They have spent the past few weeks gauging the depth of interest in taking over some of the buildings for exhibitions, workrooms, rehearsals and other events.
Two public "walk-throughs" of the school attracted about 35 people, and this has provided the artists with the impetus to continue to work on their proposal.
Mrs Rolfe said she would be obtaining new market valuations for the Tenby St school buildings before holding another meeting with interested supporters.
"There were fewer people [at the second walk through] but some great ideas and some firm intentions that we are going to pursue," Mrs Rolfe said.
The hub is not intended to replace the present Wanaka Arts Centre, near the Wanaka Hotel and library, which is fully tenanted.
Mrs Rolfe and Mrs Kerr believe a new permanent art centre should be built at that site, but that project was a long way off.
They feel the closed school could provide a good temporary home for artists, while the Ministry of Education worked through the process of disposing of the site.
The artists believe the market value of the buildings could be less than the last valuation of $1.7 million, because some buildings have been removed from the site and others have deteriorated.
