The Center for the Arts in Southport

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The Center for the Arts in Southport A 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to creating a regional center for the visual and performing arts in Southport, North Carolina. Thanks for your interest.

A few years ago, the leaders of Southport's Up Your Arts group had a dream. Thanks to their vision and monetary support, work has begun to transform downtown Southport’s historic City Hall and original Brunswick County Courthouse into a center for the arts. The vision is stirring – the restored building can become the equivalent of a town square to support the amazing and growing community of visual and performing artists that make our community so special. Early renderings imagine the building as a gathering place complete with classrooms, galleries, workspaces and a state-of-the-art event space. In 2023, UYA handed off project responsibility to a new, non-profit entity called “The Center for the Arts in Southport.” A diverse board of Brunswick County volunteers is working, in cooperation with the City of Southport, to bring the vision to reality. Much more to come!

An update from the Star-News. We want our many supporters to know the vision hasn’t died as our board is now looking at...
01/25/2025

An update from the Star-News. We want our many supporters to know the vision hasn’t died as our board is now looking at alternatives. Thank you!

Brunswick city takes action to keep historic building alive and mold free

With outside plans falling through in recent years, the city is ready to take back control of the building's future.

Latest developments……
10/29/2024

Latest developments……

SOUTHPORT — In a joint meeting last week, Southport aldermen still had questions about how to best utilize its former historic courthouse, currently undergoing abatement. READ MORE: Arts nonprofit…

08/06/2024

Tonight's public meeting with Southport officials to discuss the Center's plans for the historic City Hall has been cancelled due to T Storm Debby ... will be rescheduled. Stay dry!

Send a message to learn more

08/02/2024

Important meeting next week concerning the future of the historic City Hall and our vision for the Center.

Send a message to learn more

06/24/2024

We have very good news to share related to the outcome of the City of Southport budget meeting held last Friday morning, June 21. The board of aldermen had a number of productive questions for Mark Bachara, who chairs the board of directors for The Center for the Arts in Southport, after his presentation about the organization's plans to repurpose the historic courthouse and former city hall on E. Moore Street as a community-based center for the creative and performing arts.

A majority of the aldermen then agreed to conduct public meetings in the near future with the express purpose of finding a way for both boards to share the renovated building. Mark and several aldermen agreed the arrangement had significant potential for creating a win-win situation, especially since the city's budget is being stretched in a lot of different directions and The Center board is dedicated to raising the rehabilitation funds without burdening taxpayers further.

This is a very hopeful sign! Please take a minute to email the aldermen your support for this new effort on the community's behalf. Their email addresses can be found here:
https://cityofsouthport.com/city-hall/ -of-aldermen

(Thread artwork depicting the building was created by local artist Carolyn Tabarini.)

06/22/2024

We're pleased to report that the Southport Board of Aldermen voted Friday to enter into discussions with the Center to see if we can develop a win-win agreement that preserves the historic city hall building, provides the city with much-needed state-of-the-art space for public meetings and transforms the building into a community-based center for the arts. It's an important step on the journey.

Send a message to learn more

We urge you to be aware of and hopefully attend this important meeting in Southport tomorrow (Friday) at 9 a.m. You can...
06/20/2024

We urge you to be aware of and hopefully attend this important meeting in Southport tomorrow (Friday) at 9 a.m. You can show support of the grassroots efforts to transform Southport’s historic courthouse and former city hall into a community-based center for creative and performing arts. We appreciate that the mayor and aldermen have accepted The Center’s request to present our plans in detail. If the city agrees to go forward, the next step will be to negotiate an agreement that's a win-win for all.
https://cityofsouthport.com/notice-of-special-board-of-aldermen-budget-deliberation-workshop-june-21-2024/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3aqUatAlGQhblOgOsKaEcqWmynaIQtRvHjhEsVOa--J_8jLareQ6gB1SI_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw

Notice of Special Board of Aldermen Meeting, June 21, 2024

Address

201 E. Moore Street (Note: Not A Valid Mailing Address)
Southport, NC
28461

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