Fifth & State
Your inside look at everything Garland, unscripted. Join Mayor Dylan Hedrick and City Manager Mike Betz as they dive into the topics shaping our city.
Fifth & State
Garland Delivers: Prop C- Granville Arts Center Renovation
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In this episode, Mayor Dylan Hedrick and City Manager Mike Betz sit down with Cultural Arts Director Amy Rosenthal to discuss the voter-approved $25 million renovation of the Granville Arts Center. They highlight what patrons and performers can expect, share updates on the architectural and construction team and highlight how this project is one of many voter-approved investments taking shape across our city.
Welcome to Fifth and State, your inside look at everything Garland unscripted. Join Mayor Dylan Hedrick and dive into the topics shaping our city. Let's get started.
SPEAKER_02Welcome back to Fifth and State, where we take you behind the scenes of how Garland works. I'm Mayor Dylan Hedrick, and as with me as always is City Manager Mike Betts. Hi, everyone. Today we're talking about one of Garland's most iconic destinations, the Grandville Arts Center, and an exciting new chapter ahead. Thanks to Voter supported bond funding, the city is beginning a $25 million innovation that will enhance the experience for both patrons and performers and ensure that Grantville remains a cornerstone of our downtown for decades to come. And to discuss all that, I want to welcome onto the show Cultural Arts Director Amy Rosenthal. Thank you, Amy, for being here.
SPEAKER_03Oh, thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_02So, first, always like to get to know our guests a little bit before we begin. So, tell us about your role and what you oversee as cultural arts director.
SPEAKER_03Sure. So I am so fortunate to serve uh as Garland's Cultural Arts Director. Um, we have three incredible facilities. Can't wait to talk with you about Granville today, but we also have the plaza and the atrium. And I'm very excited to announce, too, a coming soon to Fifth Street, an arts incubator.
SPEAKER_02We'll get into all that for sure. So uh tell us what drew you to arts and cultural programming. How did you begin?
SPEAKER_03Oh my goodness. Well, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Okay, no. Um, I love what arts does uh for everyone. I mean, for any age, for any person, the arts connect us in ways that you just can't find through technology. I mean, we're all so, you know, attached to our phones or screens, but the arts really make us human and just love to see the impact that it has on people and on our community.
SPEAKER_01How did you get started in that, Amy? Oh gosh.
SPEAKER_03Well, I think uh I grew up in a family that really uh loved arts, and um my parents actually are big Celtic music fans.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's fantastic.
SPEAKER_03Yes, which one of these days I'll have to talk more about bagpipe and Celtic music with you, Mr. Betts. But um I, you know, I always, my mom was a teacher. She she knew the value of uh taking us to great shows or museums, and um really just something connected with me, and I I love storytelling and wanted to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_02We're so happy to have you as part of that in Garland, and uh yeah, we'll jump right in now. Granville, you oversee the Granville. You said the three other the three total sites you oversee, but for those who aren't familiar about the Granville Arts Center, what does it offer there?
SPEAKER_03Well, the Granville Arts Center is just an amazing, um, such an amazing facility for Garland. You know, built back in 1982, uh Granville Art Center was one of the first um civic performing arts facilities in Texas. I mean, what an incredible gift to the community, and how um amazing that our leaders at that time were thinking about ways to bring people together. So, Granville Arts Center, uh, it is Garland's premier performance facility. It there are a variety of performance spaces in the Granville Arts Center, as well as uh rehearsal halls and a gallery space and meeting rooms, um, lots of great places to bring people together.
SPEAKER_01So, when you say performance, we have shows and we have what we have plays and and symphonies, and what else do we do there?
SPEAKER_03All kinds of live performance. So, Garland is um incredible that we have these legacy groups. We have the Garland Symphony Orchestra, which has been in existence for now for close to 50 years. We have Garland Civic Theater, which is a 60-year-old arts organization, and we have Garland Summer Musicals. Um they're celebrating their 43rd anniversary. So those are our kind of our big three founding groups, but you can see everything from dance, Mexico 2000, Fort Lorico, you can see um amazing South Asian dance, Arn Gettrums, um, and other, you know, dance, cultural types of dance experiences. You can see concerts, you can see um everything from La Mafia to the blind boys of Alabama, um, and uh, and of course, the art shows. You know, we work very closely with GISD to host their senior student art show, their Black History Month art show, um a little bit of everything.
SPEAKER_02I was happy to be a judge for their Dia de los Suertos art show that was there just uh last year.
SPEAKER_03That's right. That is that's actually um become one of our most favorite events. I mean, it's it's a huge event, uh, and we love the opportunity to, you know, to express and to showcase the work of student artists through artists through their ofrendas, the the altars. And that's right. Um mayor got to judge and uh see that student work.
SPEAKER_01There's more than one uh stage space there, right? There's there's two separate theaters?
SPEAKER_03That's right, Mr. Betts. Yeah, there's the Brownlee Auditorium, which seats um about 700 people, and then there's the smaller theater space that seats about 200.
SPEAKER_02Wow. With all these events, how many days a year is it occupied? How many shows do we put on annually?
SPEAKER_03We are open seven days a week. So uh that's a great question. So there is something always happening at the Granville Arts Center. Of course, our busiest times are weekends and nights. Um, and and things do slow down just a little bit after the new year. Um, but you know, I mean, over 250 events a year, 75,000 people. I mean, it's it's an active facility.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's great. And, you know, to handle that volume of that crowd and have all the features that a modern modern public looks for in a facility, we're doing some renovations now on that. Can you tell us about what sparked the need for this renovation?
SPEAKER_03Yes, sir. So once um you hit a certain age, you need a little, a little something to kind of help keep a glow up. We love to call this our Grandville glow up. So um we are some of our systems, some of our mechanical engineering and plumbing systems have reached their life's end. So it's time for us to upgrade some of our electrical systems. Plus, um, you know, when the facility was built, we just had different laws in place. Our our facility is just not that accessible. And so, you know, we want to be a facility that everyone enjoys. And uh we're working hard to make our spaces ADA accessible.
SPEAKER_02And that's a big one, really, about the complaints or suggestions for improvement that we get in that facility. It was built about a decade before the ADA uh was acquired and became law, but that's something we're looking to renovate as part of this facility.
SPEAKER_03Yes, sir, that's right. That's this is an opportunity. You know, these types of improvements um are are pretty special. You know, it's uh again, we're so fortunate in Garland that our voters said yes to a bond package to help uh with the renovations for Grandville Arts Center. Um, many times we hear that stadiums, you know, might have a 20 or 30 year lifespan, but uh but a performing arts facility, I mean, they can live to be 100 if not longer. And so uh to have one of these, it's uh what I kind of call a once-in-a-generation opportunity to to invest in the Granville Arts Center is a pretty special opportunity for us.
SPEAKER_01Are we putting in new seating also?
SPEAKER_03Oh, you bet. More comfortable seating. More comfortable seating. Yeah. So we, as part of this process, we really wanted to hear from the community and get some of the input, um, get some of their input about, you know, what they want to see. Um, and and absolutely audience comfort comes up as one of the top uh things that people want to see improved. But the other thing that I have really loved about this process is just to see how special Granville Arts Center is to so many people. I mean, there are so many memories that have been made at that facility from first dance recitals to graduations to um, you know, experiencing performance, you know, a special show. Uh, it really, really sits in the hearts of our community and beyond, too. It's not just Scarland. I mean, Granville Arts Center is bringing people from all over.
SPEAKER_02People talk about they grew up dancing on that stage and now they have kids that are even dancing on that stage, the second generation.
SPEAKER_03That's right, that's right. And how fortunate are we to make these improvements to carry it on into the next generation so they can so those little dancers now can bring back their little dancers of the future.
SPEAKER_02We talked about the seat, get more comfort for the audience members. We also hope to do some improvements to the lobby area and the sessions as well.
SPEAKER_03That's right, absolutely. So um, you know, when when we are cooking at the Grandville, you could have about a thousand people in that building. And uh we really need to make sure that that lobby space is comfortable and that folks uh have an opportunity to, you know, get their concessions. And you know, we're even talking a little bit about how can we make that experience start from the outside too. You know, is there a way for us to um maybe build the connection between inside of the building and the outside of the space as well?
SPEAKER_02We want to draw people from our downtown into the facility.
SPEAKER_03Yes. I mean, downtown is a huge attraction, and you know, it's it's so uh funny. Sometimes we encounter folks that love the square and have enjoyed so many fun things on the square, but didn't realize the Grandpa Arts Center was just a block away. So, you know, figuring out ways that we can help build that connection are is pretty important.
SPEAKER_01And then you have a lot of people who come to shows and they need some place to eat afterwards.
SPEAKER_03Bingo!
SPEAKER_01We've got it for them.
SPEAKER_03That is right. And so that touches on something else that's so important about this Grandpa Arts Center. I mean, there's an economic value to it. You know, I like to say arts means business. It's not just all the kind of, you know, fluffy, just arts for art's sake. It's like what Mr. Betts said. Hey, you know, before the show, let's grab dinner, or after the show, maybe we get a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. You know, it's all of those things that help uh bring people to Garland and, you know, maybe help them spend their money just a little.
SPEAKER_02We love when they spend their tax dollars here at Garland, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_01We get like, what was it, 75,000 visitors a year to Granville?
SPEAKER_03That's right. 75,000. And that's probably a conservative estimate. When you throw in a big event like when we have folks for DIA or when we have um, you know, other folks for ArtMade Here or or kind of partner with some of these downtown events, you know, those numbers can easily grow.
SPEAKER_02Wow. I mean, it's great part of our Bankhead Cultural Arts District we have that includes the Grandville, that includes downtown, that whole corridor through there.
SPEAKER_03That's right. So in 2023, um, the Texas Commission on the Arts recognized our our central downtown area as a cultural arts district, our Bankhead Cultural Arts District, um, named after the Bankhead Highway.
SPEAKER_02That's great. So I'm an engineer, I'd love to get into details about what's going on. Tell us about the team that we have involved to help with renovations.
SPEAKER_03Sure. So we have um I call them the Dream Team. Okay, so we have uh Williams Tharp uh architects out of Fort Worth, and then they are partnering with Simple Brown Architects in Design out of Denver, Colorado. So Williams Tharp really brings that um specialty of knowing about how municipalities work. Because, you know, when you're an architect working with a municipality, it's a it's a slightly different type of a process than maybe if you're just working with a commercial business or a residential. So Williams Tharp has that uh background of working with municipalities and then they're pairing with Simple Brown, who are theater specialists. Simple Brown has worked with um, you know, renovations. And and the other thing that's tricky about this too, it's not a new build.
SPEAKER_02And as an engineer, you know, like those new build types uh it's always the hardest when you have to deal with what's their existing and try to work within those boundaries.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. And so renovation and and and a theater actually, you know, we have learned so much too through this process. It's really incredible to see, you know, there's some pretty specialized needs for theater and having you know people in and in these spaces and dealing with performance and acoustics and all that kind of stuff. But Simple Brown, they're experts at the theater business end of it. So I really feel like we have, you know, the experts that know about theater, the experts that know about working with municipality and community spaces, and together, you know, they're able to complement each other in terms of what we're able to do.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell And they came to all the community meetings and actually discussed with members of the community what they envisioned and what they wanted and what their priorities were as they were designing this. It was really a very uh exciting event to watch the various community groups come in and talk to the architects and engineers.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Powell Yeah, and critical too. You know, I think that uh, you know, the architects hearing directly from community members, hearing directly from our arts partners, our stakeholders, that was critical for them to get that feedback and then, you know, go back to the design board and really start to work on the plans.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Yeah, and you could see when they rolled some of the plans out, you could see the how they worked in what the community was saying they wanted. It was really great to watch the process play out.
SPEAKER_03Exactly, exactly. And I am very proud that I I feel like we're delivering on some of those uh, you know, top requests from our arts groups. Like one of the things that we heard from our arts groups is we are packed like sardines backstage. There's not enough room backstage. And so, you know, the architects went back and they really looked at things and measured twice and three times and were able to add in extra dressing room space, make the hallways wider, um, add a rehearsal hall, you know, all of those things that the groups really said was important to them to help make their productions top tier.
SPEAKER_02And Mike said, rolled those plans out. They gave us a sneak peek at one of our work sessions earlier this month. What is uh most exciting that you saw in there, Amy, about the renovations? Is the exterior, is the interior? What are a few things that you noticed from that presentation?
SPEAKER_03Well, it's all so exciting. I think what I can't wait to see um come to fruition is just some of the technology, the theater technology. You know, if you think back to 40 years ago and how far just technology has come from, you know, wired types devices to wireless devices. Um there are gonna be some lighting uh instruments in place and some improved acoustics that I think, you know, and we have incredible performance groups in Garland. I mean, if you haven't seen a show at the Granville Arts Center, you need to come check us out. But now to see it with that just that added bit of technology, it's gonna be unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02That's great. That's something they really didn't hit on in their presentation because they said, you know, that's the uh part you really doesn't come through well in a PowerPoint presentation.
SPEAKER_03That's right. It's hard to see, it's hard to hear just how great the symphony is gonna sound in a PowerPoint presentation.
SPEAKER_02And improved acoustics, we have a technical expert on board with that. Yeah. We also have Burn Construction, who's our CMA Arts, a construction manager at risk. Tell us about that process. Why do we bring a construction company on this early in the process?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so um, you know, we are very serious. Uh, you know, we do it it is incredible again to be able to have this bond resource, but it is a limited resource. We have a we're not going over budget on this project. And so bringing a CMAR in early as part of the process allows the architects to work directly with the contractors to make sure that we're keeping, you know, our numbers in check, that we're really managing the the dollars as well as we can. And um, you know, not bringing them in at the end where we they say, hey, oh god, guess what? The price of steel has, you know, tripled or whatever. I mean, we have them right with us through this whole process to make sure that we're keeping on time and on budget.
SPEAKER_02So during the construction process, we talked a little about design. When is actual construction going to begin? How long is that going to take? What can the residents expect when that happens?
SPEAKER_03Sure, okay. That's the good stuff, right? That's the stuff that makes my palms sweat.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, okay, so we are starting construction in January of 27. And construction is intended to last one year. So, so here's the other thing that that we feel a great deal of responsibility for. You know, when we're talking with these groups that have been performing for 40 years in that space, and we're saying, okay, you don't have a performance space for a year, you know, that's how these groups thrive, and that's how they continue on, is through their, I mean, their operations or their shows. So we've got to stay on time. You know, we're gonna be down 2027, but we're working with our groups to make sure that they have places to perform during the the time period that's closed. Um, you know, we want residents to go to growgarland.com for updates. They could also go to garlandarts.com for continual updates. But we are uh Garland Civic Theater is gonna be performing at the plaza, Garland Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Atrium. We're still working with uh Garland Summer Musicals on, you know, where their performance base will be, but we'll be sure to keep you posted. Um, but we want this to be fun. You know, again, this is Garland's performing arts center. This is the community's performing arts center. So we're thinking about fun, creative ways for them to be a part of the adventure. And that is coming soon to be announced.
SPEAKER_02Coming soon, and we still want everyone to support all those arts organizations during this transition period.
SPEAKER_03That's right, Mayor. It's very important. You know, again, you know, a responsibility that I'm very serious about and that I take very um that really weighs on my heart is making sure that our arts groups make it through this transition time.
SPEAKER_02Well, let's zoom out for a minute and just look at the bigger picture. This project is a great example of something bigger that we've been talking about as a city. When residents invest in Garland, Garland delivers. And that mandate came directly from the voters. They voted yes on proposition C in 2025. They voted yes to the bomb propositions in 2019, and they said they wanted to invest in arts and culture and downtown. So it's everything you look at everything happening across Garland, parks, libraries, public safety, and now the Grandville Art Center, you see the picture, full picture of all that's happening around our city.
SPEAKER_03That's right. I mean, this is such an exciting time for Garland. I mean, there are so many incredible amenities for our citizens, just like you said, our parks. We just had the grand opening of Surf and Swim, that beautiful new water park for, you know, it's for residents, but you don't have to be a resident of Garland to enjoy that. You can come in from beyond. Garland has great places to eat, great, you know, again, that downtown is a destination. And uh, and we very much are going to continue to build on bringing people in. You know, we we do have the data from ticket buyers, and we can demonstrate that we've got, you know, not only buyers from around Garland and North Texas, but some of our shows are bringing people in from out of state. Um, and and that's fantastic. We come to Garland, stay in a hotel, spend your money.
SPEAKER_02Stay in a hotel, enjoy some of our other amenities all across the city, our parks, our pools, our trails, everything. That's right.
SPEAKER_01Between that and uh the libraries that we've built and the streets projects and all Garland's really setting itself up for uh major revitalization in the decade ahead, I think.
SPEAKER_03I agree.
SPEAKER_02So let's ask you, Mr. Betts, about the uh the broader strategy. How does this fit into your broader strategy? I know we have budgeting season coming up. We're always looking to be strategic with our investments. How does this fit into that?
SPEAKER_01Well, one of the things that we're rolling out uh in the coming weeks is a strategic plan. And the strategic plan calls for revitalizing uh parts of Garland to uh bring back some of the economic amenities that people have asked for, to revitalize some of our shopping centers and economic quarters. And it's projects like this, uh, the both the Granville and the libraries and the streets projects, those kinds of things will act as a catalyst to help propel those uh that strategic plan forward, and that's what we're looking forward to in the coming weeks.
SPEAKER_02We talk a lot about being good stewards of taxpayer dollars, projects like this, especially involving construction manager at risk early, and it looks like we're just making sure it's done thoughtfully, responsibly, we're being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars and really this and all investments that we do.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And if you think about the the investments that the voters have asked us to make, it leads to a quality of life, which is what people are really looking for at the end of the day. Uh both a quality of life because they have the amenities they want, because they have the libraries and the the arts, the parks, because the streets and the roads work better. And we're gonna take that and combine it with uh some work we're doing to revitalize some of these economic quarters and really bring a revitalization of the city of Carlin in the coming years.
SPEAKER_02There's a revitalization happening. Not only downtown, but everywhere you look in the city is wonderful. It's what residents ask for. We're moving Garland forward, and people are seeing the results of that. Yes, sir. Amy, I always love to ask a couple of questions before we get to uh the resident questions here. I want to know what is your favorite memory at the Granville Arts Center?
SPEAKER_03Oh my goodness, that's a hard one. I mean, so many um incredible performances, opportunities to bring people together. But the one that sticks out to me the the most is when we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Red Headed Stranger. Okay, so not a lot of people know this, but Willie Nelson made his recording of the Red Headed Stranger in Garland, Texas in 1975. Okay. This is the album that launched Willie Nelson's career. This is this is the album that actually launched a whole genre of music, outlaw country music. And so when the 50th anniversary came up, we have actually an amazing cultural arts commission and a very um dynamic member, Chip Van Pelt. And he was like, you know, we got to have a celebration. And so we got together an all-star lineup from Ray Benson to Max and Heather Stalling to Joshua J. Ray Walker to Rhett Miller to John Pettigo. We had this tremendous lineup to recreate the album at the Granville Arts Center. And Willie's bus was there. Um, I mean, it was a fantastic night. And talk about, you know, it's one of those events where people went, Garland? What? And not only did we have this really cool show, but we have all this great history about Garland. And we made it a whole day. I mean, there was live music happening at Fortunate Sun, at Intrinsic, at Dead Wax Records, you know, so you could come down here. We showed the movie the night before. Morgan Fairchild came in, lovely Morgan Fairchild. So, you know, it's one of those things that gets on people, you know, we had newspaper stories about it, television coverage, you know, people were really talking about Garland, but the performance itself was spectacular. And the feedback that we got the next day from people were like, I had no idea that the Gramble Arts Center was such a beautiful place to experience music. So love that opportunity and can't wait to have more.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we're looking for the next big thing like that to come too. Certainly with a renovated center, it allows us to do even bigger and better events.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yes. I uh Mr. Van Pelt has got some ideas cooking right now. I can't get into it too much, but uh he's already said, hey, I think we've got some ideas for something else.
SPEAKER_02So I'm so glad he's part of it and helping us out and organizing those and just really driven. He's wonderful for the arts.
SPEAKER_03Yes, he is.
SPEAKER_02Mike, you have a favorite memory that you want to throw in there? I must say mine. And I had a friend of mine, she is the uh principal bassoonist for the GSO, and she did a uh solo concert. She was a soloist, featured soloist back in 2017. Oh wow. And uh I got to see her perform. One of my uh she's the wife of one of my good friends I grew up with in high school, and she performs, and I mean it was fabulous on bassoon. And the thing about that is she was about six months pregnant at that point when she did it. And we were amazed how she was able to keep all the air while being pregnant, and it was a fabulous performance then.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I've been to some of the summer musicals there, and um uh I saw years ago, I saw uh Cat on a hot tin roof there. Oh and it was packed. I mean, there was not a seat in the house, and I was just amazed at the quality of the performances that you get at local theater. You think, well, it's a local theater, you get there and you think these are professionals. And some of the shows that we put on there are just outstanding. And so uh yeah, I've had lots of great memories there.
SPEAKER_02I want to jump into a few resident questions before we close. So uh first one is what resources are available to support independent artists who live locally in Garland? We always love supporting the smaller acts. They might not be the big names that we draw all the time. How can we help them?
SPEAKER_03That's right. Well, we are really very fortunate that Garland has a very amazing creative community. I mean, you can feel that energy when you're in the downtown and you look around and you see some of the uh contributions that our local creatives have placed onto downtown. Um, a couple of different resources. I mean, we have a great uh partner with Garland Creates, which has a Facebook page and post opportunities on Garland Creates. Um there's always our artist calls are published on garlandtexas.gov or in garlandarts.com. Um, you know, for example, uh the art at every turn, the traffic box art, um, you know, those are opportunities where we're actually paying artists for their work and the design to help beautify Garland. So um, you know, checking us out online, uh, we have Art Vibe coming up later this summer, which is an art show that will be all across Garland. Um, this will be the third, I think the fourth year. This is the fourth year of Art Vibe, where we'll have um pop-up exhibits across Garland. So keep an eye out for Art Vibe. But we we do love to support our local artists.
SPEAKER_02That's wonderful. And are there any opportunities to volunteer with Garland Cultural Arts?
SPEAKER_03Heck yeah. How do they do that? Well, uh, so we can uh again get going back to our our website, uh garlandtx.gov, um we'll will get you hooked into Volunteer Garland. Um lots of great opportunities from users, I mean ushers and ticket takers and um, you know, folks that can help us for performances. That those are the best opportunities, but sometimes we'll have additional opportunities for a little, you know, backstage support or a little administration support. So checking this out through Volunteer Garland.
SPEAKER_02That's great. And a few questions about the facility itself. Will there be an orchestra pit?
SPEAKER_03Yes, there will. Okay, so that is that's a that's a tricky one. Um, and it didn't really come across. I I wanted us to talk more about that when we were sharing the plans with council. So making our facility accessible for everyone includes the orchestra pit. So making the orchestra pit accessible and also meeting current code to have two points of egress was very challenging. Um we called it uh architect gymnastics. I mean uh they they but the architects figured out a way to um get a pit in place that will uh lower and help accommodate the the Garland Summer Musicals as well as any other group that has a live orchestra performing. So the other tricky thing to know, just to know, is that the Granville Arts Center is kind of on a creek. I mean, there there's a pretty uh high water table and there's a sump pump that's underneath the pit that's constantly pumping out water. So it's uh it's pretty exciting, but there will be a pit.
SPEAKER_02So we're dealing with a spring under the building, and but the the pit itself, it actually goes up and down, and they're building a new addition to the building to accommodate that access, like you talked about.
SPEAKER_03Yes, that's that's totally right. So they'll they're gonna excavate down, and then they're yeah, they're adding on a little bit so we can have um you know access, and there will also we're gonna relocate our dimmer system. The the brains behind our our lighting system we're gonna relocate in this new area as well, too.
SPEAKER_02We'll get it up out of the water. Because I know immediately after we passed the bond, we had a a problem where it was some weather event, and it took out a lot of our electrical systems.
SPEAKER_03That's right. It was a disaster. I mean, it was a really serious catastrophe. And right now we literally have a band-aid on the electrical system to make it through to January of 27. Um, but yeah, again, the this bond, thank you, Garland, will help us, you know, restore our lighting system to keep us going.
SPEAKER_02We have a lot of art that's hung up around the area right now. Will there be a gallery space for art exhibits there?
SPEAKER_03There will, absolutely. That's part of the experience of coming to the Grand Ball Art Center, is getting to enjoy some incredible visual art. And so we are um reconfiguring. So right now the gallery is kind of tucked away in the center of the building. And sometimes it's kind of disappointing that patrons don't get down there to see some of the great artwork. So we are turning that around and we're putting the art close to the front door. So uh as soon as folks walk into the facility, they'll get a chance to enjoy the art.
SPEAKER_02That's great. It's gonna be more prominent space instead of down a hallway that people don't go as frequently.
SPEAKER_03That's right, Mayor.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Are we looking for any muralists for to decorate the space?
SPEAKER_03Well, we love art and we love muralists. At this time, we're still working through it. So right now, we've got to get through the mechanics and all of the logistics and the engineering. I I am crossing my fingers that we will have a really cool public art or some type of art element to add to the facility. I I don't know about a mural at this space, but I know as soon as we get cooking on our arts incubator space, we really want that to pop and come alive.
SPEAKER_02And we do have a mosaic that's going up right by the Granville right now, right by the atrium. Can you talk about that?
SPEAKER_03I would love to. So this has been in the works for well, we've been working on it for a little over a year, but I know there have been other community members working on it for years and years. So this is Houston-based artist Reginald Adams, and he's actually he's got work internationally. He's a he's a very acclaimed artist. Um, he has interviewed community residents, he has worked with the community, and he has put together a beautiful mosaic to tell the story of the flats. And so when you look at the artwork, there are vignettes from school and business and home life and church, and he's even adding this amazing kind of digital experience where you can use your phone, and augmented reality will make some of the scenes come to life.
SPEAKER_01In fact, members of the community actually helped build some of these mosaics.
SPEAKER_03That's right. I think actually there are two of the members of the community, two of the artists are sitting at this table.
SPEAKER_02So um I wouldn't call myself much of an artist, but I did get to participate a little bit.
SPEAKER_01I put one piece of glass in a place where they told me it belonged.
SPEAKER_03We're all artists, right? I mean, no, that that is the other incredible thing. Not only having our mayor um get to put in the stone that represents Garland, we also had um Ms. Hopkins, who is, I mean, in her 90s. I won't ladies never show their age, right? Um, but she contributed to the mosaic as well as Mr. Clark. I mean, there are these community members that had firsthand experience with the mosaic that contributed and it will be there forever. And for their kids to see in the next generation.
SPEAKER_01It's really Yeah, it was really amazing to watch all the people show up and and put pieces of the mosaic together. It was quite an experience. I'm glad it's going to be hanging there.
SPEAKER_02And it's celebrating the flats, which is the historically African-American neighborhood that where the Grandville is located now.
SPEAKER_03That's right. That's right. It is, and not a lot of people know about the flats. And so this is, you know, again, partnership with a lot of other cool community groups like Magic 11th, Garland's Magic 11th Street, and then um the Caps, the Carver Group, and then even Garland's uh NAACP. You know, all of these groups came together to help this project come to life. So we've got a historic marker, um, we'll have the artwork, and then there'll be some interpretive panels as well to tell the story.
SPEAKER_02So we got a lot going on. Dantown, remind us one more time where people can go for updates about construction.
SPEAKER_03Sure. So they can go to growgarland.com, and um, it's got a great uh history of kind of where we've been since that bond passed a little over a year ago, and has regular updates about what's happening with the Grampo Arts Center.
SPEAKER_02That's for construction, and then where can they go to see performances and shows and anything that's uh being relocated while we're working?
SPEAKER_03GarlandArts.com.
SPEAKER_02Wonderful. Well, thank you, Amy, for sharing your insight into the future of the Granville Arts Center and supporting the arts and culture in Garland. Garland is investing in its future, and we are preserving what residents love while enhancing it for the next generation. And we ask all the residents through this process to stay engaged, continue to support your local arts, follow us for updates on the Garden, like Amy said, growGarland.com. Remember, new episodes of Fifth and State come out every first Monday of the month. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube. Leave us a comment, give us a five star rating too. We'd appreciate that. Until next time, I'm Mayor Dylan Hedrick. Good night, Garland.