The Mary G.
Hardin Center for Cultural Arts opened in 1990 in downtown Gadsden. Today,
more than 100,000 persons visit the exhibits, performances and functions
held there each year. Click www.culturalarts.com for information. It is
home to:
- three galleries that feature a wide range of changing national and local exhibits
- “Centerstage Presents,” sponsoring
dinner theaters, courtyard concerts and chamber music
- Imagination Place, a children's hands-on museum
- Gadsden Community School for the Arts, offering instruction in dance, music, art and theatre
- the nationally celebrated Etowah Youth Orchestras, featuring 300 talented musicians
The Etowah Youth Orchestras is made up of four ensembles: the Etowah Youth Symphony Orchestra, EYS Honor Strings, Etowah Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and June Bugg Prelude Strings. It has been recognized as one of the top three youth orchestra programs of more than 200 nationwide by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and the American Symphony Orchestra League. Click www.culturalarts.com/eyo_aboutus.asp for more information. (Gadsden also has an adult symphony orchestra.)
Classes in ballet, lyrical dance, yoga, jazz, piano, strings, woodwinds, brass, voice, conducting, visual arts and theatre are offered by the Gadsden Community School for the Arts, regardless of age or experience level. Click www.culturalarts.com/gcsa.asp for details. (Additionally, there is private instruction throughout the county in dance, music, drama, painting and other activities, plus many non-credit, special-interest classes at Gadsden State Community College.)
 The Imagination Place Children's Museum has activities in the arts and sciences that promote exploration and discovery, and provides interactive learning environments through participatory, hands-on exhibits and educational programs. More details are at www.culturalarts.com/ip_mission.asp.
The Gadsden
Museum, located next to the Cultural Arts Center, provides a year-round
schedule of programs and services, including permanent collections of fine
arts, a collection of historical local artifacts, monthly changing exhibits,
special annual events and educational outreach programs. It is the only museum
in the state specializing in Alabama artists.
The Alabama City Museum contains records and artifacts honoring early citizens and businesses. The Carver Museum houses the oral history collection and memorabilia of the former Central High School and Carver High School.
In
addition to musical and theatrical events sponsored by “Centerstage Presents,” the
Theatre of Gadsden and the Gadsden-Etowah Community Choir perform throughout
the year. Also, concerts
featuring national performing artists are brought to the community by BIGMEN
(Business and Industry in Gadsden Mean Entertainment Now) and the Tams Committee.
The Gadsden Public Library has 160,000 books, 10,000 serial
volumes, 6,000 audio recordings, 4,500 video recordings, almost 200 periodicals
and 60 internet work stations. Public libraries in Rainbow City, Attalla, Sardis,
Altoona/Walnut Grove, and Hokes Bluff have a combined 90,000 additional holdings.
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