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About
our
Arts center
Mission
Provide high-quality affordable visual and performing arts and beautiful spaces for public use
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A Letter from Cultural Arts & Events Director Lisa Everidge
Hi, I'm Lisa Everidge, and I'm the Cultural Arts & Events Director for the City of Simpsonville, which gives me the distinct honor of overseeing the Simpsonville Arts Center. First and foremost, I could not be more excited for the bright future of our Arts Center! After two successful years of becoming the place to be for the visual and performing arts in the Upstate, the Arts Center will continue to grow and realize its potential.
My family and I moved to Simpsonville in 1999 and immediately fell in love with the area. As an example of life coming full circle, my daughter joined the Children's Theatre not long after we moved. Now I will have the pleasure of working with amazing theatre companies, for whom I have much respect because as the parent of a child involved in theater, you see firsthand how much time, effort and money go into a production.My time with the City of Simpsonville began when I joined the Parks & Recreation Department in 2009.
In 2013 I became the City's Special Events Coordinator, which plans, manages and oversees the City's special events as well as oversees events by members and organizations of the public. Events planned and managed by the Special Events Coordinator include the Daddy Daughter Dance, Memorial Day Ceremony, The Great EggVenture, Halloween at Heritage Park and Breakfast with Santa, to name a few. The Special Events Coordinator position has prepared me for my new one by understanding the logistics of event planning but more importantly working with people, which is what I love most about working for the City of Simpsonville. I love the free events that we host, and I love to see the joy in families. The adage, "If you do something you love, then you'll never work a day in your life" is certainly true.
After starting the position of Cultural Arts & Events Director in March, I am even more confident than before that the Simpsonville Arts Center will thrive as a place for the public to enjoy visual and performing arts, fantastic programming by artists and the City and spaces for public use, including the historic gymnasium for which renovation work is happening now! Whether a musical, art exhibition or private event by a family or business, the Simpsonville Arts Center has much to offer members of the public.
When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with family. I have three sweet grandchildren whom I love spoiling! I love to read, travel and of course shopping!
Thank you for your support of the Simpsonville Arts Center and Parks & Recreation programming. We could not do it without you.
Lisa Everidge
Our Amazing Studio Partners
Shaping the future
OUR Mission
Your Simpsonville Arts Center is the source for a vibrant performing and visual arts scene, and a great venue for art education and exploration – all under one roof.
OUR LEGACY
Fostering the arts in Simpsonville
The Simpsonville Arts Center endeavors to cultivate a hub of arts and culture in Simpsonville to share with the rest of the Upstate. Programming at the Arts Center has included performances by community theaters, music by the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, art exhibitions of awarding-winning work and classes by studio tenants. The Arts Center aims to be accessible, affordable, entertaining and community-minded. Welcome to your Simpsonville Arts Center.
From school to
arts center
OUR HISTORY
The building on Academy Street that now serves as the Simpsonville Arts Center was constructed in 1939 to be Simpsonville Elementary School by the Works Progress Administration, an agency that completed public works projects during the Great Depression. Simpsonville Elementary shared the auditorium and gymnasium with Simpsonville High School, which opened on the same property in 1921 before its closing and demolition in 1957. The City of Simpsonville purchased the beloved building in 2002 with plans to transform it into an arts center. A $500,000 matching grant to the City from the Appalachian Regional Council in 2019 made the initial renovation of the building possible. The newly renovated Simpsonville Arts Center opened in 2022, which saw three theater performances and several art exhibitions. A South Carolina Historical Marker was awarded to the building in 2015 by the S.C. Archives & History Center. The City of Simpsonville was awarded in 2023 the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Award for the impact of the Arts Center on economic development in the Simpsonville community.
