Renovation of the Community Arts Center, located at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College’s Perkinston Campus, has been completed.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on November 19 at 1 p.m. in front of the center on the northeast side of campus. Tours of the facility will be included.

The center is part of a larger community-arts project and will be utilized to promote a creative economy through community arts-based projects and programming. It will provide a place for students of all ages to experience the arts through classes, performances, exhibits and workshops that promote creativity and celebrate the community.  Floor plans include creative spaces for exhibitions and meetings, a working studio space with a glass and ceramic kiln room, storage, a kitchen, an office, and restrooms.

A former dairy barn built in 1931 to sell surplus milk to soldiers at Camp Shelby, the small concrete facility has been expanded and used as a variety of college facilities. The idea to make it a community arts center was born out of the many collaborations the campus Fine Arts Department had with the Stone County Arts Council, which donated $10,000 toward its renovation, and the Mississippi Arts Commission, who donated $226,000.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony is open to the public and is free of charge. For more information, contact Sandra Cassibry, Fine Arts Department chair, at (601) 928-6298 or sandry.cassibry@mgccc.edu.