Spruill Center reports interest in the arts is growing

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Nearly three years after shuttering its doors and halting activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials say Dunwoody’s Spruill Center for the Arts is coming into the new year better than ever.

Presenting a yearly update to the Dunwoody City Council Jan. 23, Spruill Center CEO Alan Mothner said 2022 was the center’s “best year ever” thanks to a three-year strategic plan initiated in 2020 to address the pandemic and plan for the future.

Mothner said over the past year, the center held more than 700 classes for nearly 6,000 students and hosted thousands of visitors and participants to the center’s gallery, open studio and summer camp programs.

With those numbers, the center has exceeded pre-pandemic participation levels, he said.

“We had a huge reach throughout our community, throughout some of the surrounding communities and as the face of the arts within the perimeter area,” he said. “We’re doing great things in that building and out in the community with the arts.”

Funding for the Spruill Center in 2022 included more than $530,000 in donations from various community sources and nearly $1.7 million in earned revenues from classes, camps and the center’s gallery. Of that funding, Mothner said the center provided $1.17 million in “direct economic sup - port” to artists in the community last year.

City Councilman Tom Lambert said the Spruill Center for the Arts was doing a tremendous job engaging with the community, especially after the difficulties it faced due to the pandemic.

Lambert said Spruill Center visitors never have anything but good things to say about their experiences, owed in large part to the dedication and hard work of Mothner’s staff.

“You guys do great things,” Lambert said. “I don’t think that’s an accident. I think that’s attributable to the organization and the hard work that you guys have done.”

To foster social connections in the community and increase their relevance in the community, Mothner said in 2022 they embarked on a host of new initiatives, including a partnership with Dunwoody’s Stage Door Theatre for their annual summer camp program and a free “coffee studio” event.

In addition to those programs, the Spruill Center participated in a series of community events like the Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park, Lemonade Days in Dunwoody and countless other events, popups and classes.

“If you reflect on our mission, we foster creativity, but we also foster social connections,” he said. “That’s what a true community arts center should do.”

City Councilman Joe Seconder said anytime he looks at the art programs in other cities, it drives home the benefits of having a public/private partnership art program, like Dunwoody has in the Spruill Center.

“I think it’s a great model,” Seconder said. “And we need to really commu - nicate that to the citizens.”

But the Spruill Center’s wins aren’t over, because big things are coming in 2023, Mothner said.

Over the next year, work will start on the Spruill Center’s expansion project to add seven new studio spaces and a community room at the cityowned facility on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. The building also houses the Stage Door Theatre, the North DeKalb Cultural Arts Center and a branch of the DeKalb County Public Library.

For the expansion project, Dunwoody has pledged $1 million from its general fund to match a $1.3 million investment from the Spruill Center.

Mothner said they expect to break ground for the project in April.

In addition to the expansion project and the center’s nearly completed new kiln building, Mothner said 2023 also marks the start new social service initiatives, like their Arts for Alzheimer’s program and a digital arts program for teens. They also plan to host more visiting artist series events than ever before, he said.

“All that is through your support,” he said. “We honestly cannot thank you enough for the opportunity to do this for our community. It’s something that we have been striving for years.”

Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said that the work done by Spruill Center employees over the last three years shows the city was right to entrust them with $100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, meant to help the most vulnerable in the community during the pandemic.

“I appreciate you providing the services that allows us to spend the funds as they were meant to be spent,” Deutsch said. “I’m grateful for that.”

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