The Mount Dora Center for the Arts is celebrating one year at its new location.
It’s been a year since the Mount Dora Center for the Arts relocated to its new home, and its executive director Janet Gamache said transforming one of the city’s oldest gas stations into the uptown gallery has been a blessing in disguise.
“For decades we were in an old building in downtown Mount Dora and although, in theory, it sounds like a nostalgic or romantic idea, the building itself had no accessibility,” Gamache said. “We had classes that were being held upstairs, so without an elevator the students and teachers had difficulty bringing their supplies up and down the stairs,” she said. “Also, the parking in downtown Mount Dora has been challenging and as the population grows in our area the parking situation has become even more complicated. We sought to find another location that would give us more flexibility, more visibility and more accessibility. Here, we have great visibility, we have great parking now and everything is on the first floor — it’s just been a huge upgrade for the center.”
The MDCA launched as a nonprofit and operated out of its original, two-story building at 138 East 5th Ave., Mount Dora, in 1986. Its inconvenient lay out prompted the board in 2022 to vote to sell the building to G3 Development for $1.3 million. Originally, the deal included an agreement that the art center would lease the building from G3, while the development company built a 4,600-square-foot building for MDCA behind its original location. But the deal fell through and MDCA now finds itself navigating a contentious court case.
While MDCA retains the old building where it continues to host art studios and artists in residence, it was forced to look for an alternative space and relocate the bulk of its operations in August 2025 to what was previously a vacant retro gas station at 847 E. Fifth Ave., Mount Dora.
Art oozes inside and outside of the uptown gallery, including a complex Jon Allen sculpture placed under what was once gas station pumps that still feature their numbers.
“I love the idea of recycling buildings and finding creative purposes for them,” Gamache said. “I think that it’s a wonderful thing that we were able to do that, because throughout history all over the country, it seems art organizations usually find warehouses and districts and they revitalize them. So, I love that the Center for the Arts was able to find this building and do the same thing.”
With the Central Florida Printmakers exhibition currently on display at the gallery through Oct. 9, Gamache said the move has made preparing for exhibitions and festivals much easier. Looking ahead, the museum will host the Mount Dora Viva La Frida Festival on Sept. 26 and the Plein Air Paint Out Oct. 7 through Nov. 15, as well as the 52nd annual Mount Dora Arts Festival on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2027.
“We’ve actually expanded our arts by getting this second building and running events has gotten so much easier,” Gamache said. “Because downtown we didn’t have any storage so we used to rent storage units to put everything. When we were getting ready for a festival or large event, we would have to run to different locations to get all the items we needed — the signage, tents, tables and everything. Now with a new property, we have a nice big storage unit right here on site, which makes everything so easy to gather and see what we have.”
Gamache said the move also has been key to recent outreach and growth at the museum.
“We want to get creativity flowing in the community,” she said. “We’ve expanded our children’s programming. Our art camp, which we used to only do in the summer, we now offer a winter art camp, fall art camp and spring art camp. We also have a free after-school art program for high schoolers.”
Paul Morris, MDCA gallery director, said finding the new space gave them a blank slate on which to design the gallery.
“We were able to design specifically for our needs as a professional gallery. We needed proper lighting, space, good visibility,” he said. “We hope to have more sculptures outside and eventually have a sculpture garden.
“I feel that before this building, which had been vacant, was an eye sore in the gateway of Mount Dora,” Morris said. “When we needed to acquire a space, this stuck out because of its location. Bringing art to this end of Mount Dora is a big plus to the art community. I think it will help spur a renaissance of the arts on this side of town because there is no space like this.”
Gamache said the new location lends itself to being more visible to people driving by.
“At the downtown location we had a lot of people, like tourists, just walking by and just kind of popping in with their ice cream cones,” she said. “But here, at the new center, people who come here come with a purpose. They come here seeking out art or they are seeking out art classes. We feel like we’re hitting the demographic better and it just feels more fulfilling because people who are coming here are more dedicated to art.”
Gamache said the effect of reaching more people with a passion for the arts has been more inspirational for staff and volunteers.
“I think the changes have inspired the staff and the volunteers because in the old building, the volunteers were in a separate area downstairs and the classes were held upstairs,” she said. “Now, with the big open concept, we get to see the classes happening in front of us. I see a lot more staff and volunteers taking classes, which is fantastic because you’re inspired when you see the students there and the teachers actually teaching right there in front of you.”
Working through the changes for the past year hasn’t been without its challenges, but Gamache said the museum is more determined than ever to continue spreading art to the community.
“I think it’s super important that we keep the real art alive,” she said. “With everybody moving toward AI, people need to still come out and be creative. It just helps everybody mentally and socially to come out and take classes together and interact and be creative — it’s stress relief. There’s just so many benefits to the arts, from looking at it to making it.”
For more information about the Mount Dora Center for the Arts and its programs, visit mountdoraart.com.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
