Anne Craig, Executive Director of the Greenwood Arts Center, retired in March
by Anne Craig, Executive Director, Greenwood Arts Center, Retired
The Arts Center in Greenwood sits patiently in the Uptown awaiting reopening and return to some of our wonderful programs. Although the facility has been closed since mid-March, the staff has remained active with planning, corresponding, and social media outreach. The virus has caused this organization to look at all programs and readjust our calendar of events and classes. With the Governor’s directive in place, the Arts Center will reopen on June 8. Normally, the Center would present the Festival of Flowers Juried Exhibit during this time. The Festival has been canceled for this year; however, the 30+ topiaries will be on display in the uptown and the Center would like to be part of that visitor experience. So as our visitors stroll through uptown, they can also view amazing art. We moved our local exhibit to this June time slot to facilitate delivery of art and ease of organization. Finally we feel it is important to focus on our community of artists and explore the rich talents that they have to offer. This exhibit will also be available online for all to see. To encourage engagement, we will have peoples’ choice awards for the exhibit with voting onsite or online. We plan to offer our summer camps on a limited basis, 10 students with social distance in a large classroom. We feel it is important to ease back into our role of providing enriching arts education experiences to this community.
There are two more exciting exhibits planned for the end of 2020. First a Lego exhibit, The Art of the Brick, featuring artist Jonathan Lopes will open mid July and run to first of October. This exhibit features large scale representations of famous New Your landmarks. A Common Thread, Textiles Past and Present, will open in October in partnership with The Museum and focus on the rich textile history of this area. The exhibit at the Arts Center will feature modern textile artists. This exhibit is supported in part by a grant from the Elevate Upstate program.
Our online presence has been strengthened by website updates, Facebook posts, constant contact updates, and Instagram posts. The education staff has posted art activities to do at home as well as an interactive gallery tour of the current youth art exhibit. During this time, our annual report for 2019 was posted online and mailed to our supporters. The Center wants to stay involved in this community and offer educational activities to all.
Visit us on Main Street in Greenwood or online.