WEAKLEY COUNTY ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL

History

In 1999 Peggy King invited 20 persons interested in the arts to attend an organizational meeting for the purpose of establishing an Arts Council in Weakley County. During that year a Board of Directors was established, bylaws were written, and officers were elected. In 2000 the Weakley County Arts and Humanities Council applied for and were granted Tennessee Incorporation as a public non-profit corporation.

Accomplishments/Activities

The Arts Council has organized and participated in various community and educational activities that support the arts throughout the county. As a 501(c) (3) organization, WCAHC is classified as a public charity and, as such, the organization has a tax exempt status. Contributions to WCAHC, therefore, are tax deductible, and welcome.

Upcoming Events:
June 2-30, 2010: Reader's Theater group will be formed at the C.E. Weldon Library
July 12-16, 2010: Third annual Summer Arts Camp at Dresden Elementary

Examples of WCAHC activities include such items as:
In July of 2008 and 2009 they held a Summer Arts Camp for children in Kindergarten to 6th grade at Dresden Elementary School. They received Tennessee Arts Commission grants both years. They have sponsored a Reader's Theater for children at the C.E. Weldon Public Library in 2009 and 2010 for which they received an "Arts Builds Communities" Grant. The council sponsors and arranges for ongoing art exhibits in the Weldon library on a bi-monthly basis. WCAHC held Barn Again, a visual exhibit in conjunction with UTM and the Smithsonian Institute and Expressions from Home, an intergenerational project of writing, art and music that was funded by local contributions and a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission.

WCAHC participates each September in the Tennessee Soybean Festival. Our Literary Reading Sessions have grown in number each year, drawing persons from across the county. For the past five years, several hundred elementary and middle school students have been involved in the "Color of Music" project in conjunction with the Jackson Symphony Association. This competition includes approximately 5,000 students from West Tennessee. Students from Weakley County have won six major awards and numerous ribbons.

In 2005 WCAHC received an Arts Build Communities Grant from the Northwest Tennessee Development District and the Tennessee Arts Commission for a Creative Arts Festival in Weakley County. Workshops for middle/high school students and adults were conducted by guest poet Bill Brown. Other components of the festival included an evening performance of folk music, art and writing competitions for elementary children and a poetry reading by Bill Brown.

The Weakley County Arts and Humanities Council has recently published a volume of selected Soybean Festival readings and other original locally produced art. The Obion River Anthology will be used as a money-making project for the promotion of arts in Weakley County, especially among school children. In addition, WCAHC is working to establish an arts camp for students in the summer of 2008.

Address

Weakley County Arts and Humanities Council

c/o C.E. Weldon Public Library

100 Main Street

Martin, TN 38237

Contact Persons

President:	Dr. Carol Eckert	ceckert@utm.edu
Secretary:	Roberta Peacock	r.peacock@charter.net
Treasurer:	Diane Shaw	dshaw@utm.edu