For me it ’ s a homey and familiar smell that tells me it will always be a place that I belong no matter how old I am or how long it ’ s been since I walked through the halls . “ Welcome back , friend . Stay a while and let ’ s create something magnificent ,” is what it says to me .
And I know that I ’ m not alone in that feeling about the Arts Center . I ’ ve spoken to others in our community who feel the same way . Maybe not so much about the smell of the building making them nostalgic but the feeling that they will always belong there .
We ’ re thankful to the people who took an old high school , 37 years ago , and made it a place where not only did they feel at home to let their own creativity run free , but they wanted everyone who walked through the doors to feel that they could let their creativity run free , too .
So , generation after generation of community members have continued the vision , expanding on it and even reshaping it but never changing the core idea of it being a place “ Where Community Meets Creativity .”
With each generation of stewards , just like “ art ” itself , the Arts Center has lived and grown , reaching outside its walls to draw people in of all ages . Visual arts , music , dance and theatre . A little bit of something for everyone . We all have a “ creative bug ” inside , especially children , and the arts center is the place to let it run free . By the way , that was a nod to the Moultrie Service League ’ s “ Artie the Art Bug ,” the Arts Center of Moultrie mascot .
You can ’ t talk about the Arts Center without talking about the Moultrie Service League because if it wasn ’ t for these ladies , there would be no Arts Center . It was through the Moultrie Service League ’ s Colquitt County Arts Council that the Arts Center was established in 1987 . They have been the driving force , along with the art center ’ s boards of directors , for almost 40 years now . The creative force that makes the vision a reality .
22 MoultrieScene MARCH 2025