by Morgan Yeatts As a Lynchburg native, Tabitha knows just how far downtown Lynchburg has come through the years. Before coming to the Academy Center of the Arts (ACOA), she worked at Amazement Square, eventually becoming their event planner, and then their Operations Director. Later, an event coordinator position was created for her at United Way. She has also worked with the Downtown Lynchburg Association to plan Get Downtown. Needless to say, Tabitha knows how to get things done. “Event planning is being really organized and creative; it’s something I kind of fell into that I love.” Tabitha met Dorie Smiley, former Operations Director of the ACOA, through the Downtown Lynchburg Association, of which Dorie is Vice President. As Dorie was in the process of stepping down from her role at the ACOA, preparing for retirement, Tabitha applied for the job and started in October of 2017. Although she isn’t planning events as much as she used to, Tabitha loves her position here at the Academy. “My position lends itself to be a part of everyone’s department and being a part of it in such a wide reaching way is really cool and special. It […]
Meet the Staff: Tyler Herron
by Morgan Yeatts Tyler Herron knew from a young age that lighting design was the career he wanted to pursue. He remembers telling his parents that, someday, he was going to be a lighting designer for a mega church. Growing up, he gained experience working with the lighting design crew at the church he attended in Hope, Arkansas, and at the age of 12, was invited to go on tour with David Phelps, Christian southern gospel singer, and work with his lighting team. Tyler attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, with the intended major of theatre with an emphasis in technical theatre. Part way through his degree, he got a job at as lighting designer for a mega church in Little Rock, bringing his youthful predictions to fruition. When he got the opportunity, he left school to work there full time, and stayed for over 5 years, gaining invaluable experience through hands on work. A time came when Tyler felt that he needed a change, a new challenge, so he began applying for lighting design jobs all over the nation. “I needed to find someone who would take a chance on me,” he said. Although he had […]
Meet the Staff: Dorie Smiley
by Morgan Yeatts Dorie Smiley has been with the Academy Center of the Arts since its beginning. Dorie began as a volunteer for the Academy of Music over 21 years ago, which eventually evolved into a part-time position when the Academy of Music merged with the Fine Arts Center to create the Academy of Fine Arts to eventually become the Academy Center Center of the Arts in 2015. She was fascinated with the restoration of the historic theatre, and this fascination, combined with her love for historic buildings and architecture, attracted her to the Academy. She began at the bottom, raising awareness about the restoration of the theatre, writing thank you notes to donors, collecting the mail, basically doing “anything that needed to happen”. From there, Dorie continued to progress and ultimately became the Director of Operations for the Academy Center of the Arts. In October of 2017 she stepped down in preparation for retirement. Currently, she serves as the construction liaison for the Historic Academy of Music Theatre renovations, assisting as a staff representative to the construction committee. For years, Dorie has seen the Academy prepare to restore the Historic Theatre, and now, […]
Meet the Staff: Tremayne Edwards
by Morgan Yeatts Growing up, Tremayne Edwards, Box Office Manager here at the Academy Center of the Arts, never really had a answer to the question “what do you want to be when you grow up”. This wasn’t because he didn’t have any dreams or goals, but can be attributed to the fact that Tremayne has a deeply rooted desire to work with and help people, so he believed essentially any job that would allow him to do this was the job for him. He describes himself as one of those people who has never met a stranger. “If I haven’t made you laugh by the time we finish talking, I will buy you dinner”, he says, “and I’ve never had to yet”. One day, he was looking on the Academy website and saw the job posting for Box Office Manager, and knew that his passion for people and his personality would make him the perfect fit for this job. Since starting the job in February of this year, he’s assisted countless visitors and patrons. Tremayne calls himself the gatekeeper of the Academy. “Everyone has to go through me” he says, and he approaches this role wholeheartedly. […]
The Luck of the Irish
One year ago today the Academy hosted the first annual Top Mixologist. Although it was a great first run this year’s event was an even greater success raising over $15,000 for the Academy’s Community Outreach Initiative. In keeping with the theme “The World Awaits”, bartenders from all over the city represented various nations around the globe. Guests were able to taste drinks and foods from all over the world without leaving Lynchburg. The bartenders and servers got very creative with their decorations and outfits. From Ireland to Cuba, vibrant colors and delicious samples could be found wherever you looked. With a wide selection of drinks and dishes to taste, the competition was stiff. Ultimately, Daniel Servas representing Ireland won the popular vote securing RA Bistro’s title for the second year. Last year, Sasha Cash kept with the Willy Wonka theme and took the first Top Mixologist title dressed like an Oompa Loompa. The Top Mixologist fundraiser a fresh take on an event the Academy once hosted called “Palettes & Palates”. Sales from tickets and merchandise at this fundraiser go towards the Academy’s work in the Lynchburg community. The Academy’s Community Outreach Initiative offers educational experiences, safety aids, and community enrichment […]
Holidays in High Definition
This holiday season, the Academy is excited to present a new type of event to the Lynchburg community. Thanks to Rising Alternative, we will be screening High Definition footage of The Nutcracker as well as The Three Tenors in Concert. Rising Alternative is an innovative company that presents special events such as opera and ballet in High Definition. This company’s special events screenings brought diverse audiences to the wonderful world of cinema. Their team has provided live-recorded fine arts performances to venues in 44 countries worldwide. Rising Alternative has proven to be successful, bringing over 210 programs to around two million viewers. The first “alternative content” screening will feature the 1990 performance of The Three Tenors in Concert. Three of the world’s greatest opera singers, Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras assembled on the outdoor stage of the Baths of Caracalla. They performed operatic arias and popular tunes with selections from operas like “Tosca” and “Turandot.” The tenors, accompanied by a 198-member orchestra led by Zubin Mehta, enchanted the audience through the regular program and three encores. This recording of the tenors’ debut concert holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling classical music album. THREE TENORS CHRISTMAS CONCERT HD […]
Raku: An Unpredictable Art
The Academy Center of the Arts partnered with Brett Thomas of Mobile Raku to offer a workshop about the unique process of raku. The students who enrolled in the workshop received a 25-pound bag of raku clay, with which they created stunning pieces by throwing on a pottery wheel and by hand building. The raku process is a low-fire method in which the clay is quickly heated in a kiln until the glaze has melted. The clay is then immediately transferred to a container filled with combustible material for the post-firing phase. This immersion beautifully affects the final outcome of the glaze and the raw clay. Normally, the firing process takes around 36 hours from firing up the kiln to cool down. With raku, the firing process only takes thirty minutes, from placing the clay in the kiln to dousing the pieces with water. The pieces sit in the kiln only until the glaze melts, which takes less than one hour. The beautiful glazes that Brett Thomas provided require about twenty minutes to melt in the kiln. Next, the fired clay spends about ten minutes in the post-firing containers. When that time is up, the pieces are then carefully transferred […]
STEAM in Lynchburg
The Academy is excited to partner with Vector Space, a local makerspace that works to promote a love of learning. Its main focus is to bring science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics to the Lynchburg community. Elise Spontarelli, the Executive Director of Vector Space, is thrilled with the opportunity for collaboration. “The Academy is a long-standing educational center in our community, and we are so gracious to be working with them to provide new and innovative classes. Combining traditional STEM fields with the arts leads to exciting new ideas and possibilities.” The three classes that are part of the Vector Space and Academy collaboration combine art with STEM learning. The screen printing workshop allows participants to learn the process and use that knowledge to print an original t-shirt. The 3D printing workshop will introduce the variables that concern 3D prints, including software that makes 3D printing possible. The bookbinding workshop is great for avid readers, writers, and crafters. Participants will learn how to assemble a custom journal that they can take home. By including art in STEM learning, it increases our creative potential and overall success. “As we exit the information age and enter the conceptual age, creativity is a […]
A Life Changing Summer
Although our summer camps have come to an end, it’s nice to reflect on the thriving creativity that took place. For nine weeks, the Academy Center of the Arts hosted a diverse range of art camps, including theater, dance, DJ, improvisation, art, and pottery. The Academy Center was constantly brimming with creative youths, with a total of 556 students enrolled in 23 camps. This is a huge leap compared to last year’s enrollment of 299 students in 16 camps. For the first time, we collaborated with the YMCA’s Summer Learning Loss Prevention Program (SLLP), and it was an amazing success. One hundred and fifty students from Altavista, Amherst, Appomattox, and Lynchburg received free arts education at the Academy thanks to our scholarship fund. On entering the pottery studio for the first time, one of the YMCA campers looked around at the shelves full of clay pieces in awe and said, “This is gonna be the best day ever!” The Academy was full of this level of enthusiasm all summer. It is essential that children have the opportunity to explore the arts. Creative instruction helps children realize their tremendous potential. The arts inspire confidence, which often transfers to other areas of […]
Thank You Summer Interns
The Academy Center of the Arts would like to thank our summer 2016 intern class. They were great to work with and helped us serve our community through arts and culture. We are currently looking for fall interns interested in marketing and design, theatre management, and education. Please contact Evan Smith, Director of Community Outreach about applying to join the Academy team at 434-528-3556 x114. Isaac Williams Isaac graduated from E. C. Glass High School, and he will be attending Shenandoah Conservatory in the fall. He is pursuing a bachelors in Music Therapy, with a jazz implied major. Isaac has been involved at the Academy Center of Arts for three years. He has helped support the Academy’s summer children’s theatre camps and has played the piano for many local events. Riley Dewitt-Rickards Riley is a rising junior at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), but Lynchburg has always been her home. Although her main goal is to become a House Manager of a theater one day, she is also interested in learning the general operations and business sides of arts administration. Riley also has a passion for performing and composing music. She is currently a member of an […]
