MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Colquitt County Arts Center has begun the formation of a committee to help the local agency diversify its users, its instructors and its exhibits.

The process started Saturday with a meeting of about 40 people at the Arts Center. Most of the invited participants were from Moultrie’s Black community, but discussions also touched on ways to reach out to Hispanic and Asian residents. Participants also mentioned other forms of diversity, including socio-economic class and gender identity.

The meeting was intended to open conversations about what the Black community might want that the Arts Center could provide, and it generated several ideas. The purpose of the volunteer committee will be to sift through those ideas and prioritize the actions the Arts Center should take to become more inclusive of all of Colquitt County.

Volunteers started signing up Saturday, but the committee’s first meeting will be Sept. 13. Not only did existing summer vacation plans conflict, many participants work for the school system and didn’t want to start meeting until after Labor Day to give classes time to settle down.

One of the big issues that came up over and over was simply getting the message to Black families about what the Arts Center has to offer. Every table had copies of the Arts Center’s latest brochure featuring what classes, exhibits and events will be coming up in July, but most participants said they’d never seen a brochure like that before. In whatever way it is distributed, it is not reaching them.

Similarly some people said they’re not on social media while others said they are but hadn’t seen the Arts Center’s posts.

One of the teachers acknowledged the Arts Center might have sent her emails, “but we get a thousand emails,” she said.

A resource that was repeatedly emphasized was the Black church.

“One of the entities you have to go to is the Black church,” said Clovis King, “and you have to be intentional.”

King spoke with some experience. She formerly directed youth theater at the Arts Center and would have to visit every church and many other places to hang posters and flyers advertising auditions and performances. She warned somebody would have to do a lot of work to continuously get the message out.

A participant urged partnerships, but Director Connie Fritz said the Arts Center already partners with the United Way, Green Oaks, the Moultrie Service League, the Moultrie Federated Guild, the county Board of Education and, to a lesser extent, the Women’s Federated Club. It formerly partnered with the Boys and Girls Club, but the club has become self-sustaining. It’s in discussions with the Colquitt County Extension Service. The Moultrie-Colquitt County Library System receives county and state funding to host similar activities, so there hasn’t been much of a partnership with it, Fritz said.

Similarly, as talks turned to money, participants urged Fritz to look into grants, but she said she already does. In fact, she’s in the process of applying for four separate grants now, she said.

Josh Lovett, president of the Arts Center Board, acknowledged the Arts Center’s shortcomings on diversity, but he asked the assembly to join the Arts Center as it is then “help it to grow into what you want it to be.”

That message resonated with some of the participants. At least three people paid dues to become Arts Center patrons as the meeting wound down.

“We have to get our money in it to make it look like us,” Latoya Powell said.

Anyone who’s interested in joining the committee or becoming a patron can call Fritz at the Arts Center, (229) 985-1922.