Making space for art
The arts in Trussville are blooming, so much so that local artistic organizations — from theatre to music to art galleries — are finding it difficult to meet the growing demand.
At the Arts Council of the Trussville Area (ACTA) Theatre, for instance, Theatre Manager Lucy Lunsford said the percentage of their productions that sell out has increased greatly over the past five years.
In anticipation of more popular productions, Lunsford can expand ticket sales by bringing in additional seating. Thursday evening shows will also be added to upcoming productions, offering eight shows instead of the standard six.
Lunsford attributes the growing popularity of ACTA, located at 225 Parkway Drive, to it being a creative outlet with no limits on age or experience.
“When you come together and do a show, it’s forming a team. People of all different backgrounds and all different ages are working together. When you get on stage, everyone’s equal. That bond is magical and really forms a strong community,” Lunsford said.
ACTA’s summer acting camp filled all its available slots within days of opening registration. “We would do more acting camps, but we just don’t have the space,” Lunsford said. “We are definitely outgrowing our space.”
Genesis School of Music, at 5480 Trussville Clay Road, is seeing a similar growth in demand for music lessons, according to owner Stan Sheridan. Enrollment at Genesis nearly doubled from 120 in December 2018 to their March 2019 enrollment of 223, with students ranging in age from four to 74 years old.
“People want to be a part of the arts community and not just the athletics community. I’m not knocking sports, but there is also a demand for the people that are not into sports. They also want to connect and have a community,” Sheridan said.
One of the newer members of the area’s artistic community is the Trussville Photography Club, which started in July 2016. The club offers monthly meetings and photography field trips for everyone from novice to expert.
“We have people that travel from Montgomery and Alabaster for our monthly meetings. And we travel all over the state for our monthly field trips to practice techniques,” said Tina Houser, who serves as the group’s president.
With an average monthly attendance of about 50 people, meetings for the club are held in a rented space at the Trussville Civic Center. While they are grateful for the option to rent meeting space, they have less luck in locating spaces to show their work.
“Our word for the year is ‘community.’ We’re part of the photography community, but we want to be part of the Trussville community as well,” Houser said. “We’ve gone to Leeds and we’re going to Gadsden, but what is discouraging is that we don’t have a place to show our work in Trussville.”
Laura Reichert had the same goal in mind when she partnered with her church, Cahaba Springs Presbyterian, to open two galleries for display of community artworks.
“I taught art in Trussville City Schools and loved it and got great support there. But it seems like once kids graduate from high school, there’s really no place for those artists to show their work. We try to encourage kids and adults to continue with their art. And with the growing baby boomer population, these kind of things will become increasingly important,” Reichert said.
Cahaba Springs Presbyterian opened the Genesis Gallery, which typically displays photography exhibits, in 2015. The church recently opened a second gallery, called the Cahaba Lily Gallery, to display woven arts such as tapestry and wall hangings.
“There are some top-notch teachers at the high school for art and photography. For a lot of people like those students, their goal isn’t necessarily to sell their work, but to show it. It’s been a little frustrating,” Houser said.
The Cahawba ART Association is taking the same approach, according to President Suellen Wilkins.
“One of the subjects we took up at our last meeting was where to show our work in town. Some of our members are reaching out to local businesses to see if they will allow us to show our work,” she said.
St. Vincent’s East is one business that regularly puts artwork on display. Its second floor atrium is home to a gallery that displays about 20 pieces from various artists and groups each month. Volunteer gallery coordinator Sylvia Lovell took over the role of managing its schedule when the gallery was in jeopardy of closing a few years ago.
“I’m an artist myself and I just didn’t want to see the program go down. I wanted other artists to be able to show their prints,” Lovell said.
It’s not just about gallery space. Developing Trussville artists would be grateful for studio space options, as well.
As an independent artist, Nikki Cotton has a small studio in her Trussville home. She is currently working with a method that requires several layers of paint on each item. She had to wait until the weather became warmer to work on larger pieces in her garage.
“[Pouring] takes a lot of space and has to dry for up to 30 days. I keep taking over my husband’s space in the garage,” Cotton said.
Regardless of medium, Trussville’s artists are unified in the desire for space.
“What we’d really love is a space where all artists in the area can show their work and have a space to teach lessons to children and adults,” said Wilkins.
Houser agreed, “Trussville is very rich in artists, but limited in places where artists can show their work.”
Reichert echoed the sentiment by saying, “It would be great if Trussville had a place where artists could work, have studio space, and a gallery and a gift shop.”
Where to see and make art
ACTA Theatre
► 225 Parkway Drive,Trussville
► 655-3902
► info@actatheater.com
► actatheater.com
► Facebook: ACTA Theater - Trussville’s Community Theater
► Ticket sales, audition dates, and production schedules are available online.
Cahawba ART Association
► Suellen Wilkins, President
► 655-2712
► swilkins2712@charter.net
► Facebook: @TVartsyones
► Monthly meetings are held September to May. Topics and meeting locations are posted on the group’s Facebook page.
Cahaba Lily Gallery and Genesis Gallery
► Located within Cahaba Springs Presbyterian Church6110 Deerfoot Parkway,Trussville
► Mondays and Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays 9-11:30 a.m., Sundays 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
► 655-0460
► Gallery hours coincide with church office hours.
St. Vincent’s East Art Gallery
► 50 Medical Park Drive East, Birmingham 35235, 2nd floor atrium
► Sylvia Lovell, GalleryCoordinator
► slovell234@aol.com
► Exhibits are in place from the first to last day of each month.
Trussville Photography Club
► Tina Houser, President
► TrussvillePhotographClub@gmail.com
► Facebook: TrussvillePhotography Club
► Meeting and field tripinformation is posted on the group’s Facebook page.