Anniversary of loved one’s death a time for healing

The annual juried exhibition, one of the region’s largest showcases of visual art, features approximately 46 artists and nearly 90 works spanning painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and mixed media.

From the street, strands of purple ribbon wind around the white columns of the historic theater, hinting at the story waiting beyond its doors. Inside the foyer, a carefully curated slideshow flickers across a large screen, cycling through the faces of the cast. Some are seasoned performers. Others are stepping onto a stage for the very first time. Teachers stand alongside former students. Parents perform beside their children. People who worship in different churches, work different jobs and come from different corners of Southwest Georgia gather beneath the same lights to tell the same story.

Telling a family their child died in combat is something no one wants to do, but someone has to. Christopher Murphy described his service as a Casualty Assistance Calls Office as miserable but vital.