As Festival Hall remains mostly closed to the public during this current phase of the pandemic, the show must go on.  Beginning this week, Festival Hall launches its new YouTube channel and a new series “Festival Hall Presents.”  Director, Nicole Chillemi along with DJ and Manager of Dock 103.9 interview Greene County native, Tony Barnhart about his 45 year career as sports journalist, broadcaster and author. 

If you’re a serious college football fan, you know Tony Barnhart. He is, after all, known as “Mr. College Football,” a nickname he’s earned from a long, distinguished career as an analyst, reporter, and TV and radio personality. If you’re a longtime Greene County resident you may also know that Barnhart grew up in the county and still considers it home. Tony has written several books about college football and is currently wrapping up his latest and most personal to date:  Nineteen of Greene, about his last year on his high school football squad and the first year Greene County football was integrated.

Don’t expect a glossy production with “Festival Hall Presents.”  Ms. Chillemi uses Zoom as her platform and aspires to create a space for the artists and friends to tell their stories.  The stories and the conversations are the focal points. 

“I am not a videographer by any stretch of the imagination, nor am I a journalist,”  says Nicole Chillemi. “I just want to share some fun and inspiring stories from people who are connected to the arts or Festival Hall.”

In addition to Tony Barnhart, “Festival Hall Presents” a conversation with Atlanta Braves organist, Matthew Kaminski.  Matthew shares his story and some “behind the scenes” as the Braves organist.  Of course, more profiles are in the works including:  Maurine Brower of Lake Country Players, Crystal Jackson of Southern Spice and singer songwriter, Eliot Bronson.

“I wanted to provide some sort of programming for the public as we are not to be open in our normal capacity,” states director, Nicole Chillemi. “I’ve always been interested in what inspires people to create, so I thought, why not talk to some of the amazing people in our community as well as some of my creative friends, like Matthew?”

To view “Festival Hall Presents,” visit Festival Hall’s website www.festivalhallga where you can click a link to the YouTube channel. Be sure to keep an eye out for future profiles!

Festival Hall would like to thank Tony Barnhart, Matthew Kaminski, Chip Lyness, Kendrick Ward, Mayor Matt Seale, and Katelyn Jenkins for assistance on this project.

Read the full article, here.

Festival Hall, Greensboro’s premier arts venue and cultural center adapts to follow new state guidelines.

Festival Hall will morph into a space for governmental meetings at least until the end of September. The Board of Directors adopted a resolution last week to halt all public and private events at Festival Hall through September 2020 and allow the large space to be used for city and other governmental meetings.

Under the executive orders from Governor Kemp, the hall was not allowed to be open until July 1, 2020. Performance venues were the last entities to be granted opening status. The new guidelines require reduced capacity and stringent safety protocols providing serious challenges for performance and event centers.

“During the shutdown, we had to cancel or reschedule many of our wonderful events. The Oconee Performance Arts Society (OPAS) rescheduled their fall show to spring 2021 and the Lake Country Players rescheduled all three of their 2020 performances and will resume in 2021. The Doug Stone concert is rescheduled date TBD,” states director, Nicole Chillemi “Arts organizations have been hit especially hard during this pandemic.”

Festival Hall decided to be proactive and come up with a creative use for the building during this time. Many meeting rooms are nice and cozy and in normal times work well for their functions. During a time where social distancing is necessary, however, these rooms are just too small. With over 4000 square feet, the Carolyn Reynolds Parker Auditorium offers a safer space for small meetings. 

“We want to do our part. Instead of being closed, Festival Hall will provide a safe space for necessary meetings to help keep basic government functioning,” says Chillemi. “This wonderful building built through the Works Progress Administration in 1939 has housed all manner of agencies that have served this community for decades.”

Festival Hall continues its mission to promote and support the arts with a virtual “art walk” available on the Festival Hall Facebook page -www.facebook.com/festivalhallga.  Additional virtual content will be offered throughout this pause as well. Though typical gatherings and events are temporarily suspended, Festival Hall will continue to plan for the future when we can all gather safely and celebrate our area’s rich artistic community. 

Please sign up for our e-mail list on our website www.festivalhallga.com and receive updates on happenings at the hall.  Contact director, Nicole Chillemi with future booking inquiries at nicole@festivalhallga.com or 762-243-8022.

Festival Hall is filled with vibrant art that is created by local artists throughout the community. There is so much fun art to see inside of Festival Hall!

While Festival Hall remains closed to the public, they have created a fun way for the community to enjoy the artwork that is displayed inside. Follow “Festival Hall, Greensboro GA” on Facebook and take a virtual walk through the galleries of Festival Hall, and explore original art presented by the Greensboro Art Alliance.

 “We wanted to do something for the community as we remained closed,” said Nicole Chillemi, Festival Hall director. “Festival Hall is very fortunate to be able to display the wonderful works of  The Greensboro Arts Alliance and we thought it would be great to share these works as a virtual offering. ”

The Greensboro Arts Alliance was started over 20 years ago by Greensboro and Greene County Artists to promote visual arts through various programs and events for our community. The Greensboro Arts Alliance offers beginning and professional artists the opportunity to exhibit at Festival Hall, BankSouth and other venues in Greensboro. GAA artists work in a variety of media including oils, watercolors, acrylics, pastels, textiles, photography, etc.

Each day, the Festival Hall Facebook Page is showcasing a different piece of artwork that can be found in its galleries. The current collection contains an eclectic array of watercolors, oils, pastels, acrylics, mixed media, photography and cross stitch.

Most of the artwork in the Festival Hall Galleries is for sale. If you are interested in a piece of artwork that is displayed on the Festival Hall Art Walk contact Nicole Chillemi, director of Festival Hall at (762) 243-8022, for more details on how the art can become part of your gallery at home.