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Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009

Woman hopes to invigorate Fort Valley art scene

FORT VALLEY — A woman in Fort Valley has a vision for revitalizing the town with art.

For Kate Lebherz-Gelinas, it will take buying a building, refurbishing the structure and opening it to artists of all genres for a gallery, workshop and classes.

All of this takes money, and Lebherz-Gelinas has an idea for that as well in the form of 250,000 paper stars. She calls the stars Milhojas Celestiales, which translates to “a thousand heavenly sheets.” In this case, a quarter million sheets of paper.

Each star is hand made from 35 percent post-consumer recycled printer paper and dipped in wax.

“I wanted to find a way to get money without a grant,” she said. Lebherz-Gelinas will sell the stars in sets of six for $2 a piece. If she sells all 250,000, she would raise $500,000 for her gallery.

So many artists in the area have nowhere to showcase their work, Lebherz-Gelinas said.

“There are people who need to be exposed,” she said. “And people need to see it.”

She tears up when she talks about a high school boy who was so moved by her friend’s painting that he walked across the fairgrounds to buy it. She said that is why people make art.

Artists have the “fingers of God to create,” Lebherz-Gelinas said.

The gallery would give artists a place to work instead of their living rooms. She also hopes it will be an active studio that draws in people to participate in the arts.

“It’s a grass roots movement,” she said.

The gallery would be open year round, which she feels is a strong point of her vision. It would not be just a once or twice a year event.

She said she has looked at a few sites in Fort Valley and is waiting on the money to start coming in from her stars to see her vision in brick and mortar.

“I want to make it something that tourists and locals can come (to) and enjoy Fort Valley’s ambiance,” Lebherz-Gelinas said.

Leslie Hoops-Wallace, president of the Fine Arts Society of Middle Georgia, said she has been trying to boost the art scene in Houston County and says it is a difficult task.

“I am not sure Fort Valley is the right place for it, but it seems as good as any,” Hoops-Wallace said.

She said it is best if someone else, like a city, foots the bill.

“I have seen many galleries close down because … art does not pay the bills,” she said.

Lebherz-Gelinas has hope for her vision.

“I want people to come to Fort Valley for a reason,” she said. “I want people to come and leave their money. And then come back and bring their friends.”

To contact writer Angela Woolen, call 923-5650.