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Provides 'Giant Leap In Quality of Life for the Community'
by Nicholas Elmes, G-V STAFF WRITER
After eight years of planning The Prizery opened its doors to the public not with a bang but with peals of laughter and lots of smiling kids on July 21.
The Prizery opened with three performing and visual arts classes for 30 area children sponsored by two of its official user groups.
Becky Donner, who is known in the community for years of work with Halifax County Little Theater, taught a two week drama class for children ages seven to 12.
"I thought it would be a wonderful way to introduce The Prizery to the public and have fun with theater and music at the same time," she said.
During the two weeks students worked on developing their dramatic skills and producing a one act play, "Percival, the Performing Pig."
The other two classes, led by art instructor Betty Caldwell, introduced children to drawing and watercolor techniques.
The three children's classes are just the tip of the iceberg of programs planned at the Prizery for both children and the community now that Phase I construction has been completed.
"Having the two user groups have their camps here is a wonderful way to introduce what's to come," said Peg Anderson, president of the Community Arts Center Foundation.
"In September we are planning an after school program that is designed to introduce students to the different artistic disciplines," she added.
The pilot program, OpArtEd, offered September through November through a partnership between the Prizery and the Mentor Role Model program, is designed to offer an introduction to the arts for students who are interested but have had little chance of exposure.
The program will offer four two-week sessions touching on writing, music, dance and theater, with a final presentation of what the students have learned at the end.
"We hope that it will help them to express themselves and channel their feelings in a creative manner," said Dawn Rogers, executive director of the Mentor Role Model program.
Rogers considers The Prizery an important addition to the educational possibilities of the county.
"It will definitely benefit our students since there is a lack of cultural and recreational facilities in the area for the younger crowd," she said. "It has so much to offer us and we have the kids who want to participate, so it's a win-win situation."
Rogers hopes for the future of The Prizery are echoed by Halifax County Superintendent of Schools Dennis Witt.
"I see there being a definite partnership with the public school system and The Prizery," he said. "The Prizery is a good thing, a great asset to the public school system.
"The kids will greatly benefit from it," he adds. "It really expands the opportunities for both young people and adults."
Prizery administrators agree that it also has a lot to offer to the adult community and economic development.
Halifax County Little Theater will use the new space for auditions and rehearsals for its fall production "Honk."
During the grand opening, held in conjunction with South Boston's annual Harvest Festival on September 27, The Prizery will host several southern heritage exhibits including demonstrations on quilting, rug hooking, wood working, soap making, bee keeping and tobacco stringing.
Bob Cage, a local international tobacco auctioneer champion, will give a brief lecture followed by a mock tobacco auction.
This recognition of local history and culture is another key element of The Prizery project.
The currently completed section is designed to serve as a welcome center for tourists, and will feature a permanent exhibit on the history and culture of tobacco in the area.
"It will be about how tobacco was planted, grown, harvested, prized, and marketed years ago," said exhibit designer Ralph Wileman.
The two part exhibit will also focus on the seven National Tobacco Festivals which drew hundreds of thousands of visitors to the county in the 1930s.
"This is a welcome center to the county," said Wileman. "So the exhibit will help visitors identify what role this building played."
THe Prizery is named for the place where tobacco was "prized" or pressed by hand into 1000 pound hogshead barrels and then rolled to the Dan River and carried by barge to be processed.
"It was a cornerstone of the community," adds Prizery board member Flora Osborne.
Another major event is planned for October, when The Prizery again hosts the Parsons-Bruce Art Association's biannual art exhibit "An Affair of the Arts."
The exhibit will feature 30 artists from six states, offering a variety of two- and three-dimensional works.
"A multitude of gifted people will be here for this event," said organizer Francis Harrell.
The exhibit will open with an invitation only gala on October 11.
"The ambiance will be special because people will be able to see where we are going with The Prizery project," said Parsons- Bruce Art Association President Carol Ray. "It will be the most special gala we've had because people will be able to see both the future and the past of the project."
"People will find it very exciting to realize what The Prizery has to offer," added Harrell.
Following the gala the exhibit will be open to the public for a week with a number of special evening events planned.
"The South Boston and Banister River Garden Clubs are doing flower arrangements interpreting the art work," said Ray.
The arrangements will be highlighted by a speaker from the Virginia Museum lecturing on "Gardens Since Eden."
Gospel and bluegrass performances are scheduled throughout the week.
The Prizery will continue its interaction with the community throughout the year, offering adult workshops in the winter and beginning Phase II construction in the spring.
"By the spring of 2005 we will be up and running with the whole thing," said Executive Director Chris Jones.
The Prizery project is currently spearheaded by the South Boston Junior Women's Club, Halifax Woman's Club, Parsons-Bruce Art Association and Halifax County Little Theater and the Halifax - South Boston Historical Association.
When the entire project is completed, The Prizery will house a theater with stadium seating designed to also serve as a 300 person lecture hall, a 400 seat banquet room serviced by an in-house catering kitchen, a small, high security, climate controlled gallery, which will be able to display traveling exhibits from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and a number of classrooms designed specifically for fine arts and music.
The lecture hall offers many opportunities for adult and distance education.
"We have had conversations with Amy Lammerts and William Coleman at the Continuing Education Center," said Jones. "They are working with us to find ways to share our missions of education on this hill."
The teleconferencing capabilities will give these schools the advantage of expanding the current class and program offerings.
Additionally, Lammerts hopes to be able to use the theater space to bring Longwood University student productions to the area.
Possible future performances would include jazz ensembles and theater productions.
"We are also working with Longwood University to develop some kind of art degree in the area," Jones said.
The completed project is viewed as a valuable resource for increasing area tourism and improving local arts programs.
"This project is crucial to the economic recovery and growth of downtown retailers," said South Boston's Community Development Coordinator Tamyra Vest. "The Prizery project will directly impact our local economic development, offering both residents and tourists an opportunity to learn about the area's history and providing cultural, educational, and recreational programs for citizens."
"The Prizery Project will provide economic development professionals with enhanced quality-of-life programs that are a critical factor in locating prospective companies," she added.
The Prizery will interact with other economic development projects including serving as one point in the triangle created by Riverstone, Berry Hill Mansion and the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, according to Jones.
"These three pieces are really the synergy for the new economy," he said. "They really are the beacon for what is going to happen in this area."
"It is just so exciting that our opening can give so much life to some of the ideas that have been floating around."
To learn more about the Prizery, to become a volunteer with the exciting project, or to inquire about renting the facility for your next event, email prizery@pure.net.