Core Programs
The Arts Council of the Valley is ONE organization with TWO locations and THREE Core Initiatives: Performing Arts, Visual Arts, and Education
Performing Arts Programming.Located in the heart of downtown Harrisonburg, Court Square Theater is the performing arts branch of the Arts Council of the Valley. The 250-seat theater presents a slate of cultural programs, including live music and theater, as well as foreign and independent films. Court Square Theater also may be rented for special events and meetings.
Visual Arts Programming.
The historic Smith House, located at 311 S. Main Street, is home to the ACV’s Darrin-McHone Art Gallery, which features a new exhibition each month. For approximately five years, the ACV has partnered with many businesses for the Museum and Gallery Walk, a well-recognized biannual event that the ACV aims to continue and build on with another, closely related initiative: the First Fridays Downtown. The First Fridays Downtown is an arts and retail promotion event that takes place on the first Friday of the month from May through September.
Educational Programming: Regranting and Support.
The ACV believes that arts education should last a lifetime, and that core value remains at the center of all its re-granting initiatives. Each year funds are awarded to organizations and artists working in the visual, performing, and literary arts. Since 2001, more than $290,000 has been re-granted to support community-based cultural projects in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham area.
Further, the ACV can offer guidance and assistance to small or emerging arts organizations during transitional periods. For example, the ACV has acted as an incubator for a number of community organizations and events, including the Harrisonburg Children’s Museum (now independent) and the Valley Fourth celebration (now managed by Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance). In 2008 and 2009, the ACV assisted the annual Harrisonburg International Festival as its fiscal agent.