Ashley Woolridge Shares How Local Artists And Free Events Keep The Lincoln Thriving

Step through the doors at 117 East Main Street and you’re greeted by the smell of popcorn, a wall of handmade goods, and a century of stories waiting to be told. We bring on Ashley Woolridge—our media coordinator and co-manager of the box office and gift shop—to share how a 1929 movie palace transformed into a living hub for artists, audiences, and neighbors. From original projectors to modern programming, The Lincoln Theatre thrives by pairing preservation with participation.

Ashley traces her path from a high school job shadow to a frontline role shaping community access. She walks us through the artist-friendly consignment program that features around 45 local makers within a 30-mile radius, selling crochet, ceramics, woodworking, leather, letterpress, soaps, candles, and more. No rental fees, just a simple 20 percent split that supports the theater while lowering barriers for first-time sellers. It’s a micro-incubator disguised as a gift shop—one that turns browsing before a show into real support for local craft.

We also dive into free, accessible programming like the Golden Oldies film series, staged the second Tuesday at 11 a.m. The series connects audiences who might skip evening events and creates new routes into the arts. Ashley shares how we honored muralist Lola Poston—whose six works define our space—with a birthday screening of a 1929 female-directed film, family photos, and a mirror-drawing table inspired by Lola’s early practice. These small, hands-on moments turn a theater visit into a shared memory, strengthening the ties between history and the people who keep it alive.

If you care about creative economies, local businesses, and the future of small-town culture, this conversation offers a practical playbook: open the doors wide, showcase handmade work, make events easy to attend, and link every program to the stories that built the place. Subscribe for more stories from the stage, share this episode with a friend who loves local art, and leave a review to help others find the show.

To learn more about The Lincoln Theatre visit:
https://www.TheLincoln.org/
The Lincoln Theatre
117 E. Main Street
Marion, Virginia  24354
276-783-6092

Transcript

Welcome And Role Reversal

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Onstage with the Lincoln Theater, where history of entertainment steals the show. Dive into the rich legacy of this iconic mind revival theater, from its 1929 debut to its starring role in Marion, Virginia's entertainment school. Guiding us through this journey is the man in the spotlight, our executive director, Bob Watkin.

Meet Ashley Woolridge

SPEAKER_02 0:28

There's more than just great performances at the Lincoln, and today we're hearing all about some of the extras that keep people coming back to the Lincoln in Marion, Virginia. Welcome back, everybody. Skip Monico host slash producer back in the studio with actually a very special guest today. Bob's in the background, our executive director. Bob Watkins is normally our host, but today we're very fortunate to have a very special guest, Miss Ashley Woolridge, who is the box office uh and uh gift shop co-manager at the Lincoln. Ashley, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Well, we are thrilled to have you and uh appreciate you uh uh taking time out to tell us all about what you do with the Lincoln and how you contribute. So if you don't mind, why don't you just kick us off by telling us what you do?

Shop And Box Office Overview

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Sure. So my title is Media Coordinator and I help co-manage our box office gift shop concessions area. It's conveniently all in one location here, 117 East Main Street, conveniently located right next door to the theater. We got access to this space in around 2016. Um, and since then we've been slowly adding more artists, more local artists to our shop. Um so we're really lucky to be able to present all different kinds of artworks in our area. Um, and then we also have lots of concessions available for sale. Um and of course, that's where you'll also find our will call area where you can pick up tickets on the night of the show.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

So I'm I imagine it's a fun job. Um, why don't you tell us how did you get started at the Lincoln? How did you end up here?

Theater History And Revival

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Sure, that's a really interesting question because um my memories of the Lincoln Theater go a little bit further back. Um so in around 2017, I was a senior in high school. Uh we had this job shadow program, and just randomly I decided to job shadow the Lincoln Theater. We had a previous director, Mr. Brian Tibbs. Um so he actually gave me my first tour of the theater, um, and I was instantly enchanted by it, especially going up into our archives area and also seeing our projectors that we um have kept intact. They are original to the theater, which is pretty cool, unlike anything else I've ever seen in an old movie palace like this. Um, and so yeah, I just kind of fell in love with the space. And fortunately, I also was um a bit familiar with our um other previous director, Mrs. uh Tracy Thompson. Um so I reached out to her actually just by email and said, Hey, do you have anything at the Lincoln Theater that I can volunteer and help out with? And she graciously said that she actually would be willing to hire me on to help out with um just initially I was doing ticket sales and looking over the gift shop. And um, since then it's I've really grown to be a big part of the team, and I'm fortunate to be able to kind of expand my skills. I did study theater and also arts management. Um, so I've gotten to be a little bit more hands-on, and that's kind of where my role developed into more marketing and media relations and stuff like that. I'm sure Bob has mentioned in other episodes before a little bit more about the history of the actual space. Um, so of course, you know, it was originally opened as a movie palace in 1929, and we were almost exclusively showing films up until the 1970s. Um, and then we did have what we call our dark era where we had to shut our doors. And then with the help of lots of local artists, actually, we were able to restore the space. Um, so that's been quite quite the adventure for the Lincoln Theater, and we've really evolved a lot as an organization.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Absolutely come a long way.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Yeah.

Inside The Gift Shop Experience

SPEAKER_02 4:16

So I think I've got a clip. Um, you mentioned the the gift shop is a very unique uh extra, uh, and you mentioned, you know, kind of how that works. I've got a little clip here, um, if you don't mind that I'll show. Uh here. So here we're walking in the front door.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah, it takes you right into our gift shop where we also sell concessions. We like to keep those doors open so you can smell the popcorn in the hallway and you're kind of beckoned in there.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

You know, what are some of the items that pivot in the consignment shop in the gift shop?

Artist-Friendly Consignment Model

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Good question. So we are actually really excited to share that we have now featured um about 45 local artists in our gift shop. Um, and that list just keeps growing. Um, so our artists typically they're within like a 30-mile radius, and we have all kinds of handmade goods. Um, we've got things like crochet, um, ceramics, woodworking, leatherworks, uh decoupage, um, letterpress prints, um, all kinds of hand-painted cards, um, ornaments. Um, we even feature like handmade soaps and lotions, perfumes, candles, uh, pretty much anything arts and crafts related, you can find something like that in our gift shop. So there really is a little bit of something for everyone. Um, and I will mention about our arts and crafts. We really take pride in our ability to display lots of local artwork. Um, and one thing that I really love about our space is unlike some other gift shops, um, we don't charge any kind of like rental fee for the artists to be able to display their work in our shop. Um, that's totally free. So we have artists, for example, who have had works display in there for four or five years, right? And even if those items don't sell, we allow them to just keep their items on display. Artists, of course, are invited to bring in seasonal items and they can bring their work and take it away as they please. Um, we just charge a 20% consignment fee. So it makes it really easy for um artists who are just starting out. Maybe they're they don't have a lot to invest in um the sales portion of things. Um, so it gives them an opportunity to display their work and they don't have to have a whole lot of upfront costs to sell sell those here.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Very cool. So the 20%, you said consignment fee, that that goes to support all the wonderful things you guys do at the Lincoln, I would imagine.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Very cool. Well, I know when I was there, um, you know, I was very impressed with all the stuff that you have there. What um if somebody is an artist, an artisan, and they have something that they'd like to display there, how do they go about making that happen?

How Artists Get Involved

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Yeah, that's a good question. So it's actually a really easy process. All you need to do is reach out to our team here. It's a really small team on a daily basis. We have about three people here. So it's myself, the other co-manager of the consignment area named Kate. Um, you just come into our shop or give us a call, tell us a little bit about what kind of artwork you have, a little bit about where you're from, because of course we do want to feature local artists. Um, we try our best to only present arts and crafts that are handmade, or at least they're um completely designed by local artists. So we we don't typically sell anything that's been mass-produced if someone's trying to sell those here. Um so you just let us know. We'll give you an artist contract, and in that contract, it just lets you know that we will be keeping 20% of the sales. Um, and then we'll take your contact info and you should be good to go.

Community Impact And Free Programs

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Very cool. Well, um, before I let you go, Ashley, I wanted to ask um, you know, you've been involved with the Lincoln for quite some time. In your view, what makes the Lincoln the Lincoln such a meaningful part of the Marion community?

Honoring Lola Poston’s Legacy

SPEAKER_01 8:09

I think what makes us such a special part of the community is the fact that we offer so many free and accessible events. Um, and also, like I mentioned, we are a really awesome space for local artists to get their work on display for the community. Um, for example, we host lots of free film events. One of those is Golden Oldies, which we show um the second Tuesday of each month at 11 a.m. And you don't need a ticket, you just walk right in there. Um, for one of those um Golden Oldies events last year, I believe it was, it actually fell on Miss Lola Poston's birthday. So if you've seen other episodes of this um on stage with the Lincoln Theater podcast, you may have heard a little bit about Lola Poston. Um so she's who we named the shop after. She is the mural artist who painted the six beautiful murals you'll see inside our venue that really honor our national and regional history. So her birthday happened to fall on one of those events. So we showed um an old female-directed film from 1929, which is the year that we originally opened, and we hosted a Lola Poston birthday party. Um and putting on that free event, we actually had to reach out to some of Miss Lola Poston's living relatives. And so uh we got some more information about her. We had people bring in some photos, and it was really nice to be able to honor her in that way and also kind of celebrate her birthday and her legacy with people who were still in the area. Um, and so at that event, for example, we had just some crafts for free that you could do. Um, and one of those, for example, was we had some mirrors set up on a table, and just anyone could come in and look at their uh reflection and try to draw their portrait, which is an ode to her history as an artist, Lola Poston, because at the age of five, her family shared with us um she was actually practicing on her own, just drawing her self-portrait in the mirror, and that's how she got started in art. Um, so it was really cool to not only celebrate her birthday, but get people involved in making art as well.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Ashley, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule there in marketing and running the box office and and uh gift shop to tell us all about your role and what you do and how you contribute and uh uh appreciate you sharing your experiences. It's clear that the Lincoln is absolutely more than just a venue to you and to the community. So thank you so much.

Closing And How To Connect

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yeah, of course. Thank you as well for the opportunity. It's really been a pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Thanks for tuning in to On Stage with the Lincoln Theater. Want more of Mary and Virginia's entertainment scene? Visit us online at thelincoln.org. Yes, that's thelincoln.org. Or drop by our theater at 117 East Main Street. Let's keep the arts alive and kicking together.