Portraits dedicated at Johnson Center for the Arts

Huck Treadwell | The Messenger
The members of the Johnson family at the dedication ceremony were, from left, Manley and Mary Johnson and Jo Harville.

On Sunday afternoon, the Johnson Center for the Arts honored people who were instrumental in its founding.

The late Mack Gibson and Holman and Ethel Johnson were honored with the dedication of portraits that will hang in the Holman and Ethel Johnson Center for the Arts.

The Johnson and Gibson families were instrumental in the establishment of the center giving their time, talents and treasures from the inception of their dream of an arts center for the people of the City of Troy and Pike County until today.

Andrea Pack, director of the Johnson Center for the Arts, said the portrait of Gibson was painted by Mack Moseley and the portrait of Holman and Ethel Johnson is the work Ruth Walker.

There was a standing room only crowd for the dedication ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

Al Head, a Troy native that served 33 years on the Alabama State Council on the Arts, spoke briefly at the ceremony.

Head also said that in his years on the State Council on the Arts, people often asked him what made communities thrive. Head said he often told people that communities thrived because of people that were dedicated to and involved in the community.

“All of you here today, have stories about Mack Gibson and Holman and Ethel Johnson,” Head said. “What’s your story?’ is something we all need to ask ourselves. As we stand here today, this building is one of the best Mack Gibson and Holman and Ethel Johnson Stories we can tell.”

Manley Johnson, the Johnson’s son, said his father photographed the people in Troy and Pike County his whole life. But, he also enjoyed photographing old buildings and was interested in historical preservation.

“I don’t know how many times he photographed this building,” Manley Johnson said. “But, it would have delighted him that the purpose of this building is an arts center and that the building was saved.”

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