A community information session will be held in White County next Tuesday to discuss forming a nonprofit dedicated to supporting local artists and expanding arts programming in the community.
White County Resident Morgan White said the goal of the meeting is to see what citizens would like the proposed non-profit to focus on. White said the non-profit could support art festivals, a community theater, and public art.
“In my opinion, you know, White County has all the assets needed to make this successful,” White said. “11 out of the 14 counties in the Upper Cumberland have an arts non-profit of some sort, and some have more than one. So it only makes sense for White County to have one as well.”
White said she hopes to create programming and support local artists of all ages. White said she strongly encourages the public to attend the meeting next week.
“Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist or a musician or a writer, you still like to, you know, enjoy those things, you may have family that does those things, and you would like to support them,” White said. “You can see the benefit that it has on your community. If we could have a great turnout, that would prove that this is kind of ready to happen, that there’s plenty of people to form a board, and I think that it could really garner some public support and interest and really get everybody excited and kind of buzzing about the future of the arts in White County.”
White said she believes the benefits a nonprofit supporting the arts could bring to a county like White County are clear.
“That is in every possible way, you know, mental health, connecting communities, preserving culture, all of those things are really important,” White said. “And I think that all of that already exists in White County, maybe in multiple different informal ways. So this is really just about creating a space for that to live permanently and foster it.”
The public meeting will be held on the third floor of the White County Courthouse at 5:30pm.