Georgia Magazine - February 2022 - 9

New Lawrenceville arts center expands programming
ith five performance spaces in its 60,000-square-foot
building, the Lawrenceville Performing Arts Center is
the culmination of five years of planning, community
cooperation and city support. Since it opened late last year, the
$35 million facility already has been the site of music, dance
and theater events that are bringing audiences to historic downtown
Lawrenceville.
" Our vision five years ago was to be able to accommodate
a wide range of arts events and provide the latest in technology
and additional performance, classroom and rehearsal space for
many arts groups to use, " says Anthony Rodriguez, president
and CEO of the Aurora Theatre and manager of the performing
arts center. " Although it is home to the Aurora Theatre, we have
already seen the versatility and capabilities far beyond theater
productions as other arts groups are holding rehearsals and
staging their events here. "
The 500-seat Grand Theatre will host many of Aurora
Theatre's productions, including large-scale musicals and plays,
as well as shows for students, cultural presentations, and music
and dance performances. Other indoor and outdoor spaces
provide settings for plays, concerts, lectures, weddings and
community and corporate events.
The building, an expansion of the original space that
houses the Aurora Theatre, takes up a full city block across from
the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse. Outdoor plazas and public
Georgia glimpses
* Savannah kudos. Time magazine praised
Savannah's revitalized riverfront when it
named the city to its third annual list of the
World's Greatest Places, highlighting
100 extraordinary destinations around the
world. The list appeared in the Aug. 2
edition and can be found online at
bit.ly/tmagsav.
* Sea turtle count. The Georgia Sea Turtle
Cooperative, based on Jekyll Island, monitored
2,500 sea turtle nests in 2021; at least
2,484 were loggerhead nests. While 2021's
totals were fewer than in the previous
year (2,786 loggerhead nests) or in 2019 (a
record 3,950), the total exceeds the 32-year
average nest count. Since 1989, nesting
numbers generally have trended upward.
* Calling young artists, writers. Students in
kindergarten through 12th grade are encouraged
to enter illustrations and creative
essays in the 2022 Georgia Fish Art Contest,
part of an international wildlife-art contest.
For information, visit fishart.org and choose
the Georgia entry form. The deadline to
enter is March 31, 2022.
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www.georgiamagazine.org
9
PROTECTING YOUR ENDLESS ADVENTURES
Savings for a Limited Time
W
spaces connect the performing arts center to the Bobby Sikes
Fine Arts Center and other parts of downtown.
Rodriguez says that before the expansion, the original
building's two performance spaces hosted more than 850 events
annually, drawing audiences from Gwinnett County, metro
Atlanta and beyond. He says he expects to exceed 1,000 events
this year.
For more information about the performing arts center,
visit auroratheatre.com and lawrencevillega.org.
-Pamela A. Keene
Morton_Ga.magazine.2.22.qxp_Layout 1 12/20/21 2:51 PM Page 1
BRUCE JOHNSON

http://www.auroratheatre.com http://www.lawrencevillega.org http://www.bit.ly/tmagsav http://www.mortonbuildings.com http://www.fishart.org http://www.MORTONBUILDINGS.COM http://www.mortonbuildings.com/licenses http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Georgia Magazine - February 2022

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