Firehouse No. 13, a new venue in an old firehouse (built 1856) for showing art and for artists’ residences, situated at 41 Central St., South Providence, is a kind of mini-AS220. It includes space for theater and music shows, as well as for the visual arts.

We hope that it serves as its own kind of model for such art centers around the city and state. As part of this, we hope that it gets a wine-and-beer license and can start serving food, as does AS220, in downtown Providence. The more varied its offerings, the more good it can do its neighborhood and city.

But plans for Firehouse No. 13 include a twist.

Nick Bauta is the prime mover behind the project. He used to live and work there before moving his metal-working shop to The Steel Yard (a nonprofit collective in Olneyville for making art in which he also had a founding role) and his residence to Monohasset Mills, also in Olneyville.

Mr. Bauta and some colleagues want to ultimately transform Firehouse No. 13 into a for-profit center for the arts. He’d do this via such techniques as having the enterprise take a cut of art sales in the building as well as collecting rent from the six residential artists and, presumably, fees for using the space for art shows and other performances.

Firehouse 13 faces some hurdles in trying to make a profit from the place. Rhode Island has long been known as a place where lots of people make wonderful art but have to go elsewhere to sell it. Indeed, really successful galleries that act as a reliable source of revenue for artists have long been a rarity around here. But Mr. Bauta and his colleagues’ project might have a chance, given their drive and vision and the growing attention that the Providence art scene is getting from the rest of America.

We also hope that macro-economic improvements in Providence might spawn a stronger arts economy, too. The business of art, of course, is quirky. Something that is too often forgotten around here is that the arts and other cultural wonders usually come from having a strong wealth-creating economy — not the other way around. The RISD Museum, et al., did not come as a result of someone making a mint in the “museum business” but from such nitty-gritty money-making as the textile business and international shipping.

If Mr. Bauta and his colleagues can make the art they manufacture in such venues as The Steel Yard and Firehouse No. 13 into a real money-maker for the region, then bravo!

Meanwhile, we wish Firehouse No. 13 honchos well as they turn the building into another exciting center of creativity. We express wonderment at the ingenuity and energy of the young people pushing such projects around here.