Click here to read ASAE Feedback letters from the participants.

Click here to read ASAE Feedback letters from parents of the participants.

Click here to watch the Community Night Thank You Video

We’d like to extend a huge thank-you to Gerri Young for the beautiful and heart-warming letter she wrote to the editor of the Roanoke Times.  Check out Gerri’s letter and see why we feel so grateful to have such wonderful folks in the Jax family!

Gerri Young in a decorative painting class at the Jax

To the Editor:

Just over a year ago I moved to Blacksburg in search of a retirement place full of art. Having discovered The Jacksonville Center for the Arts in nearby Floyd during our  house hunt, it didn’t take long to sign on for my first classes.  When we first moved here, the only people we knew outside of family in the area were those we met through the house buying process.

Today, I feel like we have a whole group of friends and acquaintances and most of them we’ve met through The Jacksonville Center.  Jacksonville was very fast to welcome me with great warmth and terrific classes.  The staff is friendly and efficient, the teachers excellent and the facility itself is a great place to learn about and make art.  As I sign up for every class I can fit on my calendar, I marvel at how I walk into a new class and count among the students the faces of people I now consider friends I made at Jacksonville.

Continue reading Open Letter to the Editor from Gerri Young

Ryland Acree III with one of his handmade bluebird houses

We would like to extend a special thank-you to Ryland Acree III, a tremendously impressive 13 year old woodworker who has been making birdhouses since last spring to benefit local non-profits including The Jacksonville Center.  He makes these birdhouses locally in Floyd County out of recycled, upcycled and repurposed wood using solar power and generous donations from the community of wood and other materials, technical expertise, tools, and other assistance including picking up and delivering piles of wood. 

Continue reading Got bluebirds?

The Jacksonville Center wants to thank everyone who took the time to complete our 2010 Year-end Survey. Not only have you helped us reaffirm that we are on the right track with most of our planning and activities, but you have also helped us see a few areas where we could use some improvement. And while, for the sake of anonymity, we won’t publish the entire survey results here, we would like to share some highlights with you.

For instance, 44% of respondents said that they heard about the center from a friend (Way to go, grapevine!! Keep it up!) and 72% said they kept abreast of Jax news through the electronic newsletter (of course, this might be an ever-so-slightly biased result… considering we bombarded you with reminders in your inbox!). Of those of you who took a class with us last year, over one-third were first-time students!

Continue reading Year-End Survey Results

Growing up in one of the many communities in Floyd County, I have had a lifelong connection to the progressive creative element of the area. However, it was not until moving back and accepting the position as Education Coordinator that my appreciation for the diversity of creative spirits in the region was truly developed. While the past year has been a rocky road paved largely with financial concerns, I believe that the challenge of facing our troubles with creative solutions has made me as an individual, and the Jax as an organization, stronger and more resilient.

Pumpkins from the 2010 Halloween Kidsfest, a Jax Ed Programming annual event.

The Jax holds a special place in my heart not only because of family and friends who have, over the years, put so much love into the place, but also because of its current and potential impact on arts and creativity education. As many changes as we saw in 2010, I hope that 2011 will bring not only a refinement of what we currently do but also growth into areas that we as an organization have been wanting to reach for some time.

So, here’s to 2010: a year that challenged us to learn and grow in so many ways.

And here’s to 2011: may we thrive in the fruition of our hard work, enjoy the renewed sense of wonder and connection throughout the Jax community, and continue to recognize and appreciate the importance of each individual to the whole.

We are, after all, a community arts center.

Many, many happy returns,

Amy Avery-Grubel

Wired 4 Creativity by Lee Chichester

Here at the Jax, along the rocky road we will remember as 2010, I shall decline to recall the rough times; when income worries dragged at our hearts and souls. Certainly, we were no different from everyone else in the tough economy of the year, but nevertheless, 2010 was a trial to our emotional well-being.

Instead, I want to take a moment to remember how proud I am to be immersed in a community like Floyd: Generous, Creative, Inspiring, Surprising!

At the Jax, we have a nefarious history of not planning far enough in advance. But that has actually turned into a valuable skill set: When approached by Deborah West, principal at Floyd Elementary School, for our participation in an after-school program for at-risk students who were being tutored for reading achievement, we had about two weeks to find the funding, teachers, partners, and administrative infrastructure to participate. Nevertheless, we were able to put together an extraordinary partnership and service by calling on a wide network of volunteers, professionals, donors, and partners to help us make it happen. That was a really big “wow” moment for us.

More recently, we have been able to rely upon a small team of true believers for a Challenge campaign, asking donors to meet their investment of $20K by today. Again, our wider community has responded, and the gratifying truth of the matter is that our neighbors, friends, and family — even some folks who’ve never set foot in the building, but nevertheless believe in our work — have told us loud and clearly: what we do is worth it to them; is valuable in the region; is adding to their love of living here, now, in this unsurpassed region of the Commonwealth.

I am so personally thankful for these acts of belief, honor, and generosity, that I am totally inspired to do more, be better, work harder for the enormous and growing community of believers of whom we are totally in awe.

Who’d have thunk we’d be here today, marking the end of our 15th year growing into our vision? I had not the sightest clue, back then, that we’d be here now. For that I humbly thank you all; and with a heart filled with pride and the true spirit of community, I look forward to growing into our future together, as a community of believers, partners, collaborators, and friends.

Thank you all and here’s to a better, more inspirational and exciting 2011.

Lee Chichester

Dear friends, neighbors and Jax family,

Woods Gap Hollow by Robert Wrenn Jones

When my husband Rob and I moved to Floyd just over two years ago, we did so without any contacts or anchors, knowing only that we had found the community we were looking for, filled with people who were guided by their search for happiness, aided by the creativity that seems to saturate each and every neighbor.

The Jax was an integral part of our finding our footing as, during our first months in Floyd, we began volunteering in order to earn our membership. Becoming the marketing coordinator a year later only further deepened our sense of belonging in this amazing creative community.

Tonight, we will celebrate our third New Year in our mountain home. As milestones so often spur, I can’t help but reflect on 2010 and the many ways that the Jax and its family of staff, board, volunteers, members and friends helped us through what was often a challenging year. Thanks to all of you, we found laughter during times filled with tears. We were inspired by art and fine crafts when all else seemed bleak. We continued creating when it would have been all too easy to pack up our cameras and pens and wallow in our difficulties.

Sitting in the weekly Jax staff meetings, I can tell you that each member of the Jax staff has their own reasons for feeling grateful for our extended family of artists, artisans and art lovers; their particular thank-yous will follow – these are just mine.

Looking into the year that begins tomorrow, I offer you all one more thank you for your dedication to community, for understanding the importance of arts and crafts in our lives, and for your many contributions to our community arts center that does so much to bolster the unique nature of this creative nook in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Rob and I wish you all a 2011 filled with laughter, health and beauty in its every form.

From the bottom of my heart to the tip of my pen,

Sarah Beth Jones

Wow! There was footwear everywhere at the Jax Saturday evening due to all of the socks Wiley and Friends knocked off with their amazing performance!

Linda Fallon with Wiley & Friends

Folks on Facebook said things like:

“… one of the best classical/jazz concerts [I am] ever going to get!”

“I love the mixture of rhythms/instrumentation.”

“Huge talent brought to the art center created a classy, fun, warm and intimate evening of classical and jazz in the midst of Blue-Grass flavored Floyd.

Continue reading Special Thanks to Special Friends

The Jacksonville Center wants to give a great big shout out to all of those individuals who pledged their support of the new Floyd Elementary After-School Program. Thanks to your generosity, on September 28th, the Jax and FES can begin this grand, new creative educational adventure! Stay tuned for more information as things progress.

Through our digital linkages, we were able to raise our minimum goal of $4000 in just under 48 hours. Wow.

We have made the commitment, now it’s time to sit back and give Amy a chance to breathe — really quickly, though, because now comes the scheduling part! In a week or so, we will know exactly how many FES students will become a part of the program. At that time, we’ll determine precisely how close we are to delivering this robust program to those who can participate for the entire 2010-2011 school year. We may discover that the program is so popular with students and parents that we have more participants than expected.

With such excellent creative instructors as Scott Perry (music), Lore Deighan (visual art), Leia Jones (dance), Mara Robbins (beadwork), and many more, we are very hopeful that this program–no matter how many students finally are a part of it–will find the financial support it needs!

Stay tuned for more information. And thank you, from our hearts, to so many of you who, even if you were unable to pledge financial support, were able to offer your expertise, time, or other valuable assets to help us creatively grow Floyd County children.

- Lee Chichester, Development Coordinator

Contact Lee to find out more about how you can support the Jax and its youth programming at (540) 745-2784 or lee@jacksonvillecenter.org.