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Culture
Johnston County Arts Council Supports Efforts to Promote Creativity
The Johnston County Arts Council brings in African artists and historians who teach kids about their culture.
Whatever the art form – be it dancing and singing or painting and acting – the Johnston County Arts Council is involved.
The council‚ which is headquartered in Clayton‚ helped establish the Ava Gardner Museum and was instrumental in the formation of the Johnston County Chorale.
The organization also secured grant money to help the Benson Little Theatre get on its feet and contributed to the artistic efforts of the Neuse Little Theatre and The Clayton Center.
The council was founded in 1972; today‚ its mission is to continue providing art opportunities for Johnston County residents.
“I’ve been with the arts council since 2005 and have noticed that people here are becoming more and more receptive to the arts being part of their lives‚” says Jessica Meadows‚ executive director of the Johnston County Arts Council. “It’s an exciting time for arts enthusiasts in Johnston County.”
One of the council’s most successful programs is called Artists in the Schools‚ which began in 1999 as an initiative within the Johnston County Schools system. The council works with area schools to enrich the arts curriculum‚ which is offered to 29‚000 students in 36 county schools.
“The program has gotten so big that it necessitated the creation of my job position in 2005 as the council’s executive director‚” Meadows says. “We work closely with teachers to enhance lesson plans from an artistic standpoint.”
For example‚ all seventh-graders in North Carolina learn about Africa. Meadows says the council often brings in African historians who demonstrate drumming‚ dancing‚ textile-making and authentic language to complement a teacher’s curriculum.
“Besides the Artists in the Schools program‚ the council also offers a summer Music for the Lunch Bunch get-together that is open to the entire community‚” she says. “It features classical music performances on Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Smithfield‚ and there are always at least 50 people in the audience.
“In 2007‚ we scheduled 10 different dates with 18 different musicians‚ and this was the council’s 23rd year for hosting that popular summertime event‚” she adds.
Meadows says the council’s Web page – www.johnstoncountyarts.org – is updated every two weeks to help spread the word about area arts events.
“The Clayton News-Star and The Herald local newspapers have both been great about promoting local arts‚ and we even have our own MySpace page [www.myspace.com/johnstoncountyarts] that launched in March 2007 to help with timely arts promotions‚” she says. “Those promotions include live music venues in Benson‚ Clayton‚ Kenly‚ Selma‚ Smithfield and Pine Level. The arts in Johnston County are alive and getting more exciting all the time.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
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