Center aims to be ‘arts hub of Shelby County’

Shelby County is now home to a new entertainment and arts venue.

The Shelby County Arts Center at Old Mill Square, located in Columbiana, is almost ready for guests and artists. The project was made possible by a collaboration between Shelby County, the city of Columbiana and the Shelby County Arts Council, along with support from businesses, capital campaign donors and patrons.

A 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Shelby County Arts Council has been around since 2005, when it opened in a 1,500-square-foot building on Mildred Street. The new facility will be the centerpiece of the new 30,000-square-foot complex, in which the SCAC will occupy 20,000 square feet.

Executive Director Bruce Andrews said that in the last four and a half years, they have been tracking ticket sales for their shows and found that more than 70% of the tickets were sold to zip codes outside of Columbiana. Just a 12-mile drive from Chelsea, the center has already been a destination for many residents along U.S. 280.

Andrews believes the arts center can be a destination for all of central Alabama.

“We want to bring new folks to our town, which will also have an economic impact,” Andrews said. “Easily 25 to 30 percent of the people attending the shows come from the 280 corridor. They make up a substantial percentage of our patrons. We probably have more people from 35242 than from Columbia. We want people to come and have a good time and leave some money, go back home and talk positively about our town.”

The new facility will feature a 500-seat multipurpose venue; Black Box Performance Theater; foundry and metal arts studio; pottery and sculpture studio; visual arts teaching studio; music performance and practice suites; the EBSCO Fine Art Gallery; an art creation courtyard; and an outdoor stage and amphitheater featuring 4 acres of greenspace and a public park.

Andrews said at the core of what the SCAC does is build a community of artists. The space provides the opportunity for artists to teach and people to attend workshops. The fee-based classes benefit both the artists and the organization.

“We want to build a community of artists and creative people to exchange ideas and concepts,” Andrews said. “That, along with bringing people onto campus, can make us the arts and cultural hub in south Shelby County.”

The groundbreaking for the space was in May 2018. The grand opening is set for Sept. 20, with a ribbon-cutting at 10:30 a.m., an open house from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a fine art gallery opening from 6-8 p.m.

Upcoming shows include singer-songwriter Paul Thorne, storyteller Dolores Hydock, small ensembles from the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Jessica Meuse, Damon Johnson and YouTube sensation Abby the Spoon Lady.

“When booking our shows, some people may not know who the acts are, but others are huge fans,” Andrews said. “Finding these artists is the thing we can do to appeal to the niche markets identified on social media in the arts and cultural realm.”

The SCAC also provides outreach with its three flagship programs: Art Abilities, where art and music classes are taught to students in more than 20 Shelby County schools; Writing our Stories, a 10-week creative writing program; and At Risk Art and Music Therapy, classes taught by SCAC artists at the Shelby County juvenile detention center and day program in Alabaster.

There will be a ribbon cutting on Sept. 20, and a sneak preview of the facility from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. That evening, the gallery opening event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m.

For more information, visit shelbycounty artscouncil.com.