West Tennessee Regional Art Center

Simply by reading the information about the West TN Regional Art Center one still does not fully appreciate the very existence of this facility. That is until it is known that this Center, single-handedly services the entire region of West TN, outside Shelby Co. Without this Center, the children of the rural communities would have no exposure to the fine arts, other than the school programs which are unfortunately not in every school system.

This Center’s mission of education and participation in the arts is a particular challenge when one considers that the majority of the residents have never been exposed to what true cultural artwork is, and why it is so important to their lives, and the lives of their children. Many people live near, or around large metropolitan cities where going to an art museum, a play, a musical performance is an expected happening. There are even different types of these events to choose from on a regular basis. But here, the opportunities are few and far between.

Our benefactor, Dr. Benjamin Caldwell, Jr., who is a native of this town, and now resides in Nashville, was raised in a family which could afford to travel distances to see quality exhibitions. However, he realized that not everyone from the more rural areas could, for whatever the reason, either distance or socio-economic. As a way of saying thanks to his parents and that one teacher who inspired his love for art, he donated a large portion of his personal collection back to his home town. What a valuable and generous gift!

After understanding a little more about our significance, would you please consider joining our patrons in this worthwhile mission? It is filling a cultural need for this area, and as we all know, it is easier to obtain seed money, than it is operational funding. We need your help if we are going to continue our involvement in the education of our surrounding communities. When one thinks of it in this respect....a donation to us is worth ten times its value when compared to a museum which sits among many. Because without the West TN Regional Art Center in this region, there would be no fine art museum at all.

Your contributions are fully tax deductible.