About the Council for the Arts History
The Council for the Arts of Greater Lima was formed in 1968. Originally, it was a collection of local arts leaders, including the Lima Symphony Orchestra, Lima Art Association, Encore Theatre, and others, who gathered to identify community needs and coordinate their efforts. Over time, the Art Council evolved to become a programming body. In its early years, it published a yearly arts calendar, provided summer arts programs in parks and other public places, and sponsored special one-time arts events such as Hallmark’s Kaleidoscope, a traveling visual arts workshop for students.
Beginning in 1972-73, with support from the Ohio Arts Council, the organization sponsored it first Artist-in-Residence, filmmaker Bill Taylor. Over the years, the Council hosted many resident artists in a variety of disciplines. Children’s Theatre groups and Shakespeare troupes visited Lima under the sponsorship of the Council, and continue to appear on a yearly basis today.
Besides enriching school arts curricula and community understanding of various arts forms, these artists assisted the Council as it spearheaded several efforts for better facilities for the arts in Lima, including the world-class Crouse Performance Hall in the downtown Civic Center, the Rotary Performance Pavilion in Faurot Park, and The Playhouse at Kibby Corners, in a low-income redeveloping neighborhood. These efforts in arts education and community building through the arts were rewarded by the Ohio Arts Council in 1982 with the first Governor’s Award for excellence in Arts Education, and the following year, the Governor’s Award for excellence in Arts Administration.
The Arts Council continues to evolve today. During the last two decades, the Council has continued these programs while testing pilot education programs, including the Comp Arts Symposium, Midwest World Music Fest and Common Threads. More recent programs include the continuation of Concerts in the Parks, artist residencies, and our Park Arts summer arts program, as well as Lima Live, Motown in the Downtown, our ongoing efforts to preserve historic Memorial Hall, and a constant effort to advocate for the arts as a tool for real community economic growth and a measurable contribution to quality of life for the people of Allen County.
