The East Side B.I.D. # 20 has applied for a grant from the State of Wisconsin to study the feasibility of creating an arts incubator for the East Side, according to Jim Plaisted, the B.I.D.'s executive director.

A consultant, Mary Kahn, gave a brief talk about such incubators at a meeting Friday morning at the YWCA on King Drive.

"(Kahn) started an arts incubator in New Orleans 10 years ago," Plaisted said. "She may be involved if we get the grant. We may know by the end of February if we get that money for the study."

Geralyn Flick of Murray Hill Pottery Works hosted a reception for Kahn on Thursday night and is reportedly a driving force behind the arts incubator idea, which Plaisted said is linked to the Kenilworth Building renewal project.

"The location of the (UWM) Peck School of the Arts was a strong tie in to the idea of an incubator here, in other words, getting grads out of the program and into the incubator," he said.