At the corner of 7th Street and Greensboro Avenue, artwork from The University of Alabama is displayed from the front windows of a former hardware store, where Tuscaloosa residents once bought everything they needed, from two-by-fours and nails, to their first baseball gloves. Now the space is used as the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center for community art events.

“It was like the Walmart of Tuscaloosa,” said Sandra Wolfe, the executive director of the Tuscaloosa Arts Council, whose office is just a few steps down the block, next to the Bama Theatre.

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center consists of two galleries, the Black Box Theatre and meeting space for members of the Tuscaloosa Arts Council on Tuesday, the Council members will have the opportunity to connect with the public at the Community Arts Conversations event.

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Community Arts Conversations allows the public to see the new space downtown and learn more about the arts in Tuscaloosa. Tours of the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center will be given the night of the event so the public can see the space’s renovation.

In between the two galleries, members will be set up at tables to inform attendees about their upcoming events. The Arts Council will give away ticket packages to the Bama Theatre movie series in addition to door prizes.

Performance groups like Alabama Blues Project and Drishti will showcase their talents in 15-minute increments in the Black Box Theatre.

(See also “Druid City Arts Festival prepares for April event“)

“If people don’t know about you, then they won’t come in, so [we want] any way that we can get our name out there, especially to non-students and non-UA folks said Katie McAllister, director of the Paul R. Jones Gallery. I mean they know about it, but the community at large may not know.”

The Paul R. Jones Gallery is on 6th Street, right around the corner from the Bama Theatre, and adds to downtown Tuscaloosa’s thriving art scene. The gallery is owned by The University of Alabama and exhibits work from the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art.

Wolfe said she hopes both the event and the more visible locations of the galleries will bring people out to see what is happening in the community.

“I think it’s nice for the community to feel like they’re part of the University by coming to this gallery and the UA gallery without being in the midst of the University,” McAllister said. “There’s a lot of people that want to be involved and come to lectures and concerts and art shows and student shows, but they don’t want to go on campus, so it’s nice we’re here to offer them that.”

(See also “Festival showcases arts, crafts“)