Big changes coming from Henderson Arts Commission

HENDERSON, Tenn. — The Henderson Arts Commission is hosting four main events this year.

They are changing it up after attendance has fallen in the past few years at the monthly Arts in the Alley.

“We’ve asked for a total of $45,000 to fund the 2018 Henderson Arts Commission season,” Henderson Arts Commission President Jason Bramblett said.

$15,000 is coming from the city and $15,000 is coming from Chester County. The rest from private businesses.

“It brings the people in the community together to do things, and we were glad to give them the money to get this thing going this year,” Chester County Mayor Dwain Seaton said.

Their first event will be a showing of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” on the courthouse front lawn. Then comes the kids theater camp for two weeks on the Freed-Hardeman University campus.

On Father’s Day weekend, they will host a festival at Gene Record Memorial Park.

“All of those things play into the arts, and there’s a place for everybody with the arts,” Emily Johnson, executive director of the Henderson/Chester County Chamber of Commerce, said. “It might be music, it might be drawing, it might be painting or performing arts, includes everyone, and it’s just a great thing for the community to come together for something like this.”

They have high hopes for the future.

“I think it’s only going to get better,” Johnson said. “Every single day our community gets better, and this is just one more aspect of that.”

To wrap up their season, the Henderson Arts Commission will host the hit musical “Million Dollar Quartet” in September in Lloyd Auditorium on Freed-Hardeman’s campus.