PLANT CITY, Fla. — The arts are super important to this community and the Plant City Arts Council knows the perfect way to get people involved.
For instance, take a quick walk around downtown this month and you'll notice some people frozen in time.
The sculptures are temporary, hand-picked and brought to the area every year. It's a welcome sight for visitors and locals.
"We change them out every year, we typically have 10. This year, because the cost of everything went up, we could only actually afford to bring seven. So we brought seven that had never been here before. Then we have our popular ones, a few that have reappeared for an example, Marilyn Monroe. She's been here a couple of years, and she's not here this year. But the good thing about, you know, the fact that all of these are new, everyone's anxious to come and see them. And we have out-of-state guests that come in, you know, during the year, and some of them will stay around long enough that they can see the sculptures before they leave to get back home," explained Marsha Passmore, President of the Plant City Arts Council.
The sculptures are just one example of the activities that the Arts Council plans all year long.
Passmore said, "Well, you know, everybody can't afford to go to a venue where you have to pay money. And what we feel and are so proud that we can do is actually promote it, you know, where everybody can afford it. And that's why this open-air exhibit is so important to us."
They do an annual tour of homes called Home for the Holidays and a chili cook-off to support the culinary arts.
The Arts Council also wants to support further education by giving away four $1,000 scholarships every year.
Click here to read more about their efforts in the community.
