Allied Arts opened its Haunted Milledgeville exhibit last week in the Marlor House. This year’s exhibit has expanded to encompass three rooms in the house.
The exhibit showcases a variety of mediums telling the history of Milledgeville. From the Crimes of Marion Stembridge to an area depicting Dixie Haygood, commonly referred to as Little Miss Georgia Magnet, visitors can learn a bit more about the darker history of Milledgeville and Baldwin County.
“This year we got a larger number of submissions, including more Halloweenthemed pieces,” said Kristin Allen, program director of Allied Arts. “Our exhibit is featured in two of our main rooms and in one of our backrooms. As part of the exhibit, we will have booklets available for visitors to read about the history and have a better understanding of what our artists captured.”
The exhibit features photography, paintings, graphic art, handmade creations, and more. Many artists from last year's exhibit returned this year with new pieces, like Edward Burnam, who submitted “Escape from the mortuary with ‘Courage” depicting a mortuary as it would appear in the television cartoon Courage the Cowardly Dog. Last year his submission transformed Central State Hospital into a location in Scooby Doo Where are You?
“This is one of our most thought provoking and inspirational exhibits with very few guidelines. We intentionally leave the exhibit theme open so that artists can explore the medium and topic of their choice. Whether it be transforming places we know into beloved cartoons or memorializing an event in our history through a photo or painting, the voices of our artists shine through the story they are trying to tell,” said Allen.
This year’s exhibit also features more cameos from Halloween-themed movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Alice and Wonderland. It adds a pop of color to the ghastly images and callbacks to darker, historic moments.
“We highly recommend everyone to take a moment this month and view the exhibit. So much thought and time was put into each submission and it’s amazing to see how much it grew over a single year,” said Allen.
Allen also stated that she hopes for the exhibit to continue to grow and gain enough popularity and submissions that it can transform.
“I would love to one day host a haunted house or bigger Halloween attraction for Baldwin County to enjoy. The best way for us to reach that goal is to have the community support what we are able to host now,” said Allen.
The exhibit runs through Oct. 31 and the reception will be Oct. 11 from 6-8 p.m. at the Marlor House.