Kennedy Douglass Center for the Arts

The Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts houses the administrative office for the Florence Department of Arts & Museums and functions as a center for cultural activities including the Kennedy-Douglass volunteers meetings, the Shoals Artist Guild meetings, Arts Alive administration and activities, W.C. Handy Festival activities, and much more. The center also houses a permanent exhibit of historical artifacts and memorabilia, and offers a variety of traveling art exhibitions.

The center consists of two adjacent houses with an added walkway connecting them, and a carriage house to the rear. The buildings are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Arts Alive Juried Show

Arts Alive park exhibits 2006

Arts Alive Gala 2006

" Mostly Blues" W.C. Handy Festival Show 2005

Shoals Artists Guild Annual Exhibition 2005

Shoals Piecemakers Quilt Guild's "Quilt Challenge '05"

Holly & Ivy Luncheon 2005

Shoals Artist Guild Meeting

The Shoals Artist Guild meets the at 10 am on the 3rd Friday of every month.

Meetings are held in the East building center every month except May, June, and July. For additional information about membership or meeting dates call Richard Smith (256) 764-5135 , or email rsmithwcs@aol.com

The Kennedy-Douglass Volunteers 2007 regular scheduled meeting dates are February 8, March 14, April 11, September 12, October 10, and November 14.
Refreshments are served at 9:30am and the meeting program starts at 10:00am. Meetings are held in the West building of the center every month except December. For additional information about membership or meetings call (256) 760-6379.

Special gatherings:
Volunteers Appreciation Luncheon - 11:30 am, May 2

Holly & Ivy Luncheons - Cup o'Cheer - 11:30 am, December 1 - 5 (Ticketed)

In early 2007 Charles E. Moore gave the ancestral home of his deceased wife Mary Eliza Southall to the City of Florence to be used as a museum. The property is located adjacent to the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts, making an arts complex of three buildings. The house, a Queen Anne Victorian, was built in 1890. According to historical architecture consultants Gail Winkler, Ph.D. FASID and Richard Moss, Ph.D.,"This is a fine house, not a plain Jane and a wonderful house for the city to preserve, illustrating a type of architecture from this period in

Florence."

The above information was provided by Barbara Broach museum director. The photo at right shows some of the work that has begun on the grounds. The landscaping will tie all three properties of the center together and unify the center.

Show Schedule

January 14 - February 29, 2008

Paintings by Carolyn Watson will be on exhibit. Watson is from Tupelo, Mississippi, and works in transparent watercolor. She is a Signature member of the Mississippi Watercolor Society.

Watson paints in a realistic style. "I strive to interpret subject matter that is meaningful to me," said Watson, "in dynamic and interesting compositions that capture the interest and imagination of the viewer. I try to utilize unique qualities of the watercolor medium, applying pigment in a fresh and beautiful way. I enjoy interpreting the effects of strong light and shadow, and the play of reflected light."

Watson is a graduate of Delta State University and studied watercolor under William Bagget at the University of Mississippi. She has been a full time professional watercolor artist since 1988. She currently travels and displays her work in juried art shows such as the Kentuck Festival in Northport, the Dogwood Festival in Atlanta, and the Great Gulf Coast Festival in Pensacola.

March 4 - April 10, 2008
Artistic Renderings of Youth
A juried exhibit of work by 7th through 12th grade artists from Colbert, Franklin and Lauderdale counties will be on display. Celebrating its fifteenth year in existence, this exhibit has developed into an outstanding showcase of youth art.

This year 378 pieces representing 16 schools are included in the exhibit. Ribbons were awarded in three grade divisions.

A reception will take place on Thursday, March 13, from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend and meet these young artists.

March is nationally recognized as Youth Art Month. This exhibit provides an opportunity for the community to discover the young artistic talent in our area. The competition is coordinated by a group of junior high and high school art teachers to give students a chance to exhibit their art work and receive recognition for their talent.

March 10 - April 30, 2008

Printmaking by Scott Stephens

Stephens is a printmaker and a Professor of Art at the University of Montevallo. The exhibit features his work selected from the past ten years. It includes a full range of print processes and techniques, from traditional woodcuts and lithography to photo-etching and collagraphs.

Stephens’ subject matter moves from abstraction to representation and is concerned with nature, process and perception. " I enjoy working in a large scale," Stephens said, "and pursue both the painterly and the photographic within the print format."

His work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions at venues across the country including the Alabama Artists Gallery in Montgomery, the Mobile Museum of Art, the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and sites in Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, and Florida. He received an Individual Artists Fellowship in 1992 and 2000 from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and has been a visiting artist and an artist-in-residence at facilities in Belgium, Canada, France, and Colorado. In 1986 he was awarded the Southern Arts Federation / National Endowment for the Arts Regional Emerging Visual Artists Fellowship in printmaking.

Stephens received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama. He has taught at the University of Montevallo since 1983. www.montevallo.edu/art/stephens.shtm

May 17 & 18, 2008

Arts Alive

This juried fine arts and crafts festival in Wilson Park attracts some of the best artists from across the country displaying paintings, pottery, jewelry, sculpture, and much more. Admission and parking are free. This is a family-friendly event with fine art, fine food, and art activities for kids. On exhibit in adjacent Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts is the Arts Alive gallery exhibition which runs through mid-June. Hours for the Festival are 9am to 5pm, both days.

www.artsalivealabama.com

July 1 - 28, 2008
Mostly Blues

Get in the mood for the W.C. Handy Music Festival with this exhibit of works with a musical flair by area artists. The invitation-only exhibition has only one requirement: the pieces must have some connection to music. This leaves artists with a free rein to create paintings, drawings and sculptures in a limitless variety of styles, subject matter, and media. www.wchandymusicfestival.org

August 4 - September 18, 2008

Works by Cal Breed

This Fort Payne artist creates beautiful blown glass pieces. All of his designs pay close attention to proportion, color, purity and form. He opened his studio, Orbix Hot Glass, five years ago and his work is now in galleries, museums and collections across the country. His work was accepted in the 2005 Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, D.C. www.orbixhotglass.com

September 8 – October 14, 2008

2008 Outdoor Alabama Photo Exhibit

This annual nature photography competition is sponsored by the Alabama Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources.

The selected pieces are featured in the magazine, Outdoor Magazine, and then travel to several locations across the state. Categories are Birds, Flora, Mammals, Other Wildlife, Reptiles/Amphibians/Fish and Scenic/Pictorial.

October 1 - 30, 2008

Art Expressions

Exhibition of works by members of the Shoals Artists Guild. The Guild has almost 60 artists who create paintings and drawings in a variety of styles, media and techniques.

November 10 – December 31, 2008

Mixed Media Drawings by Lendon Noe

This Tennessee artist combines drawings inspired by natural objects with text and artifacts to create delicately beautiful mixed-media works. Noe says her works, which are primarily multi-media drawings, contain “stories, or fragments of stories in image, artifact and text, weaving together of past and present” into visual narratives. She is a Professor of Art at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tennessee.

November 12 - December 18

Quilt Challenge '08

Each year the Shoals Piecemakers Quilt Guild issues a challenge to its members - create innovative quilts following a new set of rules. Each member is required to follow the rules, which include theme, size requirements and inclusion of a special fabric. The excitement comes in the widely varied and witty ways the rules are interpreted by each member.

December 1-5, 2008

Holly & Ivy Luncheons

These elegant luncheons feature entertainment by local entertainers and are a holiday tradition in the Shoals. Advanced tickets will be available at the Art Center.

Barbara Broach Museum Director in front of the

fountain in the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts court yard.

* The Alabama Humanities Foundation is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is funded by the NEH as well as by corporate and individual donors. The AHF is dedicated to the promotion and celebration of the humanities throughout the state and conducts its own statewide programs and awards grants, on a competitive basis, to nonprofit organizations for humanities programs.