It’s been said that the litmus test of a community’s strength is how well its local arts are supported. By the looks of it, the small mountain town of Waynesville is robust when it comes to the arts, especially with the recent news that’s come to the Haywood County Arts Council on Main Street.
“This is just going to blow the roof off of what we’re able to do in the community,” said HCAC Executive Director Tonya Harwood.
On the morning of Friday, Sept. 4, Harwood closed on a new property for the HCAC to inhabit. With a recent anonymous donation of over a million dollars, the beloved nonprofit organization can leave its longtime Main Street rental space. It now has a home of its own just a couple blocks away in the former Sassafras On Main building (next to Sauced and across from the Haywood County Historic Courthouse).
“There are so many emotions wrapped up in this moment,” Harwood said. “This journey has brought me to tears on many occasions. Tears of excitement, gratitude, being overwhelmed by the enormity of what we were trying to accomplish. And now, more than anything? Joy. Haywood County will, at long last, have an arts center of its own — it’s an incredible feeling.”
