Arts

artsThe soul and character of a city are painted in a broad-brush stroke by its arts and culture. Arts and culture define a city, painting with a broad brush the soul and character of the place. Birmingham loves both the arts and the individual artist - from the best selling authors such as Robert McCammon and James Redfield to visual artists like Thornton Dial and Frank Flemming - and successful art groups in every discipline call the city home.

The city boasts a vibrant arts and cultural scene that is dicers and growing, and a big reason why Birmingham was named America's most livable city by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Below are links to more information about some of Birmingham's offerings of the arts.

Theater

  • Alabama Theatre for the Performing Arts - The Alabama Theater first opened its doors in 1927. Of America's 5,300 original movie and entertainment palaces, only 189 remain. After closing its doors in 1982, the Alabama Theatre reopened in 1987 when Birmingham's community spirit refused to let the theater be demolished. The theater offers classic films and live performances, and is host to various musical concerts.
  • Birmingham Broadway Series - Organized to bring a Broadway series of quality touring shows to the city, the Birmingham Broadway Series opened its first season in 1991. The series brings top name star and Broadway's best shows to Birmingham.
  • Birmingham Children's Theater - The Birmingham Children's Theater is Alabama's oldest and the nation's largest professional adult theater performing specifically for young audiences. The company frequently tours throughout the country.
  • Birmingham Festival Theater - Birmingham Festival Theater has operated since May 1972. New scripts by local and nationally recognized playwrights, classics, musical revues, comedies, contemporary dramas, and light operas are the typical fare of this community theater group.
  • Hoover Library Theater - Pushing the envelope of what a library can mean to a community, the Hoover Library operates a well-respected community theater program.
  • Red Mountain Theatre Company - Formerly Summerfest Musical Theatre, it is one of Alabama’s only year-round professional musical theatre organizations, bringing both well-known national performers and local talent to the Birmingham stage.
  • Terrific New Theatre - Founded in 1986, the TNT is a full season of productions from musicals to short plays. On Thursday's, you pay what you can, unless it's opening night.

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Performing Arts

  • Academy of Fine Arts - Incorporated in 1986, the Academy of Fine Arts helps meet the need to maintain, enhance and perpetuate the arts in the Black community. It organizes and sponsors art shows and performances featuring black artists, many having ties to Alabama. (320-0888)
  • The Alabama School of Fine Arts - The Alabama School of Fine Arts offers talented young people, grades 7-12, the opportunity to study creative writing, dance, music, theatre arts or visual arts. A state-supported program, there is no tuition for Alabama residents. The school is very much a part of the Birmingham arts community and often co-sponsors productions and programs with local arts organizations.
  • Alys Stephens Center - With its beautiful main concert hall to its theatres and other performance spaces, the Stephens Center is a jewel in the crown of Birmingham's arts spaces.
  • Birmingham Public Library - Birmingham's Public Library not only provides reference books in art and music but loans an extensive collection of videotapes, compact discs and cassettes. The library works closely with virtually every arts group in making available reference material pertaining to special exhibitions, performances and events.
  • Colleges and Universities - Birmingham-Southern College (226-4600), Jefferson State Community College (853-1200), Miles College (929-1000), Samford University (870-2011), the University of Montevallo (665-6000, and UAB (934-4011) have fine arts and theatre departments that are integral parts of the city's cultural scene.

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Dance

  • Alabama Ballet - The state's professional ballet company stages four major performances annually, including The Nutcracker at Christmas.
  • Children's Dance Foundation - Children's Dance Foundation was established in 1975 to provide "movement to music" as a medium for the development of the whole child. The CDF soon broadened its outreach to include the physically challenged and at-risk populations.
  • Southern Danceworks - Southern Danceworks is Alabama's only professional modern dance company. It is active in the community with an extensive outreach program. Using local artists, as well as bringing in nationally known guest artists, SDW performances and programs offer something strikingly different by bringing together talent and innovation.

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Art / Museums

  • Alabama Designer/Craftsmen - The Alabama Designer/Craftsmen is an organization open to all persons in Alabama interested in the promotion, production and preservation of crafts, both traditional and contemporary. ( 856-1838)
  • Artwalk - Free to the public, Artwalk attracts more than 10,000 people to downtown Birmingham. Twelve city blocks from 2nd Avenue North to 2nd Avenue South between 22nd and 25th Streets are transformed into a vibrant arts district with more than 100 visual artists within the first floor retail and loft space. Plus musicians, street performers, food and drink vendors and a great old-fashioned trolley to ride around the neighborhood.
  • Birmingham Art Association - The Birmingham Art Association was founded in 1907. Its stated purposes are…"to create, develop and guide and maintain a strong, permanent appreciation and acceptance of high artistic and cultural standards in the Birmingham area."
  • Birmingham Museum of Art - The Birmingham Museum of Art opened in 1951 and has grown to become the largest municipal museum in the Southeast. Among the museum's strongest collections: American Arts, Oriental Art and eighteenth century decorative arts which include one of the world's finest collections of Wedgwood and French furniture and porcelains.
  • Bluff Park Art Show - One of the finest outdoor juried shows in the Southeast, the Bluff Park Art Show is held each October in Hoover drawing large, enthusiastic crowds.
  • Magic City Art Connection - Magic City Art Connection is recognized as a major outdoor juried art exhibition and spring festival. Centered on the fine arts and crafts of the city, state and region, it focuses attention on emerging artists and the advancement of contemporary art and artists. The Imagination Festival, which runs concurrently, is an arts festival for children.
  • Metropolitan Arts Council - Formed in 1986, MAC spearheads the effort to increase and broaden financial support for the arts community. It not only serves as an advocate for the arts but it is also a promotional agency for the wide variety of arts groups now active in the metropolitan area. It provides assistance with administrative services and scheduling.
  • Times Eight - A goal of the organization is to provide a format for viewing and promoting the work of a large number of serious artists producing contemporary works in Birmingham. Times Eight sponsors an annual exhibition. (592-9322)
  • Very Special Arts-Alabama - Based in Birmingham, Very Special Arts-Alabama is a statewide, non-profit organization founded to enable the handicapped to participate in arts programs.

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Festivals

  • Birmingham International Festival - The Birmingham International Festival is a celebration of the arts, culture, education and business of an honored country (Native Americans in 2000). Each spring the sights, sound and fascinating facets of a particular culture are introduced to Birmingham and its citizens. In 1951, the Women's Committee of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra initiated this celebration of the arts, which has evolved into the country's oldest continuing arts festival of its kind.
  • Birmingham International Education Film Festival - Each year since 1972, the BIEFF has recognized significant efforts in the field of educational film making. The festival has evolved into a major event, but its goals have remained the same: to recognize films and videotapes that are interesting, cinematically appealing and educational, and to encourage the production of films and videotapes by students.
  • City Stages - City Stages brings more than 250,000 people downtown for a three-day festival each June in Birmingham's City Center. It celebrates Alabama's diverse musical and artistic heritage with jazz, pop, country, rock, blues, classical and bluegrass music performed by both professional and amateur musicians. City Stages highlights the folk life, art, literature and culinary talents of Birmingham and Alabama citizens.
  • Sidewalk Film Festival - The festival made its debut in 1999 for filmmakers across the world to screen their independent work in Birmingham.

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Music

  • Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame -The art deco Carver Theater is home to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, which features regular performances by the famed Birmingham Heritage Band as well as touring jazz artists of national repute, and fascinating exhibitions and artifacts from the storied history of jazz in Birmingham.
  • Alabama Symphony - An extraordinary orchestra, reborn in 1997, the Alabama Symphony performs exciting and ambitious seasons of classical and pops each year.
  • Birmingham Chamber Music Society - The Birmingham Chamber Music Society was organized in 1937 to provide local musicians with opportunities to perform in small ensembles. Today this group presents four or five chamber music events each year.
  • Birmingham Children's Choir - The Birmingham Children's Choir, founded in January 1998, is a choral music training program for girls and boys in grades 2-8. The program features three choirs whose members are selected by audition.
  • Birmingham Music Club - Alabama's oldest cultural organization, the Birmingham Music Club, has presented the world's most outstanding performing artists since 1905. Each year, the club brings world class musicians and performing arts groups to city audiences. The club is also actively involved in the education of tomorrow's musicians. Its Scholarship Auditions provide thousands of dollars in scholarship aid each year to music students in Alabama's accredited college and university music departments.
  • Opera Birmingham - This organization returned to the stage in 1999 with three full-scale productions a year. Opera Birmingham has held an Annual Vocal Competition that fosters opera education and has served as a stepping-stone in the careers of two generations of opera singers.
  • Red Mountain Chamber Orchestra - A community group that specializes in chamber music performances.
  • WBHM Radio 90.3 FM - National Public Radio broadcast as a service of UAB features classical music, NPR programming, and the Alabama Radio Reading Service for the visually impaired.

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