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connection with the school.
“People knew about the center and its history,” Arwood said. “However, there wasn’t an awareness of what was happening inside the building. They knew about the Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival, which is our anchor program, and the performances presented by Thomasville Entertainment Foundation, but that was basically all they knew.”
With a strategic plan developed, the center began a rebranding e ort and shifted its mission to include a greater focus on the arts throughout the community and changed its name to the Thomasville Center for the Arts (TCA).
Arwood said that the new name
and brand allowed the center to say, “We heard you and we are ready to leverage the arts to make a di erence.”
The TCA now has a greater focus
on art education for children, public art, festivals, an artist-in-residence program, and exhibitions to promote economic growth.
“We became very speci c on what
Michele Arwood, TCA executive director
projects or programs we selected,” said Arwood, who became TCA’s executive director. “We shifted from focusing on what we do to why we do it. When we began to focus on the ‘why’, everything began to change.”
Located next to Scott Elementary School, TCA formed a partnership with the Thomasville City Schools to o er art education programs to their students.
When students now enter the TCA building, they are engaged in the visual arts, theatre, dance, and music.
“Seven years ago our building was quiet for most of the day,” Arwood said, “and now when you enter our doors you hear children singing and performing. They have brought life back into the building.”
The TCA has more than 10 programs directly related to art education for children, including visiting artists
in the schools, art exhibits, theatre presentations, summer camps, and free art workshops throughout the year.
Art exhibits and festivals are an integral part of TCA’s e orts to enhance the community through
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