Editor’s note: The following column was submitted prior to the announcement of closings in response to the coronavirus state of emergency. Both Colquitt County Schools and the Colquitt County Arts Center will be closed through at least March 27.

The Colquitt County Arts Center would like to thank the Colquitt County Board of Education for offering arts opportunities to partner with our local schools.  This school year, and for many years past, the Arts Center has provided a variety of visual and performing arts for many of the elementary schools and upper grades schools including the middle, junior, and high schools. 

This year, the elementary schools have access to Title IV funds in the area of the development of the well-rounded child.  Many schools are contracting and partnering with the Arts Center to expand student access to high quality art education and performances.  Sunset Elementary students received visual arts instruction in December and January and their kindergarten even joined us at the Arts Center for a fun field trip.  Doerun Elementary also received visual arts instruction in January through early March.  Cox Elementary opted for performing arts in theater and dance in February and March, and Stringfellow Elementary is looking forward to the same type of instruction later this school year.  Hamilton Elementary will receive visual arts instruction in March through May, while GEAR will hold an Art Day at their school.  A variety of Arts Center instructors will demonstrate and share their talents with GEAR students, including a portrait artist, a theater/drama instructor, a costume designer, a music instructor, and a yoga instructor.  Colquitt County Arts Center thanks these schools, the administrators and staff, and the students for allowing us to be part of their curriculum this school year.  We also want to extend a special thank you to the PTOs (parent and teacher organizations) at Doerun and Hamilton for additional funding to provide quality and fun art opportunities to students. 

Again this year, Colquitt County Arts Center has partnered with the Program for Exceptional Children (PEC) to provide yoga to students who receive special education services.  Students from elementary to high school who are in a special education, or self-contained classroom setting, get to experience the relaxing and meditative nature of yoga in the convenience of their classrooms.  

A stART grant, written by the middle and high school art teachers and provided by The Georgia Department of Education, funded the purchase of pottery wheels at the high school and new tables, digital drawing tablets, and a drying rack at the middle school.  The Arts Center offered to partner with the middle, junior, and high schools in order to bring a visiting artist to celebrate their new art equipment.  The Arts Center has partnered with the Colquitt County Board of Education to write a grant through the Georgia Council for the Arts that will provide a visiting artist to each of the three schools for a total of six days and will provide three field trips to the arts center to see the artist’s exhibition next school year.  The grant recipients will be announced this summer.  

Currently, the Youth Art Month exhibition is up at the Arts Center and will be on view until March 20, 2020.  Colquitt Christian Academy, R.B. Wright, GEAR, Horizons Academy, Willie J. Williams Middle, C.A. Gray Junior High, and Colquitt County High School students have work on display.  If you haven’t stopped by, feel free to come by Monday-Friday from 10am-5:30pm to see the outstanding artwork created by our local students.  

For more information on bringing the arts to your school or partnering with Colquitt County Arts Center, come by our office at 401 7th Ave SW, Moultrie, GA 21768, give us a call at 229-985-1922, or visit us on the web at www.colquittcountyarts.org.