Creativity is one of the many features that make Clayton County great. Venture out to the community’s music, theatre, art, and event venues and experience the best way to explore the artistic side of Clayton County.
Arts Clayton
Arts Clayton is a dynamic leader in arts programming with professional-caliber exhibits and a commitment to arts education. The Arts Clayton Gallery in downtown Jonesboro is the south metro’s only nonprofit community art facility, showcasing a wide variety of Georgia artists. The year-round schedule of exhibits includes juried competitions, college and student exhibits, and national touring exhibitions. The annual holiday shopping bazaar features a wide variety of Master Crafts and Georgia Made artisan food products. The Gallery is open free to the public.
Community Concerts & Events
Several cities within Clayton County host community concert series and events throughout the year. These free or low-cost events are opportunities for community members to share in their appreciation for the arts. Many are outdoors during warmer months, allowing attendees to enjoy the area’s bountiful park facilities and great weather. Community entertainment venues include amphitheaters operated by the cities of Forest Park, Jonesboro, and Riverdale.
Clayton County Public Schools
The Clayton County Public Schools operates the Performing Arts Center (PAC) which serves as a community entertainment complex. The PAC provides a stage to meet the needs of the schools and provides a venue for performance of our fine arts students. The PAC boasts a seating capacity of 1,800, a 6,000 square-foot auditorium stage, an electrically operated orchestra pit, two performance rooms, and professionally enhanced sound and lighting. The facility supports the Martha Ellen Stilwell School of the Arts and the district’s Fine Arts Magnet program, as well as other area performing arts organizations that book the facility’s performance space.
Clayton State University
Known as the “Carnegie Hall of the South,” Clayton State University’s elegant, 400-seat Spivey Hall, is the heart of Clayton County’s arts community. Since 1991, Spivey Hall has presented the best in jazz and classical music to Clayton County and the entire metro Atlanta area. Its renowned Concert Series receives regular national and international attention as one of America’s finest, and the Hall’s acoustics and design are routinely lauded by patrons, pundits, and performers. The visual centerpiece of Spivey’s breathtaking design is the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Pipe Organ, a 79-rank, 3-manual, 4,413-pipe organ, built and installed by Fratelli Ruffatti of Padua, Italy. For more information and upcoming events, click here.
Clayton State University also supports the Crescent Theatre, which offers student performances that provide a hands-on approach to the craft, with training in acting and singing, dance, solo performance, and technical design. Productions feature talented students and professional production values, staged and designed by high-caliber artists who are professionals in the industry.