A B. Sumrall watercolor of the Train Depot, which is on loan from the Depot Museum in Foley. It is one of the many pieces that will be on display during the upcoming October Art Exhibit.

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Essentially the state is kicking off a 3-year celebration to celebrate the bicentennial. There will be 3 years of celebrating. First year, 2017, is places, then people in 2018, and finally stories in 2019, each year will have a focus.”

LaDonna Hinesley, the Marketing Director of the City of Foley.

Foley Art Center
211 N McKenzie St
Foley, Al 36535
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FOLEY – The City of Foley is getting prepared to celebrate Alabama’s Bicentennial, which officially has its first event scheduled in October.

To fully kick off the bicentennial celebration, a free art exhibit will be on display at the Foley Art Center, located at 211 N McKenzie St. The event will begin with an Artists Reception, also free and open to the public, on October 3, from 5-7pm, and remain open for the rest of the month. Titled South Baldwin Through an Artist’s Eyes, the display will feature artwork showcasing places and landscapes in Foley, and currently they are seeking to borrow works of art from locals to put on display.

Zana Price is leading the way in coordinating the event, and she asks if anyone has any such artwork to please contact her if you’re willing to loan them to the exhibit. All artists will be credited for their work, and anyone who loans a piece of work by an unknown artist will be credited for donating the art to the showcase.

“We’re looking for artists from all over this area, not just Foley,” said Price. “Anyone in the area who has artwork dedicated to places in Foley who would like them displayed, let us know.”

The art that will be on display will be from a multitude of mediums: from watercolor paintings to acrylics, from charcoal art to photography, and even the written word.

The event won’t only be a showcase. During October, the Foley Art Center will also host book signings by local authors, such as Kent Cockson (Foley 100) and Tom Stoddard (Foley Steps Forward), as well as featuring Doris Rich’s When Foley Was Very Young.

Local churches will be getting involved by showing off their culinary skills, preparing dishes from their individual cookbooks, books which will be available at the event.

To tie in the recent Foley centennial, Studio A will host an event for local children artists, featuring artwork that was used in the Foley centennial A-Z book.

“This event will feature artists, children artists, authors, painters, photographers, and bring in the churches with their cookbooks,” Price said.

While original art will not be for sell, there will be plenty of prints as well as books available for purchase throughout the exhibit.

But the celebrating doesn’t stop at the end of October.

“Essentially the state is kicking off a 3-year celebration to celebrate the bicentennial,” said LaDonna Hinesley, the Marketing Director of the City of Foley. “There will be 3 years of celebrating. First year, 2017, is places, then people in 2018, and finally stories in 2019, each year will have a focus.”

For the bicentennial, each municipality throughout Alabama is to select an approved bicentennial committee. Throughout the bicentennial the state of Alabama will be giving out grants to cities and towns, and one of the purposes of the committee is to ensure that each municipality receives the grant. Without a council approved committee, a municipality may be overlooked. Another purpose behind the committee is so that the state bicentennial committee knows who to contact directly. Finally, without a committee, a municipality will not be assured that their events will be listed on the official Alabama 200 bicentennial website.

For the City of Foley, the bicentennial committee includes: Miriam Boutwell, Melissa Ringler, Amanda Cole, Chuck Lay, JaNay Dawson, Pat Davis, Kathie LeDrew, Randy Arp, Justin Shanks, Jack Purser, John Jackson, Bonnie Donaldson, LaDonna Hinesley, and Barbara Hoerz.

The next big event in Foley will be in April 2018. Each year downtown Foley hosts a walking tour of the area that is led by prominent people who grew up and/or have lived in the area for years, making each individual tour different from the last depending on who the tour guide is. For the year of 2018, the tour will feature a huge tie-in with the bicentennial, marking an even bigger occasion than usual.

If you have a piece of artwork that you would like to loan for the event, or if you have any questions, contact Zana Price at 251-942-4241 or the Foley Art Center at 251-943-4381, or send them an email at FoleyArtCenter@gmail.com.

For more information on the Alabama Bicentennial and to find out all the events that the state has planned through 2019, check their website at www.Alabama200.org.