By Jeff Ophime

Arts Center Director



I’m writing this story today to help convince myself that running as far away from the Colquitt County Arts Center isn’t the thing to do just yet. I have spent just about my entire life interested in art, creating it, looking at it, enjoying it, collecting it and talking about it. So you would think that being the director of an arts center would be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for someone like me. The truth is that it has been for the most part. The daily headaches of relentless expenses, exhausting maintenance issues and stretching a budget that simply is not big enough to accommodate what goes on at the Arts Center have all taken their toll on my being here. What I call “the office” has just about sucked any enjoyment out of being in this position. The cooling and heating problems alone for this 40,000 square foot facility could easily drive a person crazy. My fear is that I am just one more director that has been chewed up and spit out by this place.

My official title is executive director, but I rarely use the word “executive” because much of what I do is receptionist/janitorial in nature. It’s not that I feel that I am above such duties; the problem is that responding to the next “this, that or the other thing” has become 90% of my job. I keep hoping that next week or next month will start to resemble something normal; the pace only seems to accelerate.

I still have wonderful moments like yesterday when a young boy with his proud grandmother came into the office to show everyone his artwork. There is no denying that art plays a huge role in this little guy’s life. His love of drawing beamed from his eyes. Jane Simpson here at the Arts Center gathered up some extra art supplies for him to take home and he almost started to cry. We invited him to take a class and informed his grandmother that we have available scholarships if needed. Once again, I think that he was continuing to hold back his emotions from his new found wealth of good luck. This is a good example of why having an arts center is so important, because it’s so important to this little guy and other children like him.

I’m still touched by the wealth of creativity and enjoyment that is experienced every Tuesday morning by the seniors that come to the Arts Center to paint. This class continues to be the one of the best programs we offer. Our local United Way makes this class very affordable for seniors to participate in, only twenty dollars a month. This includes canvases, paint and instruction every week.

Incredibly wonderful people in this community work extremely hard to provide funding to keep things going. One of my favorite things about my involvement with the Colquitt County Arts Center is that it has given me the opportunity to meet amazingly kind and interesting individuals. I will never forget their kindness to me and to this amazing arts center.

I consider myself a very lucky person because I had a very wise and insightful grandmother. Her first question to me was always “are you happy?” She felt that being happy is the most important thing in life and if something isn’t making you happy then you should work on changing things. I strive to keep her simple message as a guiding force in my life. It’s not as easy as you might think. I have learned that being happy, like most valuable things in life, takes work and perseverance.

I am going to work very hard the next couple months at bringing “happy” back into my time spent here at the Arts Center. Music, art work and theater productions are all happy things for me. They can all be found right here at the Arts Center. Miserable and frustrated is no way to go through life, or so I’ve been told by a very wise old lady who will forever be in my heart.