About Us
Mission:
The North Central Louisiana Arts Council, believing that the visual, performing and literary arts are a necessary enhancement for all individuals, seeks to enrich the region by fostering opportunities for creative expression; to establish a strong presence of the arts wherein the artists, arts organizations and community can thrive; and to share our diverse cultural heritage, celebrating not just who we are, but what we can become. The North Central Louisiana Arts Council serves the five parishes of Lincoln, Bienville, Claiborne, Jackson, and Union.
History:
NCLAC was formed by a steering committee in spring of 1987. Carol Hudson offered the Harris Hotel building as a possible site for a regional arts center and a sales gallery. A Louisiana Crafts Program grant of $2500 provided seed money, and through the generosity of Carol Hudson and the efforts of volunteers, the Piney Hills Gallery held its grand opening on January 27, 1989. For the next ten years the Harris Hotel building housed both NCLAC’s office and the Gallery, which was the first of its type in north Louisiana, and served as a model for other galleries in Shreveport and Monroe.
Early milestones for NCLAC include the 1990 award of a three-year, $60,000 Rural Arts Initiative grant, written by Susan Roach, then president of NCLAC, from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, which made possible the hiring of the first full time Executive Director, Scott Hutcheson. One of Scott’s first efforts was the creation of the Summer Arts Chautauqua, which continues today as the popular Summer Arts Camp, held in the five parishes. Major NCLAC events in the first few years included the Piney Hills Kites and Art Festival from 1989-91, Celebrity Paint-Offs, and New Year's Eve Galas.
In 1992 Scott Hutcheson took the position of Executive Director of the Calcasieu Parish Arts Council, and Mary Anne Lewis was hired to replace him. Under Lewis’ tenure, NCLAC Performances, begun in 1994, became an important function of the Arts Council. 1n 1994, NCLAC served as the state-appointed distributing agent for State Decentralized Arts Funding grants. Among Lewis’s accomplishments were the presentation of performances by Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, and the great dancer/choreographer Mark Morris. Lewis also oversaw the creation of Drama Warehouse, a theatre program for high school students, and the Artists Studio Tour. Through her efforts, NCLAC was awarded a major Meet the Composer Grant to bring New York composer Mikel Rouse to Ruston as artist-in-residence for three years.
One initial NCLAC goal was to develop a regional arts center. NCLAC considered various spaces, including the Harris Hotel, the old Ruston Hardware building, the Norton Building, and the old Penney’s building. In the late 1990s, we began collaboration with the Dixie Center for the Arts, which was formed to acquire and restore the Dixie Theater. In 1998 NCLAC moved Piney Hills Gallery into the lobby of the Dixie Theater, and its offices upstairs until the theater closed for renovation. Lewis was replaced by Shelby McDuff in 2002. McDuff expanded the studio tour and NCLAC’s educational programs and managed the organization during its transition in the James Building, during the Dixie renovation. Now partnering with the DCA, NCLAC has office and gallery space in the theater. In 2006, McDuff was replaced by Amanda Jones, who was in turn replaced by Pam Laster in January 2008.
Callie Dean is currently serving as NCLAC's Interim Director. 2007 and 2008 saw an increase in grant funding from the Division of the Arts and the Decentralized Arts Funding Program, as well as an increase in corporate support. New programs for 2008 and 2009 are the Live @ Lunch program, supported by a Plum Creek grant, and the upcoming My Vision, My Voice photojournalism program for high school students in Farmerville, supported by a Special Initiative Arts-in-Education grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts.
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NCLAC is supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency.