The Coleman Center for the Arts and Culture

About Us

Mission

The Coleman Center for the Arts believes that art is relevant to everybody’s life and that everybody’s life is relevant to art. By nurturing and facilitating partnerships between artists and community we strive to create the vision and the means for a creative and sustainable society. Our mission is to enrich lives by integrating art into education, civic life, and community development throughout the Black Belt.

History

Through intense collaborations with the City of York, Sumter County Public Schools, the University of West Alabama, and other local institutions the Coleman Center for Arts and Culture has brought the arts and a tone of openness to the community by conducting workshops, holding exhibitions, and sponsoring local festivals and events for the last twenty years.

Born through the grassroots efforts of local citizens, it has grown through their continued support and volunteerism. The Center's legal status is as a 501 c 3 community based contemporary arts organization.

Over 150 exhibitions have taken place in the museum, providing professional exhibition opportunities to regional artists as well as bringing nationally recognized contemporary art to the region.

Additionally, the Coleman Center provides a space for town forums and houses the city library. The last three years have seen major growth for the Coleman Center with the addition of the Frances Hightower Hill Artists-in-Residence program and artist run programs; current projects include Black Belt Designs, and York Art Here, past projects include the Ala-Miss Book Center and municipalWORKSHOP.

The Coleman Center is supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Alabama Power Foundation, the Black Belt Community Foundation, the Buddy Taub Foundation, the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, the Sumter County Fine Arts Council, the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, York Drug, Inc., Prystup Packaging Products, the Drummond Company Inc., the Chatanooga Bakery Inc., and the generous contributions of individual supporters.