After a long time without public events, Darlington Arts Center in Concord Township reopened to the general public with a small exhibit Saturday night. The exhibit featured the works of a handful of artists from the Art 504 Creative Collective.

The crowd was small, but Darlington’s Executive Director Eric Thompson said he anticipated that because people are still a little tentative about mixing in public because of COVID and that this was the first event at Darlington since March of 2020. But, he said, this was a start.

“This is our first one back. It’s also our first gallery opening,” Thompson said, acknowledging that the center was able to reopen for limited classes in July of last year while offering some online programs. “But now we’re back to mostly onsite.”

Art 504 is a consortium of Delaware County artists based in Chester and the Darlington event was their official gallery opening since losing their gallery in Chester.

Linda Braceland, president of Art 504, said “We’re always looking for opportunities and we’ll show wherever we can find,” Braceland said. “I’m really thankful that we have these opportunities and that we don’t have the overhead of the galleries.

Braceland said the group now shows wherever they can since the Chester gallery closed. They still show at Harrah’s Casino, and they’ll be doing a show at Uptown! in West Chester in January.

The evening concluded with a coffee house concert by the bluegrass duo of Matt Orlando and Andrew Fullerton who bill themselves as Who? What? When? Why? & Wherewolves, a.k.a 6W.

The next public event at Darlington is a student recital and a holiday open house planned for the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 4. Thompson said that event will feature the artwork of Garnet Valley High School students. There will also be art activities for family members. That evening, there will also be a coffeehouse concert featuring a jazz trio.

“We invite our community to participate and reconnect to the arts,” Thompson said.

Darlington plans coffeehouse concerts monthly into May, then Darlington and Concord Township will again team up for concerts in the park as they did this past summer.