Join us on Saturday, August 24th from 11am-2pm for Arts Alive, a free, family friendly open house event. We will have live music, performances, face painting, crafts, balloon animals, artist demos and more! Our Summer Art Camp and Special Needs Art and Music Camp artwork will be on display in our main gallery and can be picked up that day.

On Saturday, August 24 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., the Aiken Center for the Arts (ACA) invites the community to our annual Open House event, Aiken Arts Alive – a free day of fun and all things art as we celebrate the culmination of our 2019 Summer Art Camp experience and start of our Fall programming with live entertainment, crafts, activities for children, artist demonstrations, and more.

Highlights of the day will include a craft area for children, inspired by our Summer Art Camp theme, Creating Around the World, along with face painting and balloon animals by Aiken Balloon Creations. Preview our Fall classes as ACA teaching artists demonstrate live drawing, metal stamping, organic skin care making, weaving and basket making. Community partners such as The Center for African American History, Art and Culture and Aiken Community Theatre will be available with informational tables and FOTAS will be participating with their furry friends. Also joining us this year are ASM International and American Chemical Society who will demonstrate magnetic levitation and “cool” experiments with liquid nitrogen, including making instant ice cream!

In addition to the visual arts, guests can experience live performances from Aiken Community Theatre’s Hunchback of Notre Dame cast, Aiken Kinderchoir, Southern Thundercloggers, Aiken Youth Orchestra, Belle’s Canto vocal ensemble, piano students of Aiken Music Teachers’ Association and family friendly music by DJ Essie.

Visitors can view the work of ACA’s special needs and summer art campers along with exhibitions from Barnwell basket weaver, Kenneth Everett, Aiken artist Ann LeMay, Joy in the Journey (original paintings by Aiken residents living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia), and Aiken photographer, Tad Jones. Information and registration for ACA’s array of upcoming fall classes will also be available for visitors.

Auditions for the Fall Strings Ensemble and Aiken Youth Orchestra will take place afterwards from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Auditions are open to all ages and need-based scholarships are available by application. Call ahead to schedule an audition time.

Aiken Arts Alive 2019 is open to the public and offers something for everyone –have fun and discover the arts in Aiken Saturday, August 24, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Aiken Center for the Arts. For more information, visit AikenCenterfortheArts.org or Facebook.com/AikenCenterfortheArts.