The Media Arts Council began serving the community in 2005. Mission is twofold—to support local art and artists, and to integrate arts into the life of the community. We achieve this mission by providing opportunities for people to appreciate, view, experience, learn about, and make art.
Our 2nd Saturday Arts Stroll featured pop up art exhibits and concerts in various stores on State Street, with the main performance at the Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union. The arts stroll ceased when we moved into our gallery space in 2014. Now we have rotating exhibits every month, featuring 15 local artists who are juried in and belong to our gallery, or are invited guests. We also have an annual juried photography show and juried painting show.
Some of our artists hold instructional classes in the gallery. MAC offers craft making workshops every month where people can sign up to make cards, wreaths, ornaments, and other home décor. We recently launched a monthly music series where we feature local and sometimes touring musicians.
You may not know that MAC is behind The Media Film Festival is in its 12th year showing local, national and international short films at the Media Theatre for 3 days each April. In recent years there has been a script reading with actors from Hollywood taking lead parts in “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Princess Bride”. MAC has a highly regarded filmmaking class for high school students Media Youth Film Initiative. This program is open to anyone ages 14-18 and scholarships are available to offset the cost of tuition. MAC supports public art, and we brought two original works to Media—Claire Brill’s mosaic mural “Handle with Care” and Joe Mooney’s “Endeavor” sculpture on the Plum Street Mall. We continue to have pop up shows and you might see us during community festivals, at Dining Under the Stars. We have satellite galleries in local businesses that support MAC, such as the public library. We partner with the Media Business Authority on events, like the 4th of July movie in Glen Providence Park.
We know that the arts are vital to any community, and we help make Media a desirable place to live, work, and play. Come visit our gallery, attend an event or workshop, or simply enjoy the public artwork we’ve brought to the Borough.