Written by Patrick Cox, Photographed by Kendra Frankle
Savannah’s already abundant art scene welcomed its newest addition Saturday, April 13. The grand opening celebration featured a 39,000 square-foot Cultural Arts Center located at 201 Montgomery Street, but the official opening date is set for May 4. The Cultural Arts Center will house classes and workshops on a variety of disciplines including ceramics, metals, fibers and more. Funding for this project was approved by local voters, with most of the nearly $24.5 million dollar project value coming from SPLOST [Special Purpose Local Option Tax] to replace the now previous workspace. This newly renovated building was previously a 10,000 square-foot leased black box theater and gallery located on Henry Street called S.P.A.C.E.
Along with the expansion, the new center is much closer to downtown Savannah, with numerous tools and studios to help make artistic dreams attainable throughout the enormous space. With a centralized location, it is easily accessible to a larger number of local residents and visitors alike. The new center features a 464-seat performing arts theater, and a black box theater used for smaller performances that still seats up to 100 people. Additionally, five studio classrooms will have the equipment available for use, such as kilns for pottery and metal-working tools for jewelry making.
Saturday’s grand opening featured a number of fun activities and demos for a hands-on experience. Recurring demos, such as the half-hourly Seed Ball Creatures Demo or the hourly Wheel throwing Demo, kept newcomers entertained without letting the fun come to a stop.
Driftwood dream catcher, weaving, and jewelry making hands-on sessions showcased just how well this space can be utilized by the community. Performances in the new theater excited audiences about the potential held by the new space, and showed that they are eager to break it in.
Recently, Montgomery St. changed from one-way traffic to add an oncoming two-way traffic lane. The purpose of this change is to accommodate for the new center, in hopes to ease traffic flow and confusion in front of the main entrance. The city believes that this will make for easier drop off and pick up without having to navigate a one-way street surrounded by busy Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard or West Oglethorpe Avenue.
For updates and more information visit their website.
