort Worth, nonprofit co-founder Taylor Willis confirmed to the Report.
The 25,000-square-foot space at the Kimbell building is five times the size of The Welman Project’s current space at 3950 W. Vickery Blvd. The property will accommodate the nonprofit’s community programming and allow for new services to be added, said Willis.
Taylor Willis and Vanessa Barker, co-founders of The Welman Project, built the nonprofit on donations of materials that can be reused by teachers in their classrooms. (File photo | Fort Worth Report)
Established in 2015, The Welman Project offers arts workshops, a makerspace and reusable materials for classrooms to prevent more waste in landfills. The nonprofit has distributed $14.7 million in supplies and served over 22,000 teachers since its launch, said Willis.
“We’ve needed to move for a while even though we love our space,” she said. “To be moving into this historic property that is such a big part of Fort Worth history is such a privilege.”
The Kimbell building was constructed in 1929 and once served as the headquarters for a company owned by Kay Kimbell, namesake of the famed art museum in the Cultural District.
The historic property is owned by Bruce Conti, who purchased it for $10 from the Cenikor Foundation in September 2024 after it had been eyed for demolition. The city granted a six-month delay on the demolition process, allowing interested parties to seek alternatives for the site.
Conti didn’t provide a comment on The Welman Project’s move by publication time.
The relocation shines as a “testament” of the support the nonprofit has received in the past decade and that there is more work left to be done, said Willis.
“This (nonprofit) is a funky idea and we’ve just been amazed with how well the community has embraced and supported our mission and made this growth possible,” she said.
In addition to running its brick-and-mortar, The Welman Project is involved in the redevelopment of a former Ku Klux Klan hall in the Northside into a 70,000-square-foot community arts space. The building underwent the first stage of reconstruction earlier this year and is expected to be complete in 2028.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
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