MOULTRIE – The Arts Center of Moultrie received a check for $50,000 from Fox Gives, Wednesday, to help fund the arts center’s theater renovations, which have already been underway this year.
“All of this work was done in less than six months,” said Joy Yost, arts center executive director, at the check presentation event. “I want to thank the Fox Theatre Institute, now Fox Gives, for their support in this. They do amazing things for historic theaters all over Georgia.”
Fox Gives, which is the community partnership arm of the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, offers programming, consulting and grant funding assistance to historic theaters throughout Georgia with the goal of providing significant economic and cultural impact to the communities they serve.
The check presentation event was held in the Wright Auditorium, the arts center’s theater, with art center board members, patrons and children from the arts summer camp in attendance.
“We were able to re-plaster, repaint the walls. I mean, ceiling to floor. The floors were completely redone, stripped down to bare wood and we had them all refinished,” said Yost.
She also said that the dressing rooms have been redone and anything that is theatre-related has been moved to the center of the building, including the prop room, costume room and a “green room.”
Yost said that she was looking forward to starting up theatre productions again. The summer arts camp kids will be the first ones to use the stage since the renovations.
“I’m always humbled and honored to be around those that work on the stage, in the building, with the kids doing this work of building performing arts in communities across the state,” said Leigh Burns of Fox Gives.
She also told the audience that every time someone bought a ticket or concessions at the Fox Theatre, a portion of that money was returned to Moultrie and other communities through grants from Fox Gives.