News

More than half a century ago, the Makonde tribe sculpted and created beautiful artifacts that were used as communication tools, to improve fishing and hunting skills, and to ward of illnesses. Today, those same artifacts are displayed at the Turner Center for the Arts where anyone can come and observe them free of charge. Read More

Broadway Stars and Presenter Series committee members were seen rubbing shoulders with stars Patsy Cline and Hank Williams after “Country Royalty – A Salute to Hank Williams and Patsy Cline” at Mathis Auditorium! Get your tickets now for “JERSEY BOYS,” Thurs., Mar. 12 at 7:30 p.m., which is the last show in the 2019-2020 Presenter Series season. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit turnercenter.org.

Pictured, first row, l-r: Sementha Mathews, Mala Vallotton, Jennifer Powell, Jane Burgsteiner, Linda Grondahl, Gail Bliss as “Patsy Cline,” Jane McLane, Jeani Synyard, Sherrill and Steven Lahr; second row, l-r: Mike Shobe, Tina and Brad Folsom, Cheryl Oliver, Nancy D. Warren, Billy Grondahl, Jason Petty as “Hank Williams,” H. Arthur McLane, Gail and Walter Hobgood.

Not pictured are: Millie Adams, Stephanie Blevins, Dean Brooks, Roy and Cheryl Copeland, Susan Dukes, Mary and Tom Gooding, Lucy Greene, Richard Hill, Peter and Happy Ingeman, Sara and Ed Lamb, Sally Turner Querin, Chuck Ramsey, Cindy Tolbert, Patricia Vigerstol, Evelyn and Steven Walker, Susan and Butch Wiggins, Clarence and Eddie Wiggs, and James Willis.

The Turner Center for the Arts will host Georgia author William Rawlings, Jr. for a book signing on Feb. 4, 2020, from 4-6 p.m.

Rawlings, a semi-retired internal medicine physician and the author of 10 novels, will review one of his latest books, “Girl with the Kaleidoscope Eyes,” which was released in fall 2019. His newest book “Six Inches Deeper—the Disappearance of Hellen Hanks” is scheduled to be released in spring 2020 and is the true-crime account of a murder that took place in South Georgia in 1972. Rawlings will give a preview of his latest book at the Feb. 4 book signing, along with a discussion about his life and work as an author.

After spending most of his life practicing medicine, Rawlings began fiction writing relatively late in life. His first novel, the thriller “The Lazard Legacy,” was published in 2003 when he was age 55. Set in a small Georgia town much like his hometown of Sandersville, it involves a doctor escaping big-city life only to stumble onto a nightmarish secret. Other books that followed include, “The Rutherford Cipher,” “The Tate Revenge” (winner of the Golden Eye Award), “Crossword” and “The Mile High Club.”

This event is free and open to the public. For more information about the author, visit www.williamrawlings.com. For additional information about the event, visit www.turnercenter.org or call 229-247-2787.

The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts’ Gallery Opening Reception on Monday, Jan. 13 featured the 13^th annual DrawProject fundraiser and VSU President Dr. Richard Carvajal as the guest auctioneer. Artworks donated by area artists were auctioned at this annual event to raise scholarship funds for VSU art students that are awarded in the fall semester.

The gallery event also features the fine art works of local artists Mary VanLandingham and Christine Cabral in the Price-Campbell and Josette’s Galleries respectively. Both are VSU alumni and are enjoying their first solo gallery shows at the Turner Center.

VanLandingham’s exhibit consists of oil paintings of landscapes found in the South East United States, primarily Georgia and Florida, capturing the familiarity and beauty of the southern coast and countryside. VanLandingham’s artwork will showcase a variety of entrancing scenes of water, land and sky.

Cabral’s inspired art work features acrylic paint on canvas, while occasionally incorporating mixed media fabrics and vinyl into her paintings. Upon losing her mother in 1997, the natural evolution of grief and emotion transformed Cabral’s expression. Driven by the notion that the desire to connect and revisit one’s childhood is universal, Cabral transforms her canvas with childlike and innocent imagery touched also by the heartache of grief and separation.

“The Turner Center for the Arts is proud to participate in the annual DrawProject exhibit and in our longstanding relationship with VSU’s Department of Art and Design,” said Executive Director Sementha Mathews. “This exciting art event adds a distinctive dimension to our winter gallery reception with silent and live auctions, providing all of us with an opportunity to obtain excellent, original art at affordable prices, while also celebrating our exceptional local artists.”

The Turner Center’s East African Art and Fine European Porcelain permanent collections are also on display in the Tillman and Howard Galleries.

All exhibits will remain open for the public’s enjoyment through Wednesday, Feb. 26. For more information, call 229-247-2787 or visit www.turnercenter.org.

Public Art Advisory Committee (PAAC) members will hang banners on Saturday, July 14, to identify the City Center Arts District (CCAD), beginning at 10 a.m. in front of the historic Lowndes County Courthouse. Volunteers are needed to attach nearly 150 CCAD banners to the bottoms of the Main Street banners already affixed to poles throughout the Downtown Valdosta area.

The CCAD serves as the anchor of attraction for our community, defining a place where arts, culture and creativity improves our community’s competitive edge, attracts new and visiting populations, and contributes to the development of a skilled workforce.

The purpose of PAAC is to further the purchase and appreciation of public art and to promote its aesthetic value to the economic development of the community. The CCAD was established by the PAAC and approved by the Valdosta City Council in October 2016, becoming the first arts district in the city’s history.

The arts district follows the Central Valdosta Development Authority’s western, southern and eastern boundaries. The CCAD’s north boundary, however, extends two blocks to Webster Street to include the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, as well as its Hudson Pottery Studio and youth art education Annex.

Community volunteers are invited on Saturday to meet at the courthouse with step ladders and pliers to assist with the identification of the CCAD. For more information or to volunteer on Saturday, July 14, contact Sementha Mathews, Executive Director of the Turner Center for the Arts, at 229-247-2787 or smathews@turnercenter.org.