{"id":781,"date":"2020-01-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nice-cori.104-207-151-122.plesk.page\/?p=781"},"modified":"2020-01-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T00:00:00","slug":"elm-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/elm-street","title":{"rendered":"Around Woodstock | Elm Street | Woodstock GA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Unlocking a New Life and Passion<\/h3>\n

Last year, Elm Street Cultural Arts Village<\/a> brought 25,000 visitors to downtown Woodstock with its award-winning theater and outdoor concerts, and gave free performances for more than 11,000 Cherokee County school children. In the past three years, the organization has garnered 60 nominations and six wins at the Metro Atlanta Theater (MAT) Awards, including Best Actor (Garrett Taketa as Lennie in \u201cOf Mice and Men,\u201d) Best Actress (Kate Johnson as Alice Murphy in \u201cBright Star\u201d) and Best Musical Ensemble for \u201cBright Star.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, it is arguably not the arts experience that makes Elm Street remarkable. It is the \u201cpeople experience\u201d \u2014 the good will and friendships forged every day between people, often wildly different from one another, who work together, shoulder to shoulder, to create beautiful works of art.<\/p>\n

Elm Street\u2019s most important creation is community.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Ann Litrel, a local artist and serves on the Elm Street board of directors. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Mother of Four Restores Passion for Life at the Tech Booth<\/strong>
\n\u201cThere is something about doing light design that just filled me up \u2014 even my husband noticed how happy I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beth, a social worker and mother of four, relates that sometimes she felt \u201call used up.\u201d She decided to try something new: She met with Elm Street staff, who, learning of her production background, suggested light design. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize I have an eye for lighting, but Brian Gamel [Elm Street production manager] has literally been my mentor, walking beside me the whole time. Now, I\u2019ve designed five or six shows. The first show I worked on was \u201cBlack Comedy,\u201d and we got a MAT Award!<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are amazing people at Elm Street. I\u2019ve always felt encouraged and supported \u2026 I feel like I\u2019m fully living my life!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Artist Fights MS Diagnosis With Painting\"\"<\/h3>\n

\u201cPainting woke me up to creativity and gave me a new purpose in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbara was working as an art director for Matria Healthcare of Marietta when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2000. By 2004, her MS was full-blown, and she was put on disability. \u201cMy whole career was gone. I was in a really bad place. I was battling severe depression. I felt like my life was over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbara describes herself as \u201cwandering around Woodstock\u2019s streets aimlessly\u201d when she saw a flyer for a painting class taught by artist Deborah Tidwell. \u201cI hadn\u2019t painted in 35 years. And I thought, \u2018Maybe this could help.\u2019\u201d Barbara began to paint under Debbie\u2019s mentorship, working to master first the mechanical aspects and then the elements of color. \u201cI\u2019ve stayed with her classes through all these years and, not only have I learned to paint, I feel like I\u2019ve become part of the Elm Street family \u2014 and that means the world to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should really be in MS relapse by now \u2014 but I\u2019ve kept myself vital and busy. I think that\u2019s why I\u2019m still going strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Pastor Explores Improv and Brings It Into His Ministry<\/h3>\n

\u201cIn pastoral work, you can get into a bubble. Elm Street has given me a chance to be in a community where we may not all see eye to eye \u2026 but we work together for the joy of entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byron acted in high school productions, but it was not until his children expressed interest in theater that he became involved again as an adult. From there, Byron made his way into i-Think, the Improv Troupe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a pastor, I\u2019ve never had a problem standing up in front of people. But improv is a different skill set. You work without a net \u2014 and sometimes you fall flat. But it breaks down barriers! \u2026 I get outside my bubble with people I might not otherwise meet. I love the people that are there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Actor and Director Finds a Second Family for Her Children<\/h3>\n

\u201cAs in any coaching environment, you want the truth spoken to your children about how they can improve. But, at the same time, you want it to be constructive and encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allison, a veteran actor and director, explains, \u201cWhen my daughters are in a show, they are there sometimes 6, 8 hours at a time. But I trust [Elm Street staff] Siobhan, Christopher, Justin with my children \u2014 not just their [physical] well being. When a show is over, we call it \u201cThe Great Mourning\u201d at our house, because my daughters miss their theater family so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

The director for the summer musical, \u201dWizard of Oz,\u201d Allison describes the environment of Elm Street: \u201cWhat they were asking me to do was to reach for excellence, as a performer AND as a human being. \u2026 I asked the cast to be a family and for us to reach for the sky \u2026 and I think they created something truly beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Software Engineer Unlocks Creativity and Risk-Taking<\/h3>\n

\u201cLearning to design sets and helping others has had an effect on my work \u2014 risk-taking and creativity seem easier because of this outlet outside
\nmy day job.\u201d<\/p>\n

A software systems engineer, Brad waxes enthusiastic about the \u201chands-on\u201d experience of building sets and leading scenic design for the theater at night. \u201cSitting at the computer pays the bills, but making sawdust and building something is freeing. It\u2019s OK if it\u2019s not absolutely perfect \u2014 the process teaches you that you can make the imperfections part of the character of the sets.\u201d<\/p>\n

A talented actor, most recently appearing as King Arthur in \u201cSpamalot,\u201d Brad admits he never expected how much fun he would have mentoring others in set design. \u201cFor some people, learning to use a drill is a big thing!<\/p>\n

\u201cI got into scenic because I needed a release from regular life, but the irony is, I\u2019ve actually ended up applying it to real life at work. Having a place to let loose relieves stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cheaper than therapy \u2014 and a lot more fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<!–<\/p>\n

–>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unlocking a New Life and Passion Last year, Elm Street Cultural Arts Village brought 25,000 visitors to downtown Woodstock with its award-winning theater and outdoor concerts, and gave free performances for more than 11,000 Cherokee County school children. In the past three years, the organization has garnered 60 nominations and six wins at the Metro […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feature"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"aroundwoodstoc","author_link":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/author\/aroundwoodstoc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroundwoodstockmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}