Johnston County Arts Council to celebrate 50th anniversary

By MIKE BOLLINGER

SMITHFIELD — A milestone birthday deserves a big celebration.

Such a celebration will take place March 20 when the Johnston County Arts Council celebrates its 50th anniversary. From 3-5 p.m. in the Frank Creech Gallery at Johnston Community College, the council will host an exhibit and reception showcasing the talents of current JCAC board members and honor council founder John Hobart of Smithfield.

That celebration will take place 50 years to the day from the date the first steering committee met and officially formed the council on March 20, 1972. “The exhibit and reception will be open to the public. We want the public to attend,” JCAC executive director Darlene Williford said.

Hobart was chair of that steering committee, which also included Norman Grantham Jr. of Smithfield, Faye Lee Lampe of Smithfield, Robert Holt of Four Oaks, Eleanor Hooks of Smithfield and Christine J. Massey of Clayton.

Hobart and his wife, Frankie, are still very much involved in the activities of the arts council.

“I thought an arts council could become a binding force that could bring people in the various communities of the county together in the name of the arts,” said Hobart. Williford emphasized the council is not just about visual arts.

“We have all these different arts; writing, music, theatre and many others. You would be surprised how many artists we have in Johnston County,” she said. “We’re really blessed with the talent in the county.” Hobart said he was in Reidsville working at Rockingham Community College when he saw an arts council being formed for Rockingham County. At that time, the state was encouraging the formation of arts councils in the various communities, and Hobart decided an arts council would be good for Johnston County.

“I grew up in Smithfield, and John had very close connections here,” Frankie Hobart said. “Once we moved to Johnston County, forming the arts council had to do with a sincere hope to help the community. It was a goal to get the whole county involved. It has been a wonderful organization for that reason.”

John Hobart said the idea of having an arts council here also stemmed from an arts and crafts festival that was held at JCC, then Johnston Technical Institute, that included people from all parts of the county. “Out of that response, and the fact the state was encouraging the formation of arts councils, the inspiration for the Johnston County Arts Council was developed,” he said.

Frankie Hobart said the state arts council, on which she would eventually serve, was just coming into being and it was a goal of then-Gov. Jim Hunt to have arts councils in every county in North Carolina.

The first big event involving the JCAC was when the Artrain visited the county in September of 1974. More than 8,000 people toured the Artrain, which was parked along the side of the road with artists performing in box cars. “It was just one big, fun time,” Frankie Hobart said.

She said that was the real beginning for the council because it was the first time volunteers were used to put on an event.

“I think that gave us an extra push,”

Frankie Hobart said. The council, she said, concentrated on visual arts first, with exhibits in different places and making sure all the schools in the county were included. Another event that gave the council a boost in its early years was an artist in residence program through the state. The state council provided artists to localities who would spend a year in the community.

The first artist in residence in Johnston was pianist Gary Towlen. “We couldn’t have been more fortunate than to have him. There was a parade in the county and he played piano from the back of a truck,” Frankie Hobart said.

Another visiting artist, dramatist Clint McCown, stayed two years and helped develop the Neuse Little Theater. “The artist in residence was a great project for a small community. It meant the world to us,” she continued.

There came a time when the council had to have 501(c)3 status to receive funding from the state. Frankie Hobart said obtaining that status became a bit of an adventure. “Steve Woodard of Smithfield,

who was an attorney and served as president, saved us. The office that was handling our application moved from North Carolina to Tennessee, and everything was lost. We had to do it all again,” she said.

Today, the arts council has several outreach programs. Music for the Lunch Bunch is a weekly concert series performed by local musicians during the summer. Williford noted this series is in its 38th year. “We are really hoping to bring this program back to Smithfield this year,” she said. “It’s a central location, and having it in one place every week causes a lot less confusion.”

Creative Connections is a program that takes place at the Smithfield Recreation and Aquatic Center on Tuesday mornings and evenings. It allows artists to gather and work on projects as well as discussing art-related topics. Grassroots Grants, Williford said, are awarded to non-profit arts groups in the county that support arts programming. There are also grants for individual artists to help them pursue professional development, she said. “We are able to fund these grants with money we get from the state,” Williford said.

The JCAC also partners with JCC to award scholarships to students pursuing careers in the arts, and partners with JCC to provide the Frank Creech Art Gallery, a state of the art facility for exhibits, events and receptions. Artists in the Schools started in 1999. Williford said through this

program, artists visit classrooms in all county schools. “We have a great partnership with the schools on this project. The programs are curriculum-based,” she said.

The JCAC is required to have programming for youth, to give to arts-based non-profits and to support individual artists, Williford noted.

“We try and do as many things for the public as we can where people don’t have to pay,” she said.

Williford said the Hobarts have been, and still are, vital to the success of the JCAC. “After 50 years, these two people are still involved. Ms. Frankie is still an advisor, and Mr. John holds my hand when I go to donors. He’s helped me to learn the people in the county,” she said.

“They value the arts so much, they started an endowment to help support the council. That has been a nice surprise during my tenure. They just didn’t start it and stop. They continued with it and still do,” Williford continued.

The Hobarts credit Williford for the council’s continuing success. “The greatest thing that has happened to the arts council is Darlene. She has been exactly what we needed. There is an advantage to having a county person. She has been the thing that has held us together,” Frankie Hobart said.

“It has been the greatest experience in the world to work on this over the years,” Frankie Hobart said.

Since its formation, the JCAC has had 26 presidents. John Hobart was chair of the steering committee from 1972- 73, Rebecca Stewart of Smithfield was president from 1973-74, Hooks from 1974-75, Richard Williams of Smithfield from 1975-76, John Barefoot of Benson from 1976-78, Frankie Hobart from 1978-79, Woodard from 1979-80, Joan Jones of Benson from 1980-81, Wallace Ashley of Smithfield from 1981-82, Barefoot from 1982-85, Creech, of Smithfield, from 1985-87; Ramona Cash of Clayton from 1987-89, Creech from 1989-93, Cash from 1993-94, Mary Sauls of Clayton from 1994-96, Birmah Stemler of Smithfield from 1996-98, Sandra Honeycutt of Clayton from

1998-99, Stemler from 1999-2000, James Elmore of Clayton from 2000-02, Laurie Partlo of Clayton from 2002-03, Ginny Smith of Clayton from 2003-05, Carolyn Ennis of Smithfield from 2005-07, Susan Lassiter of Smithfield from 2007-09, Betsy Whittington of Benson from 2009- 11, Joyce Kilpatrick-Jordan of Smithfield from 2011-13 and Judy Boyette of Four Oaks from 2013 until present.

Current board of directors members are Boyette, first vice-president Chandler Pernell of Smithfield, second vicepresident Evelyn Wool of Pine Level, secretary Hope Dougherty of Smithfield, treasurer Kristin Sasser of Four Oaks, immediate past president Kilpatrick- Jordan and Chris Boyette of Kenly, Grace Brantley of Princeton, April Culver of Smithfield, Deborah Dawe of Clayton, Michelle Fields-Laughinghouse of Smithfield, Jonni Martin of Benson, Angie McClure of Smithfield, Mandy McNulty of Clayton, William Strickland of Selma, Mercedes Valenzuela of Willow Spring, Doris Wallace of Smithfield, Myra Wallace of Smithfield and Perilla Williams of Selma. Frankie Hobart and Ennis serve as advisors.

“We had no idea this would last this long. It used to go this way for a while, then another way for a while,” Frankie Hobart said.

The JCAC is a non-profit charitable organization. It receives support from the local government, the state, businesses, corporations, foundations and private donors.

“The arts are a unifying force that pulls people together to celebrate the human spirit. Fifty years ago, a group of community leaders came together and decided it was time for Johnston County to have an arts council,” John Hobart said. “Over the years, the Johnston County Arts Council has grown to become a vital force in community life. We celebrate ‘Arts for the People, People for the Arts.’”

“Arts for the People, People for the Arts” is the JCAC motto.

John Hobart said while the council has accomplished a lot, there is still much to be done. “We’ve come a long way, baby, and we’ve got a long way to go.”