Arts and Cultural Council opens community meeting center

The Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County will open the A&C Community Meeting Center at Freeman Hall in Doylestown, beginning Sept. 11.
“We are excited to open our doors for arts events, meetings, workshops, and exhibitions. After delays caused by COVID, the lease is signed, and we are preparing the space for the community. Upon the commencement of our first Freeman Hall exhibition, A&C Fall Member Salon Show 2021, we will welcome members and patrons of the arts. Two years in coming, and the time is here,” the council said via email.
The opening of this space is a significant step in the growth of the council bringing together the need to expand to a physical location and the desire to enrich members’ benefits with more activities in a centralized Bucks County space. Located at 181 E. Court St., Freeman Hall provides exhibition space, meeting rooms, and a venue for lectures, workshops, art shares, and more.
Board volunteers, all artists in their own genres, are currently applying their skills to painting and freshening the rooms and installing a gallery hanging system in preparation for the opening on Sept. 11 and the display of member work. Art will also be displayed year-round on hallway and office walls creating a truly member-centered space.
Renovations for the Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County’s Community Meeting Center at Freeman Hall are made possible thanks to sponsors: The Ricciardi Brothers Benjamin Moore Paint Store in the Mercer Square Shopping Center in Doylestown; and donors to the 2020 Giving Tuesday fundraising event.

The collaboration between Salem United Church of Christ, owners of Freeman Hall, and the Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County was initiated in the spring of 2019, when Bruce Rutherford and A&C Board President Ruth Anderson struck up an informal conversation in Rutherford’s Camera Shop in Doylestown.
Early meetings with Rutherford followed by continued collaboration between the A&C Freeman Hall Committee and the Salem Church community under the direction of the Rev. David Green, pastor, the project is now coming to life.
Rutherford, who died late last year, would have been overjoyed to see this endeavor happen, the council said.
The public is invited to attend the inaugural A&C Fall Member Salon Show 2021, which will run Sept. 11 through Oct. 1. Admission is free.
Visit the “Events” page on the council’s website and read its “Coming Up” column in the monthly newsletter.

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