About the Arts Association of East Alabama
The mission of The Arts Association of East Alabama is to provide rewarding and exciting experiences for the citizens of this area.
East Alabama Arts
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The mission of The Arts Association of East Alabama is to provide rewarding and exciting experiences for the citizens of this area by developing innovative programming that will stimulate interest in the arts, eagerness to learn through the arts, and broader participation in and support of the arts. Founded in 1965 as the Opelika Arts Association, that amateur painting club has evolved through more than four decades into a fully professional presenting and arts education organization and was renamed The Arts Association of East Alabama in 2007 to reflect its larger service area.
In 1987, a partnership with the Opelika City Board of Education set the stage for the development of the Performance Series to provide programming for the newly built 1200-seat Opelika Center for the Performing Arts. In 1996, another partnership with the school system resulted in joint acceptance into the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Partners in Education program providing professional development opportunities in the arts for area teachers K-12. A third agreement with Opelika City Schools in 2001 resulted in an Arts Association commitment to provide $150,000 over 10 years towards the $450,000 technical upgrade of the Performing Arts Center, considerably advancing our program options and quality of performances.
We also have a close working relationship with the City of Opelika that in 1998 resulted in the $480,000 restoration of the Opelika Depot to provide a home for the Arts Association and the Opelika Main Street program. Performance Series events are also key to industrial recruitment efforts by the Opelika Economic Development Authority. We are currently engaged in a major project with Envision Opelika and the Alabama State Council on the Arts in restoring the 1929 Miriam S. Brown School in Southside Opelika into a center for the arts, providing needed visual arts exhibit space and a 300 seat auditorium. A $90,000 grant from ASCA was matched by $270,000 raised locally and the office/conference room/auditorium phase of restoration is complete and in operation. As of January, 2012, the AAEA Civic Chorale is housed at the cultural center for its weekly rehearsals. In the summer of 2016, the Opelika Theatre Co. began utilizing the auditorium and classrooms for its rehearsals and performances. Due to Covid-19 restructuring on the Auburn University campus in Fall of 2020, the celebrated Auburn Knights Jazz Band began rehearsing at the Southside Center.