THOM 9 | Fall / Winter 2017

Letter From
the Editor
built
It’s been just over a year since our family settled
into a new place to call home. Although we vowed to
never live in an old home again, this one was hard to
resist.
to last
The property was like many old homes in the
South when we found it. Aged and weathered, it
was struggling to survive the wear imparted by the
people who had lived there for more than 160 years.
It stood tall and proud, but tired, like it had been
trying to say something and no one was listening.
During the renovation, many asked why we bought
it. Admittedly, it was a touch crazy given the home’s
desperate condition, so, that was a fair question to
expect. We said many things, mainly that it needed
to be saved and that it just felt right.
Now, after a year of living within its walls, I have
come to understand that it was much more than
that. This home felt like an ideal place to build a life
upon because it had been built to last – much like
Thomasville.
their life’s work. Though many of them hail from
outside of Thomasville, they all contribute to our
sense of place, whether through the art they have
created here or the ideas they share with us for a
boutique hotel, an urban neighborhood, a creative
business incubator, an innovative learning center
for our youth, and a culinary arts program.
While our work at the Center for the Arts is artscentric,
we are driven by a desire to contribute
in meaningful ways to the place where we do
our work by creating experiences where lasting
connections and memories are made. If you haven’t
paid us a visit lately, you should. One step inside
our historic building and our new studios and you’ll
see we’ve been designing a new experience that’s
meant to last.
Our beautiful city of just under 20,000 has a deep
sense of place and has obviously been built to
endure. You see it on a slow drive past the old homes
on our oak lined streets and can feel it on a stroll
along the sidewalks edging our historic buildings.
Progress has been tempered by a nod to our history,
land and legends, so that what has emerged is a
place intended to last for many, many lifetimes. To
me, that’s what makes it feel right.
In this issue, you’ll meet artists from all walks who
have made their appreciation for place a part of
Michele Arwood
Executive Director
Thomasville Center for the Arts
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