Georgia Theatre Conference Archive Opens at VSU

VALDOSTA - Valdosta State University’s Odum Library will host the opening for the Georgia Theatre Conference archive beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, May 11, and ending at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 12. The event is named “Telling Our Stories: Archiving, Describing and Creating Theatre in Georgia.”

The opening will span two days with various presentations, speakers, a Friday night reception and lunch on Saturday. Presentation topics include Theatre for people with disabilities, military life, plantation life, Asian Wedding Traditions and more. Portions of the event will be held in both the Odum Library and Sawyer Theatre in VSU’s Fine Arts building. The highlight of the two-day event will be the introduction to the archives and a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday on the fourth floor of the Odum Library. Past GTC presidents will be present in honor of the ceremony.

The GTC began informally in 1965 and was granted non-profit status in 1971. It seeks to encourage and coordinate a close relationship among the community, educational and professional theatres in Georgia; maintain quality in both live theatre and theatre education.

Funded in part by a grant from the Georgia Humanities Council, the GTC collection features photographs, programs, newsletters, membership information, financial statements and much more. All artifacts represent the extensive history of the GTC. The collection is on permanent loan to VSU Archives and Special Collections, which has created an online finding aid at www.valdosta.edu/library/find/arch/gtc/index.html, which will be available this weekend.