Jump on the groove train with Taste of the Arts

This year’s Taste of the Arts gala fundraiser arrives just in time to ease the end of summer blues with the onset of the arts season in Middle Georgia.

The event, hosted by the Macon Arts Alliance, happens Saturday night at Terminal Station. Grab your boogie shoes, because the theme is “Soul Train.”

“It’s really going to be a great theme, because it will not only encourage people to dress up and come out to dance and party, but it is also helping celebrate the 100th anniversary of downtown’s crown jewel, the historic Terminal Station,” said Lauren Lin, director of communications for Macon Arts Alliance.

As Macon-Bibb County’s designated local arts agency, the Macon Arts Alliance’s mission is to foster and support the advancement of arts and culture in Middle Georgia.

“The Macon Arts Alliance helps coordinate the Arts Roundtable, which brings various arts organization groups together,” Lin said. “We meet every two months and we talk about different things going on the community. We try to tackle problems together. Taste of the Arts allows our members to coordinate an event that helps share the excitement of each individual group’s events with each other and with the community at large.”

With an expected 25 arts groups participating, there will be a variety of sweet and savory tasting stations to tempt attendees. Each station is sponsored by a local arts organization.

“The food and the individual group tables will all fall within the theme,” Lin said. “It should provide for some really funky decorations and lots of tasty dishes. There will be competitions for the best sweet dish, best savory dish and best decorated table.”

Of course there will be live music to keep the party atmosphere going.

“This year we have DJ Kevin Nichols, who will help inspire a boogie fever all night long,” Lin said. “We expect to see super bad ‘70s attire and lots of dancing on the platform.”

Additionally, Taste of the Arts will include a live and silent auction. Live auction items include a painting by Steve Penley, a private dinner for 20 at Dovetail restaurant, grand marshal title and personal float at the Main Street Macon Christmas parade, a vacation home rental in Fripp Island, South Carolina, and an exclusive dinner party downtown. The silent auction features fine art, Walt Disney World park passes, Macon Pops tickets and a variety of tickets to arts and cultural events.

Taste of the Arts benefits the Macon Arts Alliance, and by extension, all the programs it supports.

“As our exclusive fall fundraiser, Taste of the Arts is key to the success of Macon Arts Alliance. The funds generated by this event go directly to support our programs, which include Arts Roundtable, Ovations365 Arts and Culture Community Calendar, Mill Hill East Macon Arts Village, Amplify Creative Entrepreneur Program and the Macon Arts Gallery,” Lin said.

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Jump on the groove train with Taste of the Arts."