Our arts community deserves a deafening applause for bringing to our community For Love of the Arts, a winter tourism event that is as much fun for the locals as it is for visitors. Jason Coleman and the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra’s performance last Saturday night was as good as it gets. Imagine my joy, as tourism director, to see a busload from a church in Phenix City pull up to Callaway Auditorium after a pre-concert dinner at a local restaurant.

Folks from Columbus and Newnan made the drive to see theLafayette Society for Performing Arts’ Hot l Baltimore , a hit with capacity crowds at the Black Box Theatre. The Taste of Storytelling at the LaGrange Memorial Library Sunday brought laughter that brightened even that dreary afternoon. I only wish more parents brought their children to this free event. Events like these are what make LaGrange such a super place to raise children.

If you missed last weekend’s stellar “For Love of the Arts” events, it’s not too late to see more. Hot l Baltimore (the play draws its name from the hotel’s neon marquee with a burned out letter “e) will be performed Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 2:30. Attendees may bring their own fare and beverages as the theater is set up “dinner theatre” style.

Huge photographs of Marilyn Monroe lounging in bed, Paul Newman with his brilliant blue eyes and the dashing Hugh Jackman are just some of the stars you will see featured in the work of Douglas Kirkland, Hollywood celebrity photographer, at the LaGrange Art Museum and Cochran Gallery. Champagne and chocolate will be served at the opening reception Friday night. The Lamar Dodd Art Center will have an opening earlier that night, too, featuring the intimate stage and footlight photography of Atlanta-based Motown photographer Jim Alexander. That exhibit is from 5-7 p.m.

Before you head to the museum openings Friday night, grab your favorite co-worker or pal and see the famous Douglas Kirkland as he gives an artist lecture at 11:15 am at the Dickson Assembly Room in Turner Hall on Valentine’s Day.

The Weddings and Brides of West Georgia exhibit at the Legacy Museum is delightful and completely free. Men’s tuxedos haven’t changed much in the past 100 plus years. And the photo of the wedding of Annie and Oliver Greene is so dear. A wedding tea will be served Saturday, February 16 from 2 -4 p.m. Check out forloveoftheartslagrange.com for more information on all these events.

The state of Georgia’s tourism division and Georgia Council for the Arts are so impressed with For Love of the Arts and its ability to attract tourists to LaGrange that it has provided seed money for the past two years. The event received $15,000 this year from the state. Please mark your calendars for the second weekend of February 2014. The third annual promises to be even better, which seems utterly impossible!

Laura Jennings

LaGrange-Troup County Tourism Director