Franklin County Arts Council provides 40 years of entertainment

About 40 years ago, a visit by a guest artist sparked the idea to form the Franklin County Arts Council.
Joyce Blum, a school board member at the time, said she had a conversation with a guest performer who visited the school in the 1970s about the importance of fine arts in the community. At that time, the Iowa Arts Council was sending various artists, who ranged from potters to vocalists, to schools across the state. Blum thought that a more localized effort would benefit not only the kids, but the community as well.
“I thought, ‘What a bonus for our little town to have access not just for the school, but for other people interested,’” she said.
Meetings at the public library with a handful of people soon turned into the Franklin County Arts Council, which held its first performance in 1976.
Today, that inspiration continues to manifest itself in the forms of plays, concerts and everything in between as the Arts Council offers a variety of performances year round.
Read the full story in the January 3 edition.