Page 83 - Panama City Living Magazine

ART AND CULTURE THE GADSDEN ARTS CENTER & MUSEUMTHE GADSDEN ARTS CENTER & MUSEUMQuincy, FloridaThe thriving arts center and museum o ers a broad range of interpretive and studio art programs centered on an exhibi- tion calendar of top regional to major national and historically important art exhibitions. The museum features a Permanent Collection that includes 54 works of art with the majority of artwork as examples of as Southern Vernacular Art.Southern Vernacular Art ExhibitThe artist’s work is often described as idiosyncratic as found materials are used in unique, unprecedented, and character- istic styles. The artists often incorporate symbols from their immediate regional American cultures and more distant African cultural roots.Most often, the work is created from found materials like ply- wood, house paint, discarded metal, and cardboard. A portion of the Southern Vernacular Art Collection travels to other museums, educating the public about these often overlooked artists.About the MuseumIn 1989, local artist Beth Appleton and her husband David Harbaugh developed Art in Gadsden: a juried exhibition of ne art. Organized by the community and managed by the Quin- cy Mainstreet Program during its initial years, Art in Gadsden was originally hosted in empty storefronts on the courthouse square. What began as a small annual art exhibition has mor- phed into an American Alliance of Museum Accredited Mu- seum with a state of the art exhibition space, a leader in the13 North Madison Stree, Quincy, FL 32351 | (850) 875.4866 p.m. | Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Sunday ClosedFlorida art community, with top scoring state grants and innovative educational and exhibition programming.The Gadsden Arts Center (GAC) was incorporated in1994, as Art in Gadsden grew and community feedback indicated the need for more exhibitions of fine art and art education. Origi- nally GAC was housed in a small historic building near downtown Quincy.In 1997, the Bell & Bates Hardware Store, situated on Quincy’s historic square for 85 years, sought a new location. The owners, Mark and Patsy Bates generously donated the 1912 Bell & Bates building to the Gadsden Arts Center, and the newly hired Execu- tive Director, Zoe Golloway, accepted the gift with an enthusiastic plan. Golloway and community members researched and drove more than 1,000 miles to design the types of exhibitions, ed- ucational activities, mission, vision, and organizational goals that now guide Gadsden Arts, Inc. Led primarily by private donations, Gadsden Arts, Inc. raised $1.4 million to renovate the hardware store into the state of the art museum facility it is today.On March 1, 2016, the Gadsden Arts Center was awarded the highest honor for a museum in the United States - American Al- liance of Museums (AAM) Accreditation an in July 2016, Gads- den Arts was pleased to share an addition to the organization’s name that reflects its status as a nationally accredited museum: Gadsden Arts Center & Museum. Gadsden Arts is a “Center” – a community gathering place – and a “Museum” that collects, preserves, and shares important works of art, hosts culturally and| HOURS: Monday Closed | Tuesday- Saturday 10:00 a.m.-5:00 www.PanamaCityLiving.com • March - April 2018 • 83