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Building Art In Florence

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BUILDING ART IN FLORENCE

New Cultural Corridor in downtown is revitalizing through arts.

The downtown area of Florence features a new Cultural Corridor along Dargan Street, with nearly $100 million invested in building place through arts-related sites and events.

  • The Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center opened in September 2011. With an investment of $34 million, the technology lab and facilities for music students, amphitheater, and the phenomenal acoustics in the 849-seat performance hall wowed a very diverse crowd during its opening weekend.
  • The Florence Downtown Development Corporation (FDDC) sponsors the Gallery which is housed in a wonderfully not-yet-renovated building owned by FDDC.
  • In the Art Trail Gallery, you'll also find the studio of internationally-renowned and very prolific sculptorAlex Palkovich who has been filling our public spaces with amazing work. He is the only South Carolinian to be an elected member of the National Sculpture Society.
  • The Florence Little Theatre is by no means "little" - the $10 million facility opened in 2008, and has been entertaining soldout crowds ever since.
  • The $17 million library which opened in 2004 is introducing the Dr. N. Lee Morris Gallery in the fall of 2011.
  • Groundbreaking will soon begin on the new Florence Museum, a $12 million project scheduled to open in 2013.

And things are happening -

  • The Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center offers six series of shows on an ongoing basis: Broadway and More, Concert, Black Box, Dance, Family, and Variety.
  • The Art Trail Gallery offers rotating exhibits of local artists. Until the Art Trail opened, we had no idea how much talent is in the region - each exhibit brings additional artists and artisans out of the woodwork to highlight their talent. To date, more than 400 artists and craftsmen have featured their work, and about 45% of them have never exhibited previously.
  • The FDDC's Florence After Five brings live music to the Cultural Corridor on a monthly basis, while the Art Trail Gallery remains open to highlight Affordably Unique vendors who produce and sell reasonably-priced edible, functional, or decorative pieces.
  • The Florence Regional Arts Alliance hosts exhibitions in Gallery 412 on Dargan Street.
  • Pee Dee Arts and Culture focuses its marketing efforts to build tourism and increase attendance at events across the region. Publications like Artastic! promote performances and arts-related events in Florence and the region on a quarterly basis.
  • Francis Marion University hosts the annual Arts International Festival, featuring performers from across the globe.
  • Railroad Junction, originally a pop-up shop sponsored by FDDC, is firmly established as an artist co-op in the downtown.
  • Other art collectives are taking root - like Metamorphosis Art Collective.
  • The SC Pecan Festival organized by FDDC brings seven performance stages and about 50,000 festival attendees to downtown Florence each November.
  • Interest in an Artisan Center brought about the Pee Dee Heritage Retail Study and Project Implementation, resulting in the formation of theArtisans of the SC Cotton Trail and the Artisans of the SC Tobacco Trail.

But we've only just begun!

  • The City of Florence updated its Downtown Master Plan in 2010, emphasizing the Cultural Campus (see page 26) to include an Artisan Center (pictured on page 36) as a key component to bringing artist studios to the downtown.
  • Through a USDA grant, by the first quarter of 2012, the Artisan Center will have architectural drawings to renovate the 22,000 sq. ft. building on the corner of Evans and Dargan Streets. It is expected to include upper-level living and studio space for artists, and first-story gallery and boutique space.
  • Speaking of boutique space, a boutique hotel is planned for the building next to the Artisan Center (on Evans St.) Raines Development Group and the owner of Victor's Bistro and Garden Room are looking forward to a very fruitful partnership through this investment.
  • The Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau is in the process of establishing the Northeastern SC State Heritage Region to focus on arts and culture, traditions, agritourism, and other aspects of our heritage.