Darlington Arts Center takes its mission of building community seriously. Since 1978 when Diana Sophocles Hemmenway founded the center, it has been providing “every art for everyone” meaning four genres of art under one roof: music, visual, dance and drama. This stimulating multi-disciplinary approach was the first of its kind for a community arts center in Pennsylvania, and it continues today. Another first for the center was offering its multi-disciplinary programming to preschoolers. How wonderful for little ones to be exposed to a multitude of art so early in life. Summer camps for school age kids followed suit. It may have seemed a daunting task but it worked so well that by 1996, the center went from having just 35 students to having 500 students. It was time for a move. What began in a historic farmhouse sitting on a William Penn land grant in Wawa, PA became an impressive state-of-the-art facility situated on five acres on Shavertown Road in Garnet Valley.
Fast forward to today and the center is still going strong. A whole host of classes and private instruction are offered to all ages. Soundproof music studios, a dance/performance space, two art studios and a gallery are well positioned throughout the building. Art exhibitions are mounted regularly spotlighting local and regional artists and the coffee house concert series is a lively way to spend an evening. On top of all of that, Darlington has invested significantly in its outreach programming bringing art to nearby Chester County and Delaware County elementary schools where it may not be offered otherwise. Programs include Literacy through the Arts, The Chester Theater Arts Program, Suzuki Violin classes and its most recent offering, Art instruction at the Garage Youth Center in Kennett Square and West Grove, PA where drama and hip hop dance classes are offered along with ceramics and more.
Executive Director Eric Thompson put it this way, “Our instructional programs, concerts, art galleries, and, in the wake of the pandemic, online programs offer an opportunity for the entire community to learn, create, and connect through the arts. It's difficult to highlight just one of our programs since we feature so many options for the community.” When asked about managing through a pandemic, Thompson said, “We developed strong health and safety protocols to comply with state mandates and to ensure the wellbeing of our onsite students and staff. We continue to provide quality programming both onsite and online, and continue to monitor our protocols as the pandemic dangers keep changing.
Much like other organizations, Darlington had to immediately transition to online content. Our teaching artists and staff quickly trained on using online programs like Zoom and Facebook live to provide quality instruction. Our marketing team worked to provide short video tutorials to keep our community engaged with the arts while on a stay-at-home order. Through the support of our community and the hard work of our staff and faculty, our center maintained through the statewide closures. We will continue to provide instruction, outreach programs, and performances in Music, Art, Dance and Drama. Some may be online, some may be onsite, but Darlington will continue to be here for the community as we have been for the past 42 years.”
Registration is now open for the Winter/Spring 2021 session of classes and the full list can be found here under the Programs tab. Students will save 5% if registering on or before January 8th. Between December 28th and 30th, Arts All Day workshops are available for students who are off during school holidays. For more information about that, visit here.
Up next in the gallery will be a collection of landscapes and scenes highlighting the Amish life by artist Bill Dodds. A pointillist, Dodds uses his Faber Castell “S” pen to create “one ink dot at a time”, intricate images with just a hint of color via watercolor or chalk pastel. “A drawing can take as much as 180 hours to complete based on the size and composition. Most of the composition will consist of a main object from a photo with the remaining composition developed by me. I begin with a light pencil sketch with some detail. It is exciting to see detail develop as dots are applied.” It is fascinating work and begs to be seen in person. The show opens on January 9, 2021. For up to date information on gallery events visit here and on the Coffee House Concert Series visit here.
Whatever you do this week, support the arts!!
About Constance McBride
A native of Philadelphia, Constance McBride lived in Arizona for 16 years, where desert observations made a transformative impact on her work as a research based visual artist. Passionate about contemporary art, she was actively engaged in the local arts community. She served as a board member for several art organizations, managed an artist collective/gallery space, curated and juried several exhibitions and wrote for two arts publications in Phoenix. She taught ceramics at Shemer Art Center and Museum and exhibited her work both locally and nationally. McBride returned to Pennsylvania in 2018 and resides in Chester Springs with her husband and two dogs. In West Chester, she serves as a board member at The Art Trust Gallery at Meridian Bank and teaches ceramics at Chester County Art Association. She also teaches at Clay on Main in Oley, PA. She is a member of American Craft Council, Philadelphia Sculptors, and Women’s Caucus for Art, Philadelphia Chapter.
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...
Comments