Vestavia Hills Arts Council board members at “I Love America Night” recently, from left Judith Hand, Jessica Garrison, Kelly Love and Jody Pannell.By Anne Ruisi
Vestavia Hills has revived its arts council after 18 months of planning and preparation.
Its mission is to “celebrate and promote the great things that are already happening in Vestavia with the arts and hosting a few signature events,” said Faith Lenhart, executive chair of the Vestavia Hills Arts Council.
“We want to celebrate the arts in our city,” said Lenhart, who is director of arts education for the Vestavia Hills School System. “There will be more opportunities for students and community members to showcase their artwork, including visual art, theater, dance and music.”
Promoting communication, cooperation and mutual support among artists and arts organizations in the city, advocating for the arts and community support, and providing educational opportunities for and about the arts are among the arts council’s purposes, as outlined on its website, vhal.org/community/arts-council.
The city once had an arts council years ago, but Mayor Ashley Curry was interested in “reviving and reimagining it,” Lenhart said.
So, a few years ago she asked Curry about restarting the arts council. It’s taken about 18 months to do so, including setting up bylaws and organizing a board of directors.
“Getting the board members organized was really important. We wanted people that actually wanted to be there and were going to contribute. The board has really stepped up and is the reason the council is off to a great start,” Lenhart said.
Looking for Variety
It was important to get members from different fields within the artistic community, as the arts council wants to focus on visual and performing arts, she said. So, board members include working artists and artistic-related businesses. Besides visual arts, dance, theater and music are also represented.
Placing representatives from the city’s varied neighborhoods, such as Liberty Park, Cahaba Heights and “old” Vestavia, established areas that formed the city’s core before Liberty Park and Cahaba Heights were annexed, was also important.
A few Vestavia Hills city employees are also on the board, such as Assistant City Manager Cinnamon McCulley.
Reviving the arts council involved plenty of research on how other arts councils in the state and region work.
“You want to do it right the first time,” she said, adding the research included how other arts councils were structured and operated.
The arts council’s board meets once a month and will hold an annual meeting that will be open to the public. The annual meeting will be Sept. 19 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall, Lenhart said.
The annual meeting for the public will help the arts council promote its first signature event, the month-long Artstober, which is slated for October.
The idea is to present a full slate of artistic activities, such as an exhibit of two-dimensional art created by residents that will be displayed at City Hall. The board is still organizing other events and activities for Artstober.
Board members and city officials want residents to know about the arts council and Artstober. Recently, the board set up a table at Vestavia’s I Love America Night in June, with information about Artstober. It also offered giveaways, such as personal artwork by three board members and a coloring sheet created by another member, Lenhart said. Board members manning the table wore T-shirts with a QR code that linked to the arts council’s website.
Those who want to join the arts council’s mailing list can do so through a link on the council’s website.
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