Topeka ? A new arts district in an older section of Topeka is gaining artists and art lovers.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that nearly a thousand people attended a grand opening earlier this month featuring a showroom, a private gallery and a monthly market.

Project co-chair Anita Wolgast says the large crowd is “testimony to the fact that the community not only wanted an arts district but is supporting it with great enthusiasm.”

Renee Johnson is among the artists who have moved into the developing arts district in North Topeka. Since mid-February she has been transforming an old building into an art showroom and studio space she named The Eclective. She joked that she now has construction worker hands from all the hard work.