The Fayetteville Lincoln County Arts Center has a story they want to share, but most of all, they want you to be a part of it.
The Arts Center has undergone a huge transformation in recent years and has rebranded the organization including a new logo to improve its appearance to the community.
The mission of the FLCAC is to improve the quality of life in the Fayetteville-Lincoln County community through the presentation, education and promotion of all artistic disciplines, including the visual, conceptual and performing arts.
Annual events at the FLC Arts Center include the Southern Weekend of Art (54), monthly art classes, open mic nights during the cooler seasons (they currently have no air conditioning upstairs), free classes for adults and children throughout the year as well as private classes for the elderly, residents of behavioral rehabilitation facilities and people of all ages with special needs.
Annual music, art and dance scholarships are also offered to high school students.
Many community projects have sprung up at the arts center, including the large-scale multi-panel mural right next to the plaza depicting our historic downtown in black and white. This project involved many people, but was led by Melanie Laten, Arts Center member, and painted at the Arts Center with the help of other community members and residents.
Volunteers organized and showcased hundreds of local musical talent by children and adults for the community at Southern Weekend of Art, including sabotage, song, instrument play, bands, storytelling and more.
As you can see… their mission is truly to improve the quality of life in our community through the arts and that is exactly what they do. This group really has a huge heart for our community.
Their number one priority is to make the exterior of the facility reflect what is going on inside. That being said, they researched the history of the Arts Center to create a narrative for the community.
In doing so, it was discovered that the building which began as a Presbyterian church (property purchased in 1910) and constructed in 1913 was donated to the Fayetteville Art League by CFW Construction Company in 1974. On September 30, 1963, a group of people gathered at the Central High School Library – now known as Lincoln Academy – for the purpose of organizing the Fayetteville and Lincoln County Art League. After Reverend Douglas Girardean opened the meeting, guest speaker Fred Womack gave a very interesting address. The organizers have decided that they will meet on the second and fourth Monday evenings of each month. Dues have been set at $ 5 per year and $ 1.50 for students.
Before the Arts Center became a facility for the arts, it was inhabited by retired Air Force Col. William Trigg and his wife Ellen Trigg. Colonel Trigg was a successful musician and played the double bass. He recorded music on the ground floor of the church, especially many gospel songs for local mom and pop groups, and offered free music lessons to anyone who wanted to learn lessons. down.
Colonel Trigg wanted to provide opportunities for any hungry child to learn music. He would provide musical instruments to whoever wanted one if he was willing to give it a go. He was a mentor to many local musicians and absolutely loved helping others get started in music. He had many ties to the Nashville music industry, which enabled him not only to provide employment opportunities for local musicians, but also to provide students with state-of-the-art musical equipment.
His music store downstairs housed guitars, bass drums, sound systems and every Saturday morning you could find young musicians coming together to share their talents with each other.
Colonel Trigg and his wife were loved and cherished by many. His daughter, Patsy Trigg, followed in her father’s musical footsteps with a career that began with their family band. Patsy is best known for being part of Elmo & Patsy, the duo who recorded “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”, the iconic Christmas song. The song, recorded and released in 1979, became Christmas Song No.1 in 1983 and remained there for five consecutive years. The song was mastered at Fayetteville Lincoln County Arts Center by Colonel Trigg.
It is so exciting to discover the unique and rich connection to the history of music at Fayetteville Lincoln County Arts Center! It is definitely a unique claim to fame that can be worn proudly!
More songs are written, recorded and performed in Tennessee than anywhere else in the world. From Memphis to the Smokies and everywhere in between, including Fayetteville, Music Pathways identifies, explains and preserves the legacy of music in Tennessee. The Fayetteville-Lincoln County Art Center joins artist and Fayetteville native Ed Townsend on this path.
Townsend was recently honored by the State of Tennessee and the Department of Tourism Development with a “Tennessee Music Pathways†marker on the grounds of the Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum. Singer, songwriter, producer, lawyer and educator Ed Townsend remains best known for co-writing and co-producing half of Marvin Gaye’s classic 1973 album “Let’s Get It On”. Over a 50-year career, he wrote 250 released songs and scored two Hot 100 hits as an artist. He produced many artists, including Impressions, and taught underprivileged teenagers about music and other issues. Townsend was born in Fayetteville on April 16, 1929.
Special thanks went to Patsy Trigg for presenting her gold record for “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” at the Art Center during Host of Christmas Past where it is on permanent display. Lincoln County Mayor Bill Newman was on hand for the presentation.
Tennessee Music Pathways connects you to the people, places and events that have shaped the history of music.
From large cities to small communities, this statewide program identifies, explains, and preserves Tennessee’s music legacy. Whether it’s a story from the past, a star of the present, or a promise for the future, Tennessee Music Pathways helps you keep up with the music.
