FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The Eastern Shore Art Center (ESAC) has experienced much change since Robin Fitzhugh became its managing director a decade ago. From new programs to renovations to physical expansions, she will leave the nonprofit gallery and learning space in even better shape than she found it when she retires on Friday, April 30.

“It’s been a lot of fun — a lot of changes,” Fitzhugh said. “I’ve had tremendous support with good boards (of directors) and a strong volunteer corps. It has been a very positive organization from the offset.”

The Mobile native and longtime Fairhope resident, who replaced B.G. Hinds in 2000, heard about the job opening from friends. She and her banker husband, John, had returned to the area in 1999 after living and working in Huntsville for several years.

Fitzhugh said that when she arrived ESAC’s primary focus was on serving its members, and the center was doing a great job. She began looking for ways to bring art to the larger community, however.

One of those efforts is a community outreach program, which began as Art in Schools, and is led by Nancy Raia. Fitzhugh said Raia works in facilities with students, disabled children and adults, and the elderly, enhancing their lives through art education.

ESAC also hosts an after-school program at one area school, and places teachers in the Fairhope-Point Clear Rotary Youth Club. Another art program for students, Summer Art Bash, begins again June 1.

Outreach really took a front seat with the humble beginnings of First Friday ArtWalk nine years ago. Fitzhugh said exhibit openings had been held on Sundays up until that time with limited success. Only around 75 people attended those early gallery galas, but attendance grew when they were moved up by two days.

ESAC partnered with the now-defunct Gulf ArtSpace, which was located in the old pecan processing building on the site where the Fairhope Public Library now sits. Fitzhugh and others later convinced the private galleries to take part as well.

“We’ve literally and figuratively opened the door with First Friday,” she said. “We hosted 150 people on the first First Friday, and within a few months we were averaging 500 people, and still do.”

The monthly event seemed to push away a cultural haze that had descended upon the Eastern Shore, bringing a renewed popularity to artistic expression.

Fitzhugh said, “It made me sad when I was first here because people would say they had never been in the building. First Friday has really lowered the intimidation level. It gave them a reason to go in the door, and it gave people better exposure to art. In terms of giving back, I feel the Art Center has been good for the economy of downtown. And we sell more art here because more people see the quality of the work here.”

Although ESAC’s walls are laden with local art, regional and national exhibits regularly hang there.

The center currently hosts two major outdoor art shows each year, highlighting artists from across the country and attracting more than 250,000 visitors annually.

The Outdoor Art Show, held the third weekend in March alongside the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce’s Fairhope Arts & Crafts Festival, was expanded this year to encompass a section of Pine Street. Fitzhugh said several more artists than usual asked to be included this year. The organization is considering expanding it again in 2011 to include booths on Equality Street.

“It was the biggest Friday we ever had,” she noted of this year’s show. “People were buying, and the artists were very happy.”

The third week in October brings with it the annual Grand Festival of Art by the Bay. Fitzhugh said it began as an outdoor show held on the grounds of the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa before an expansion there bumped it to Fairhope Pier Park two years after she joined the ESAC staff. It was moved again last year to downtown Fairhope.

This year, she said, it will be part of Fall into Fairhope, a weekend of activities including the Mullet Run, a Baldwin Pops concert and the Alabama Coastal BirdFest. She added, “We are going to self-promote, and give regional travelers a reason to come here.”

Also part of the outreach efforts begun since Fitzhugh came on board is the Fairhope Committee on Public Art, a group of Eastern Shore Art Association (ESAC’s parent organization) members who first began meeting in 2001 when they dedicated themselves to the creation of outdoor art.

Funds raised through efforts such the colorful Art Takes Flight pelican project in 2007 and the upcoming Jumpin’ Jubilee (March-August 2011) go toward the creation and placement of such works.

Among the pieces currently in place are “Elan Vital” at the Fairhope Civic Center, “Dolphin Family” on the bluff overlooking Mobile Bay, the “Mullet Run” fountain behind the Fairhope Museum of History and “Generating Readers” at the Fairhope Public Library. They are valued at more than $300,000.

During Fitzhugh’s tenure ESAA membership has more than doubled. Fitzhugh oversaw an ESAC expansion in 2005-2006 and renovation of the building in 2007-2008.

Perhaps the most significant project undertaken by ESAC since teaching classrooms were added in the 1980s is the atrium exhibit space known as the Courtyard Gallery, which opened in 2007 with selected works of Eastern Shore artists Bruce Larsen and Randy Moberg on display. More than 20,000 square feet is now under roof.

Fitzhugh said, “The natural light is a wonderful addition. But once we had done the renovations in the center of the building, we realized the rest of the galleries needed a facelift.”

Both artificial and natural light were added to the sculpture studio as well, and the other galleries received new wall covering and hanging systems. All the changes were costly, but Fitzhugh believes they were worth it.

“We feel the reason a community gives you money is to reinvest,” she said. “The economy is tough, but this is a community that gets it.”

Member support is still strong. Last year, during the darkest economic times, membership hovered over 1,500 individuals. An advance gift campaign in 2009 raised more than $65,000.

Asked why she is retiring now, Fitzhugh said, “There’s something magical about the fact it’s been 10 years. We will have our third grandchild on the first of July, and none of our children are here.” But, she is not going far because this is home. Her husband will be the couple’s sole breadwinner now while she enjoys many of the things she hasn’t had time to do, including visiting her offspring.

“There are things when you are working full-time you have to put on the back burner. There are interests I’d like to pursue,” Fitzhugh said. “We’re members of St. Lawrence (Catholic) Church, and I’ll be more available to the church on a weekday basis. I love to read, love to write and love to exercise. I’ll be here (at ESAC) teaching some classes, and I’ll be here as a volunteer, filling some gaps.”

Fitzhugh has a master’s degree in counseling, and also plans to pursue volunteer opportunities where she can put those skills to work.

Until a replacement is found, Donna Dodson will serve as interim director on a six-month commitment. She has served on the ESAA board of directors, including time as the panel’s vice president. Dodson directed a nonprofit group in the Dallas-Fort Worth area before she and her husband moved to the Eastern Shore four years ago.

Fitzhugh said of her tenure, “I’ve met the best people ever — retirees and others who relocated here, Baldwin County natives and visitors from all over the world. I feel so strongly about what the Art Center does and what it gives back. I think it deserves the best leadership. We are blessed to have the staff we have. I think it’s important for the Art Center to move forward with lots of energy.”

What will she do on her first full day as a retiree herself? Fitzhugh will attend Kentucky Derby Day, of course. The ESAC fundraiser will take place May 1 at the Sonny Hill-Clearwater Polo Complex.

“It will sort of be my grand finale. It has been so much fun,” she said. “As a friend of mine said, now it’s someone else’s opportunity.”

For more information about the Eastern Shore Art Center, call (251) 928-2228, or visit www.esartcenter.com.