LY N D O N Vol 4 #1
H O U S E
A R T S
C E N T E R
N E W S L E T T E R
A FACILITY OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY LEISURE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Spring/Summer 2008
Arts Unleashed All Over Athens
Inside the WareLyndon House Museum
By Dale Wechsler
By Tim Brown
If you were out and about in Athens on the weekend of March 28 – 29 and found yourself engaged in weaving at the “Y” or wondering why you were hearing the strains of clawhammer banjo at the WOW playground – or perhaps hearing Haiku at the zoo, you weren’t dreaming, you just experienced Arts Unleashed. This new eclectic arts event was presented by Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services Arts Division. Arts Unleashed is described as a decentralized arts festival presented as a partnership among a wide range of artists and arts organizations across the community – literally. In fact, during the weekend more than sixty Athens poets, musicians, actors, dancers, and visual artists were scheduled to hit the pavement (and parks, lobbies and store aisles) to bring the arts to ten unconventional venues throughout the city.
In 1994, the voters of Athens approved a special purpose, local-option sales tax (SPLOST) to fund vital improvements to the city, one of which involved the expansion of the Lyndon House Arts Center. The LHAC project was envisioned to create spacious galleries, studios and classrooms in a new addition, and the house was scheduled to undergo a complete rehabilitation.
Stuart Miller, Arts Division Administrator for the ACC Leisure Services Department says, “Arts Unleashed is an opportunity to take art out of its many boxes (theaters, museums, Photo: Shannon Williams galleries, studios) and put it right in the path of Athenians as they go about their daily lives. It is designed to showcase area artists and arts groups and remind folks what a wealth of artistic talent we have in this city. I hope that this event serves as a sort of informal invitation for people to connect with the arts in Athens as audience members, spectators, and consumers.” Miller’s inspiration for this program came from presenting a similar program while he was Executive Director of the Thomasville Cultural Center in southwest Georgia in the 1990s. (continued on page 10)
When the LHAC reopened in 1999, the community was stunned: The new facility was more extraordinary than anyone anticipated, and the house’s rehabilitation achieved an unparalleled level of excellence. The restoration was hailed as a triumph for historic preservation, and Athens became home to one of the most important house museums in America. The Ware-Lyndon house was built during the early 1850s by the first mayor of Athens, Dr. Edward R. Ware. The only remaining structure from the once-prominent Lickskillet neighborhood, the house was constructed in a grand Italianate-Greek Revival style and was considered one of the finest homes in Georgia. In 1880 the house was sold to Dr. Edward S. Lyndon, whose family occupied the residence until it was acquired by the city of Athens in 1939. The house functioned in various capacities during the twentieth century, including serving as Athens’ USO during World War II. 1974 proved a pivotal year: a group of local artists held what proved to be a very successful juried exhibition, and the Lyndon House Arts Center was established soon after. When the LHAC was approved for renovation, a committee was formed to plan the restoration. They decided that the house museum should interpret two eras: some rooms were returned to the style of the 1850s, when the Wares were in residence, and other (continued on page 10)
ArtiFacts Staff Editor Madeline Darnell Graphic Designer Van Burns Writers Pamela Adkins-Ramey Rosanna Ames Claire Benson Celia Brooks Tim Brown Madeline Darnell Nancy Lukasiewicz Caroline Self Dale Wechsler Jenny Williams Photography Van Burns John Weber Shannon Williams The beautiful Renaissance Revival overmantel mirrors, the white Italian marble mantel, and the Mahogany English banquet table in the Ware-Lyndon House dining room