Valdosta is proud to be one of 12 Georgia cities selected by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) to showcase how it has utilized public art and culture as a tool for community and economic development.  A banner featuring the city’s partnership with the Annette Howell Center for the Arts and their collaborative local arts initiatives will be on display at the GMA 2015 Convention in Savannah, Georgia, in late June. 

“The city is proud of our partnership with the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts and for their unwavering commitment to provide quality of life events and opportunities for our community,whether it be performing or visual arts.” said Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson. “With an excellent staff and a visionary Arts Center Board, the organization creatively employs all resources to add beauty to our community and positively impact the lives of all our citizens.” 

“It is an enormous privilege to receive enduring support from the City of Valdosta to serve our community with the arts,” said Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts Executive Director Cheryl Oliver. “The continuing, firm support from our city leaders allows the Turner Arts Center to advance our mission to contribute to the quality of life for citizens and to the economic development of our region.”

“With the theme ‘Creative Impact,’ the convention will highlight the transformative power of the arts on Georgia cities,” said GMA Executive Director Lamar Norton. “Arts and culture are important to our local economies and play a valuable role in creating the quality-of-life we have come to enjoy in Georgia’s cities.”

Each city’s art initiative will be displayed on a 4x8 sign in the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center, the site of the GMA convention, for the duration of the meeting. Each sign includes photos, a description of the initiative, community and economic impact facts and contact information.

“We had over 30 submissions and found it hard to select just 12 to highlight,” Norton said. “Each sign showcases how cities have utilized art and culture as a tool for community and economic development.”

The cities and their initiatives are:

· Bainbridge - Downtown Bainbridge Art & Wine Walk

· Decatur - Sidewalk Saturdays in Decatur

· Jackson - Jackson Fine Arts Festival

· Marietta - Marietta Square Art Walk

· Monroe  - Sculpt Monroe

· Newnan - ‘A Horsey Affair’

· Perry - Lids for Artists

· Sandy Springs - Abernathy Greenway Park

· Suwanee - Suwanee SculpTour

· Toccoa - Schaefer Center Façade Renovation

· Valdosta - City History Captured in Mosaic Mural

· Watkinsville - The Monuments of Artland

Based in Atlanta, GMA is a voluntary, non-profit organization that provides legislative advocacy, research, training, employee benefit and technical consulting services to its over 520 member cities.