ABOUT
THE ARTS CENTER
The Mission of The Arts Center in Orange is to increase the quality of life in our community by promoting an appreciation for fine contemporary arts in diverse styles and ideologies.
This is accomplished by providing:
a forum to promote artistic excellence; scholarship and education
a venue for artists and artisans to work, teach, exhibit and sell work
a place for the community to learn skills, and to participate in, as well as enjoy the arts
HISTORY
Established in 1997, The Arts Center began by offering classes and having small gallery shows in a series of buildings leased to us at reduced rates. In 2001 retired businessman and town mayor Bob Morin donated his Main Street building to The Arts Center. We immediately got down to work, renovating a portion of the first floor and opened in February of 2001. Since that time we have seen our programs and attendance expand dramatically, along with increased demand from other local non-profits, government, and schools to collaborate on projects and programs.
In 2014 the Arts Center’s Board of Directors responded to the growing demand by initiating a capital campaign to fund a two-phase renovation of our historic 1911 building to create a dedicated ceramics studio, artist studio rental, a music loft, a lift/elevator, and additional meeting and office space from currently unoccupied space. The first phase of the renovation — structural repair, insulation, HVAC and the clay studio – was completed in the summer of 2017.
Watch the wonderful video below, produced by award-winning local film makers Ross Hunter and Phil Audibert, to learn more about The Arts Center In Orange.
OUR
PROGRAMS
Exhibitions in The Morin Gallery
Virginia Artist and Artisan Shop
Classes and Camps for Children and Adults
Public Programs
The Community Outreach Program
BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
Ed Harvey, Board President
Richard (Buzz) VanSantvoord, Vice President
Helen Thompson, Secretary
Chip Queitzsch, Treasurer
Grayson Butterfield
Mary Dennis
Dale Hilton
Joanie Palmer
Robert Turner
OUR
TEAM
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David Kent is a multi-modal and multidisciplinary artist, director, curator, producer, and educator whose career spans four decades across theatre, visual arts, art collecting, and arts education. He has produced, directed, or curated more than 300 exhibitions and performances, including over two dozen world and regional premieres, and authored more than 40 plays, texts, catalogs, and screenplays. His work has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, and in major opera houses, while his educational programs have been developed for schools and universities across the United States. Blending creative leadership with strategic management, Kent has raised more than $40 million in support of arts institutions and cultural programming across nonprofit and commercial sectors.
At the center of Kent’s work is an interest in how art shapes place, memory, and identity. As Producing Artistic Director of Merrimack Repertory Theatre, he developed the Lowell Trilogy, exploring migration, community, and history. The series included A Cambodian Odyssey, created with Academy Award winner Haing Ngor and Lowell’s Cambodian community, and Maggie’s Riff, adapted from Jack Kerouac’s Maggie Cassidy with rights from the Kerouac estate. His theatre work reflects a belief that creativity reveals shared stories embedded in local experience.
In 2000, Kent founded Kent Gallery in Key West and Miami, representing more than 130 international artists and advancing new approaches to collector engagement and public access. He later established The Center for Attention, a residency program connecting artists with schools, health initiatives, and civic projects, and founded Teen Focus Foundation, transforming an airport hangar into a youth cultural center. In 2012, he launched Artist in the Room, Inc., a consulting and management agency serving artists, galleries, and arts organizations. Across his curatorial work, Kent emphasizes the “staging of experience,” integrating installation, narrative, and audience interaction into a unified act of interpretation.
Kent holds a B.A. in Political Theory from Bowdoin College, completed graduate studies in Playwriting and Dramaturgy at Brandeis University, and earned a master’s degree in
Adult Education with a graduate certificate in Gerontology from the University of Rhode Island, where he developed StoryLab, an AI-based storytelling workshop for older adults.
Underlying Kent’s work is a belief that creativity serves both as inheritance and inquiry— preserving lived experience while imagining what comes next. Whether producing theatre, curating exhibitions, or designing programs for lifelong learners, he approaches art as an ongoing dialogue between time, place, and memory.
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As Administrative and Operational Manager, Arden helps keep things moving smoothly at the Arts Center. She graduated from Washington and Lee University and double-majored in Studio Art and English. Born and raised in Orange county, she is excited for this chance to give back to the community.
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As the Communications and Community Outreach Coordinator, Juliet is in charge of the website, running all of the social media, and community outreach programs at the Arts Center. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Savannah College of Art & Design with a BFA in Advertising & Branding with a concentration in Art Direction. She grew up in Orange County and was very involved in giving back to the community even at a young age. She earned her Bronze Award in Girl Scouts and served on the Orange County Youth Council before going to college.
During her college career she received the Eclipse Award from the Orange County African American Historical Society for her activism in the Orange County community. She was a social media and marketing intern at the Arts Center right before her senior year. Her senior year she did a SCAD Pro with Deloitte. She was also nominated to submit to the Augusta Addy’s and was a SCADDY finalist. She now works full time at the Arts Center.