An immersive experience at Arts Unlimited

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Gina Duckworth, Operations Director of Arts Unlimited in Mooresville.

Art a la Carte

Arts Unlimited provides An immersive spAce for the Artistic commUnity

by Grace Kennedy photography by Lisa Crates

Anyone who has worked with Gina Duckworth knows her “happy place” is just behind the stage where she can watch performances up close while staying behind the scenes. “I like to be back there and take it all in when the lights go up on opening night,” says Duckworth, a Mooresville resident with nearly 30 years of experience as a dance and youth theatre educator.

As Operations Director of the newly opened Arts Unlimited, Duckworth remains in her happy place, overseeing the evolution of the immersive arts venue and studio space for local artists and performance groups. The space at 228 North Main Street in Mooresville is also the new home of the Mooresville Community Children’s Theatre (MCCT), for which Duckworth has served as board president for seven years. As a member of the Duckworth family (her husband Rob is a restaurateur behind Duckworth’s Grill & Taphouse and Link & Pin), she has been actively contributing to the community for years. Helping to support MCCT by providing a consistent rehearsal space is one more way for the Duckworths to give back in a meaningful way.

Rather than being a new dance studio or performance space, Arts Unlimited was intentionally designed as a place where artists of all ages, in addition to people interested in technical theatre, costuming, and set design, can have “a la carte” exposure to learning and practicing. Duckworth imagines Arts Unlimited serving a young person who plays a sport but wants to fit a six-week performance into their schedule when possible, or a costume designer who wants to teach small groups but doesn’t have their own space.

The open-ended nature of the Arts Unlimited space also allows for unique uses that may not have occurred to anyone pre-COVID. “We opened during the pandemic when we were already having to think outside the box,” says Duckworth. “Everything is portable so we can create sets or pull everything out and make it a dance studio.”

One thing Duckworth learned by keeping a children’s theatre running during a pandemic is how to use video to create performance opportunities for young actors. With a smartphone camera and a green screen, MCCT were able to film entire shows while maintaining pandemic protocols. “Once things started opening up [after quarantine] we didn’t want to give up these options,” says Duckworth, who expects that Arts Unlimited will be able to help young performers create reels for applications to college theatre programs.

“This space will evolve organically as we grow slowly, but no matter what, there will always be a project in the works,” says Duckworth.

To learn more about Arts Unlimited, visit www.artsunlimitedstudios.com or contact info@artsunlimitedstudios.com.