ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Last week, Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon and the City Council took a road trip, looking at a proposed location for a new art center.

The group of elected officials looked at a possible sight near Waterfront Park, then looked at another area near the Library.

The building would be an arts and educational facility, and would be planned, constructed and paid for from donations given by the “Friends of the Arts,” a local group of citizens helping to offer local opportunities in fine arts.

At Waterfront Park, an area had been marked, giving the Mayor and City Council an idea of how the building might fit into the landscape.

“The building would house numerous studios with a grand hall in the middle,” said Wanda Price, director of the Orange Beach Art Center.

“There would be a dance studio, visual arts studio, creative writing lab, a music lab including a recording area where local musicians could actually come and record their own music, and also a culinary arts area as well.”

The proposed single level building has already been designed, so all that is needed is a sight within the city to build it. The cost of the facility would exceed a million dollars, but would not cost the city anything.

“The whole idea is that it be an arts educational facility where all of the arts are being taught in one location,” Price said.

The current arts center is small, and Price said that it is difficult to accomplish what they really want to do.

“In the summer, we have been partnering with First Baptist Church of Orange Beach, and they have allowed us to use their church to hold some classes.”

Price said that the new facility would help accommodate the more than 100 children who participate in the week-long summer camps provided by the arts center.

Glass blowing

studio to open

On August 21, the Art Center will be hosting the grand opening of the new glass blowing facility from 6 until 9 p.m. There will be food, music, and glass mugs will be blown and sold to the public.

Professional glass blower Joe Thompson, owner of Bear Creek Glass in Birmingham, recently donated glass blowing equipment to the Art Center. Thompson will also have a retail shop where some of his art will be made available to the public.

“Joe Hobbs, a glass blowing professional from Pensacola, will be teaching classes in glass blowing over the next two years, at our Arts Center,” said Suzie Leatherbury, a board member of Friends of the Arts. “This is going to be the only public-use glass blowing studio in the state of Alabama.”