Athens Area Council for the Arts (AACA)
AACA is the largest provider of cultural arts opportunities in the region.
The Arts Center is in the heart of downtown Athens. Inside is a 200 seat black box theater, exhibit and classroom space, an art market, and offices of the Athens Area Council for the Arts. We rent our space too!
Our Mission:
To enrich the quality of life and make a difference for our community by providing opportunities for the expression and appreciation of the arts.
AACA strives to respond to the community's call for arts and cultural opportunities in every area of the cultural arts. The Arts Center is a focal point for the hopes and dreams of the community in the area of arts.
The Athens Area Council for the Arts is in its 31st year of service to the region as an umbrella organization for the arts. The Arts Center opened in 2005 adding on site arts programming to AACA's program of work, which includes performances by national, international and regional artists, art exhibits, art classes for all ages, an art market for the sale of local artists' work, community and children's theater and more.
Participation in the expression and appreciation of the arts is a life giving force for individuals and the community. Anyone who has sung a song, held a paintbrush, beheld a dance, examined a sculpture, or just listened to music knows the power of the arts to transform and uphold life. Why do we do it? We want art in our lives and in the life of our community because it is essential to our well being.
Economic Impact
Presentation and participation in the arts is good business for everyone. The non-profit arts sector brings thousands of dollars into our community and our state each year in ticket sales, rental of facilities, payments to artists, food and hospitality industries, and jobs in all of these areas. Tourism is enhanced and economic development is improved as the arts-rich community becomes a better place to live and work.
The arts are critical to education and learning. "During the past quarter century, literally thousands of school and community based programs have demonstrated beyond question that the arts can not only bring coherence to our fragmented academic world, but through the arts, students' performance in other academic disciplines can be enhanced as well." Ernest L. Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
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