The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts will hold its first opening reception of the year on Thursday, January 11, from 5 to 7 p.m., at 527 N. Patterson Street. The Center will feature the 17th Annual DrawProject; the 5th Annual Regional Artists Community Exhibit; The Colored Pencil Society of America (Southeast Region) with “The Fine Art of Colored Pencil.” Admission is free.

The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts will launch a Digital Arts, Technology, Animation and Media (DATAM) program for area middle and high school students. Funded by a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a matching grant from the Loyce & Annette Turner Foundation, Inc., the new program seeks to expose students to technical arts and potential career fields.  

Moody Air Force Base veterans, Valdosta State University Art & Design students, and Valdosta High School seniors are invited to participate in Glass Art 101 Academy, a multi-generational glass outreach program sponsored in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Carolyn Griner, a 9th grade student at Valwood School, has a demonstrated history of involvement with the arts and related successes.

As a kindergarten student at Valwood, Griner’s artwork was included in the Turner Center’s Annual Spring into Art Invitation Design Contest, a special extension of the Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition. More than 50 pieces a year are entered into the contest by teachers of grades K-5. The winner receives a free class at the Turner Center and allows for the publication of their artwork on tickets and invitations for the annual Spring into Art Opening Gala. Their work is then professionally framed, formally presented to them, and displayed during the annual Spring into Art Exhibit.  Griner won this contest in 2015, preceding the 28^th Annual Spring into Art Exhibit.

The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts is looking for instructors to add to its creative team.

The Turner Center is actively seeking instructors to teach digital arts, technology, and media classes. Specific fields of interest include graphic arts, web design, photography, and videography, as well as other related fields. Instructors are needed for a 10-week grant program, as well as regular classes.

The second concert of the 2023 Turner Center Songwriter Showcase series takes place Tues., November 14, from 7 to 9 p.m. inside the Turner Center galleries, located at 527 N. Patterson Street.

This one-night event features three talented, outstanding local songwriters, who will perform original music and share the stories behind their songs. Performers for the showcase are Lloyd Carter, Aaron Cheney and Derrick Dove (Derrick Dove & The Peacekeepers). Sound will be provided by Brant Pickard of Live Sound Consulting.

The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts and the Young Writers League (YoWL) are seeking fiction, non-fiction, and poetry entries for the 4^th Annual “Art of Writing” contest. The contest is open to middle and high school students in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, and the surrounding states.

The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts will host the 6th annual ARToberfest. The festival observes National Arts & Humanities Month, celebrates the talent of local and regional artists, and highlights the arts’ remarkable impact on community life. ARToberfest will take place on Sat., Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Turner Center Art Park, located at 605 N. Patterson St. The event is free and open to the public.