This is My World Tuesday! The Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts in Suffolk, Virginia. For more visits to interesting places around the world, check out the site here.
In 1922 this was Suffolk High School but their doors closed and the building stood empty for many years. In 1998 the decision was made to renovate and reopen the building and the changes were completed in 2006. In that year this became the area's first full-service cultural arts center.
By full-service, they mean that not only are plays and musical programs presented here, with big name guest artists often on the bill, but also art exhibits, film presentations, and classes. The programs range from adult interest like the tribute to Patsy Cline to children's fare like Peter Pan. This past year my Mom, sister and I attended the Naval Jazz Band performance here, a free event, and it was really wonderful. This is the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts.
Wonderfully, Suffolk is a city adjacent to other Hampton Road's cities (Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton) with their own cultural events, and rounds out the area beautifully with all that it has to offer. It is also not many miles distant from Richmond, Petersburg and Williamsburg. But, what it has added to the area in two short seasons has been so enriching to both the adjacent cities and the countryside towns that I can't imagine our area without it now.... This is part of my world, and in fact is very close to where we now are staying in this interim time for us. I can walk to the Center and enjoy the lovely statues and fountain on a pretty day....
The website unfortunately does not give credit to the sculptor so I don't have a name to share with you. But, the work is just delightful and well-done. If you would like to visit the website and learn more about the Center or their programs, please click here. Suffolk is a charming town and well worth the visit.
25 comments:
Hi Marie, I love hearing about this area. The jazz concert sounds like it would be fun and how nice that you could attend with your mom and sister. It sure is a lovely area.
Beautiful. It's so nice to see an older building reused.
Hi Marie,
I've missed you! This is such a delightful post! The restored building looks great and offers a good variety of cultural events. I love the statues and the fountains, too. You are very fortunate to live close to enough to go there when you want to. Thank you for all your comments on my blog!
Marie, How wonderful that a building was saved, instead of torn down, and now it houses a cultural center. The programs sound delightful..and it is nice that some are free. The fountain and scultures are wonderful. I'm not 100 percent positive but I believe the figures are sculptures done by an artist from Bucks County. We have several child figurines just like this at the James Michener Museum and Beyers Choice Business Complex right near me and I know those sculptures are made here in Pa...?? Anyhow, nice post.Good to see you are posting again! Just started sketches for my next quilt! Hope you are keeping busy with some art, also.
It's great that an old building has a new life. It sounds like the center has been quite an addition to the community. Thanks for telling us about it.
What a great idea: good to see such a piece of architecture being put back to use. What's the saying that America is all about "second acts." That applies here literally and figuratively.
What a beautiful building, thanks once again for sharing your photos.
Cheers!
Regina In Pictures
Good for them!!!
WOW, great post and pictures!
Thanks so much for sharing your part of the world with us.
Take care.
the statues are beautiful. I like it when they renovate old buildings instead of tearing them down.
Looks like a great place to visit and love the ballerina.
Hi Marie, a great post as usual delighted to see you back even temporarily.I love all the historic names in your area, like Richmond,Petersburg etc they are always ones that come up in reading or watching anything connected to the civil war. What a great place to live
so different to anything british ha ha.
Oh, Thank you for this interesting post. I have been wondering how you are doing and what you are doing. This helps me see what you are seeing and doing.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/
I was most delighted to learn that they had opened the Cultural Arts Center. I have attended several concerts there and love having the opportunity to enrich my life without fighting traffic and tons of people. Thank you Suffolk....and thank you, Marie, for posting this.
Got to love the sculptures so well placed with fountains.
Hi Marie:
Very interesting information with excellent photos.
A good arts and cultural centre is always a necessity to enrich and enchance the quality of lives especially in the modern world where people are invariably busy with the mundane activities of life. This centre will definitely serve a very useful purpose. You are very lucky that it is just a walking distance from your place.
The photos are alluring. The fountain rising so high, with sparking water gushing forth is a treat to watch. The statues are lovely and a tribute to artists in different fields.
Many thanks for sharing.
Have a lovely day :)
This cultural center is a definate positive addition to your community. I love all the sculptures of children, especially the little boy painting in front of the fountain.
Thank you for sharing a piece of your world.
I absolutely love those statues around the fountain! What a really neat idea! That high school looks so much like the one that I went to, that I did a double take.
Great use to put to an old school building. Nice fountain and interesting sculptures, a good place to visit.
Sorry I am a little late commenting. Trying to play catch up. I love your series of photographs in this post. It's a great post and I enjoyed my tour. Thanks for sharing.
Very beautiful! Especially the photos of the musicians!
Wow! So many of you visited my post and I appreciate it so much! Love all your comments! This is just a temp place for us, but it is working out nicely and perhaps we can get into a house (and get our stuff out of storage) in a couple of months! Am enjoying Suffolk a lot, though--it's nice little city and I am enjoying it a lot. Glad we are so close to the cultural center.
All my best to you all! I will get caught up soon with you all!
Marie
This building looks a lot like the high school I work at! They are both great looking buildings.
Love the sculptors. I am always drawn to these, no matter where they are.
Leedra’s Photos For Fun
Leedra’s Greeting Cards
Photography By Leedra
Post a Comment