The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts
The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts
Back to FinalistsThe Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts
Mission Statement
The mission of the Turner Center for the Arts is to promote and celebrate the arts as the regional center for cultural enrichment, art education, and entertainment. The vision of the Lowndes/Valdosta Arts Commission (parent organization of Turner Center) is to inspire all people to appreciate and use artistic expression to enrich their lives and to improve the social and economic health of our vibrant communities.
Organization Overview
The Turner Center is located in the heart of the city, and our heart is to serve our community and region through the arts. Celebrating our 60th anniversary in 2022, we have demonstrated a commitment to serving our diverse population with creative, quality programs that utilizes all of our Campus resources: five facilities, four parking lots, and an Art Park. The main center houses seven art galleries, two classrooms, a meeting room, computer lab, arts library, gift shop, and commercial kitchen. The Youth Art Annex houses two large classrooms, a music room, and two studios–one for artist rental space and one dedicated to the Artist-in-Residence Program. These resources, in addition to the Pottery Studio, Glass Art Studio, and future Children’s Art Museum, serve the overall creative and social well-being of our community. The Art Park was created in 2019 from an underutilized and overgrown lot and is equipped with a powered pavilion, simple landscaping and public art. It has become a gathering place for concerts and the annual ARToberfest, as well as other events that celebrate the arts and the diversity of our community. The Turner Center offers a variety of enrichment opportunities for all ages and people that include painting, pottery, guitar and ukulele lessons, writing, yoga, digital art, photography and video, glass art, and so much more. In addition to hosting 7 art exhibits per year representing more than 25 artists, our galleries also host classical music concerts and may be rented for private events year-round. The Turner Center is the ideal location to produce the Levitt AMP Valdosta Music Series and to continue the positive impact that the arts are having in our community.
Proposal Details
How will your town or city benefit from a Levitt AMP [Your City] Music Series and how will the series reflect the three main goals of Levitt AMP: 1) Amplify community pride and the city’s unique character; 2) enrich lives through the power of free, live Music; 3) illustrate the importance of vibrant public Places?
The Levitt AMP Valdosta Music Series will amplify community pride and Valdosta’s unique character by providing free outdoor concerts in the heart of our city. There’s no better place to celebrate the art of music than on the Turner Center for the Arts Campus, at the Turner Center Art Park—located in the historic district, the Valdosta Entertainment District, and the City Center Arts District and therefore is a natural and ideal gathering spot for patrons and visitors alike. Many of these concerts will feature artists that we know, love, and have followed over the years. The pride in supporting hometown folks and regional artists is overwhelming, and it builds unity. The lasting impacts of Covid still has an influence on where and how people spend their leisure time. Coupled with rising costs of gas, food, and other life necessities, fun and enriching experience are also quite expensive. Levitt AMP Valdosta concerts support inclusivity by providing free opportunities that will enrich people’s lives and the lives of their family members through the power of music. Furthermore, the performers will be paid what they are worth as professional musicians, which will increase the quality of their lives, as well. The Turner Center wants to preserve vibrant public spaces, such as the Art Park, and continue to make the Art Park accessible to all people. It is important to maintain these opportunities that enrich people’s lives, support culture, build unity, and continue the impact of the arts. The concert series and improved gathering spot also supports the sustainability of our community and region.
Explain how the Levitt AMP [Your City] Music Series will play a role in enlivening the selected public space and surrounding areas.
The Levitt AMP Valdosta Music Series will enliven our Valdosta community by offering more opportunities for our residents and guests to enjoy the power of music in the beautiful South Georgia outdoors, more particularly in the arts district and on the Turner Center for the Arts Campus—which is perfectly located between Valdosta State University and Downtown Main Street. The surrounding Turner Center Campus provides opportunities throughout the day to enrich people’s lives with all forms of art activities; and by night, the Center has been known to host concerts and other cultural events within the art galleries and Broadway musicals at the nearby city auditorium. However, the Levitt AMP Valdosta Music Series provides a different vibe, a more casual, family-friendly experience in the outdoors that is completely free. Located on a partially developed piece of land, of which features a majestic tree canopy to shelter from patrons from the heat, our aspirations include more concerts and public art community projects that create memorable life experiences for the people in our community. There is great potential for the proposed venue as it is surrounded by a good mix of neighborhoods, businesses, government, education, nonprofit organizations, and people of all ages from all walks of life that have expressed their pleasure with free community events and the need for more of them. Because, when they come together for these free concerts in the park everyone is equal. Everyone has access. Everyone is included. There’s nothing to purchase, no reserved seating, or anything else that would signify status between people. In the Art Park, we are a commUNITY of people gathering for great music under the South Georgia pines.