When we reflect on the work of the Fox Theatre Institute (FTI), we cannot help but beam with pride. Twelve years ago, we set out to partner with theaters and communities across Georgia to help preserve history, support arts and culture, and create spaces where communities could gather and enrich their hearts and souls. Our efforts have been well rewarded and, today, we are delighted that our efforts are contributing to the vibrancy of communities across the southeast, one theater at a time.

In 2008, acknowledging its storied history in saving and renovating its own facility, the Fox Theater founded FTI to offer its assistance in rehabilitating and operating Georgia’s historic theatres. Over the last 12 years, FTI has nurtured the growth of a dynamic outreach program which now extends across the southeast—providing historic preservation grants, technical assistance, professional development, and a statewide booking consortium to community theaters. As a result, we have seen first-hand how arts investment can stimulate local economies, help reinvigorate local communities, expand arts and culture and promote historic preservation in real time.

Through our Preservation Grant program, FTI has awarded more than $1.6 million to historic theatres across the state of Georgia, with recent expansion into Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The historic gems we have helped are thriving and the cultural programs housed within them are helping to catalyze revitalization of their respective communities.

Our education programs, Fox in a Box and Fox at the Fox, are designed to share and inspire an appreciation for our founding mission—“serve as a catalyst for positive change in the community”. These programs teach elementary school students about the Fox Theatre, relating its story to the history curriculum offered in their classrooms. Across the historical spectrum, from the Great Depression to the Civil Rights Movement, our programs challenge elementary school students to think about how communities can come together to share experiences, ideas, and cultures, and to preserve a shared history. In 2019, we expanded our Fox in a Box program to include a traveling exhibit to Georgia public libraries. Today, the Fox Theatre message is delivered, well beyond the metro-Atlanta area, in Georgia’s 159 counties.

Through Georgia Presenters, FTI provides a vehicle for collective programming. Artists, theatres, and communities are able to work together to leverage limited fiscal resources to present artistic programming and expand cultural opportunities for their communities. The Georgia Presenter’s network spans the entire state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the coastal shorelines. We are proud to support 50 organizations in performing arts.

As we look to the future, we hope this next decade will witness further expansion and that our larger Fox Theatre mission to “preserve and share” will unfold with even greater success. We are proud of our work, and proud of the partnerships that make it happen. We believe that when we work with historic theatres- our story is your story. We look forward to another decade of creating community, promoting art and preserving our history—together.