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Art Center at Johns Creek outlines programs, its 30th-anniversary plans and partnerships
Summary
Stephanie Donaldson, executive director of the Art Center at Johns Creek, told RPAC about year-round classes, outreach in Fulton County Title I schools, summer camps serving over 1,000 children, and a new partnership with Morehouse College for art-and-therapy sessions; she proposed anniversary events and festival ideas and invited RPAC collaboration.
Stephanie Donaldson, executive director of the Art Center at Johns Creek, presented the nonprofit’s programs and outreach at the March 19 RPAC meeting, asking the advisory committee to consider partnerships for the center’s 30th-anniversary programs and for city parks events.
Donaldson described the center’s year-round programming: classes for ages 3 through seniors, on-site ceramics (kilns), and nine weeks of summer art camps expected to serve more than 1,000 children. She said the Art Center operates as an independent nonprofit—about 70% of revenue comes from camps and classes—and supplements that with grants (Fulton County, Georgia Council for the Arts) and private foundations.
The Art Center supports school outreach at multiple Fulton County Title I elementary schools (Esther Jackson, Mimosa and Vickery Mill) and partners with organizations such as the Drake House to provide arts programming for mothers and children experiencing homelessness. Donaldson said the center will roll out a partnership with Morehouse College for a four-week art-and-therapy series for adults 18 and older.
Donaldson proposed several public events tied to the Art Center’s 30th anniversary and community engagement, including a gala next fall with a fundraising goal of $30,000, a chalk festival and a kite festival that could be staged at Collier/Cauley Creek Park or the Boardwalk at Town Center. She offered RPAC members the chance to help plan or participate in events such as an RPAC paint night.
Committee members asked whether the Art Center receives city funding; Donaldson replied it is a private nonprofit but does receive grants and contracts and fields a mix of paid staff (small core staff) and approximately 40 independent-contractor instructors. She confirmed facility rental is available for private events and parties.
Donaldson closed by inviting RPAC to collaborate on programming in parks and to help publicize the Art Center’s events and scholarship opportunities.
