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City of Fayette | Arts, Culture & Leisure
Fayette Art Museum & Civic Center
| Fayette Arts Council | Dogwood
Productions (Theatre)
 The
Fayette Arts Council sponsors performances throughout
the year at the Civic Center, a renovated 1930 school building
now privately endowed by local benefactors. In addition to
the 350-seat auditorium, a dining room and conference facilities,
the Civic Center is also the home of the Fayette Art Museum.
The Fayette Art Museum Board has established a museum and
art gallery within the Civic Center. Fayette is one of the
few towns of its size that boasts an art museum with over
3500 pieces of art, including an extensive collection of folk
art by local artists Jimmie Lee Sudduth, Reverend Benjamin
Perkins, and Sybil Gibson. The Fayette Art Museum also hosts
an annual Arts Festival in August which has
grown to include more than 125 well-known artists from the
Southeastern United States and several thousand patrons.
Fayette is rich in the Cultural Arts. The Fayette Arts Council
is active in promoting local talent such as:
Jimmy Lee Sudduth...
Jimmy Lee Sudduth was born in Fayette, Alabama on March 10,
1910. Fayette's own nationally acclaimed folk artist painted
using raw, natural materials, including mud, sand, grass,
berries, and most anything that can be rubbed or pounded onto
a board to produce color. Jimmy Lee's originality landed him
a place in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute in
Washington D.C.
A one-artist exhibit by Jimmy Lee Sudduth at the Fayette
Art Museum in September 1971, set a Sunday opening attendance
record that stands to this day. More than 250 visitors signed
the register. Since that show, the inattentive pupil, the
farm hand who belonged in another line of work, the man with
unlimited imagination and resourcefulness has made his mark
in the art world.
Jimmy Lee had become known primarily for his innovative use
of dirt, water and sugar and for the ingenious ways he found
to alter the color. He was not content with the score or more
of shades that nature placed at his door. Anything of color
could find itself either mixed with mud or scrubbed on it
after it dried to a tough, rough and durable surface.
Benjamin Perkins...
Benjamin F. Perkins was born in Lamar county, but claimed
Fayette as his home. He painted on everything from traditional
canvases to gourds. His trademarks, two themes near and dear
to his heart, were religion and patriotism. All of his pieces
are bright and full of color.
Sybil Gibson...
Sybil Gibson is known as the "grocery bag artist".
She first began painting on brown bags at the age of fifty-four.
With tempera paint and brown craft paper or newspaper, Miss
Gibson produced simply delightful images of people and flowers.
Her work exemplifies a childlike quality seldom so purely
retained in adult life.
Lois Wilson...
Lois Wilson is one of the many artists with paintings in the
Fayette Art Museum. She is well known for her watercolors.
Her early paintings often featured childhood memories of Fayette.
These paintings date back from 1925 to 1930. Her later pieces
also include examples of abstract art similar to those of
Picasso.
Lois's philosophies about Native Americans, the elderly,
and the environment often came out in her works. She was serious
about making do with what she had which enforced her motto:
"Waste not, want not". She painted on anything that
was capable of being painted on.
Margarette McNutt Scruggs Guinther...
Ms. Guinter, a native of Jasper, Alabama has 256 paintings
in the collection at the Fayette Art Museum.
Several Artists works are on display for public viewing.
Fred Webster ( 1911 - 1998)...
Fred Webster, a native of Berry, Alabama, was known for his
woodcarvings. Mr. Webster carved mostly for the fun of it.
He expected no profit from his work. He loved the fact that
so many people wanted his carvings, but could not understand
why. He was glad that so many people enjoyed his woodcarvings.
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Contact the Fayette Art Museum!
 Fayette
Art Museum | 530 North Temple Avenue | Fayette, Alabama
35555 | Phone: (205)-932-8727
Devoted to such folk artists as Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Sybil
Gibson, Benjamin Perkins, this museum houses a permanent collection
of 3500 pieces. Other folk art and mainstream 20th-century
American art are also highlighted.
The Fayette Art Museum was founded in 1969, now contains
3,700 original works of art. The museum was founded as a result
of a gift from Lois Wilson to the City of Fayette of 110 pieces
of art work in 1969. Fayette City Hall housed the museum until
1982. The old grammer school of 1930 was renovated in 1982
to become the Fayette Civic Center & Art Museum. This
multipurpose facility was designed to be the cultural community
center for the city.
Upstairs houses meeting rooms, an auditorium, and art galleries
for mainstream art. The Folk Art Galleries and Girl Scout
meeting rooms occupy the ground floor. The original 110 piece
museum collection of 1969 has grown to include approximately
3,700 original works of art.
In October, 1996 the museum opened six new galleries on the
ground floor. Showcased in the Folk Art Galleries are Alabama
folk artists Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Rev. Benjamin F. Perkins,
Sybil Gibson, and Fred Webster, along with the primitive works
by Lois Wilson.
The museum is open regularly from 9 a.m. to noon and from
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Additionally,
Folk Art Galleries are open every Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4
p.m. Viewers are invited also during any public event at the
Civic Center. Special group tours can be arranged any time.
The Fayette Art Museum is the sponsor of the annual Fayette
Arts Festival normally held the last Saturday in August at
Guthrie Smith Park. This event has an attendance of approximately
7,500 each year.
For more information on the Civic Center, Art Museum, or
the Arts Festival contact the Civic Center by phoning Ann
Ulman or Kathy Dudley at (205)-932-8727.
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Contact the Fayette Arts Council!
The Fayette Arts Council presents a series of concerts each
year at the 365 seat Fayette Civic Center Auditorium. Past
performances have included concerts by The Alabama Symphony
Orchestra, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, The Kingston Trio and
The Platters.
Information Concerning the Fayette Arts Council may be obtained
by writing to:
The Fayette Arts Council,c/o The Citizens Bank of Fayette,
P.O. Box 706, Fayette, AL 35555
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Contact Dogwood Productions!
Dogwood Productions is a local theatrical company that performs
two major productions each year. For More Information please
contact:
Deborah Bynum at (205)-932-3727. Member of Fayette Area Chamber
of Commerce
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