Family - the Word with
Heather René Dunaway
September 2025
Hi again! Not to toot our own horn but… toot toot!
We are heavy in festival mode right now in the Arts Council office. That means boxes stacked in all of our offices, hallways, copy room and conference room, lots of tasks that still need to be done, phone calls every minute asking questions about the festival – yes, even some asking if they can still be an arts vendor. It’s a little nuts and we all go home dog tired every night.
For me, it’s all worth it to see all the happy little kids playing in the bubbles, taking a photo with their favorite Disney princess or hero, foam sword fighting, or coloring their own portrait in their Cultural Arts and Crafts Passport. I get the fun task of creating core arts memories for kids. Which is kind of full circle for me, because my earliest Arts in the Heart memory was a 90s-dirt-lot memory of walking through the festival with my mom and making a macaroni art piece in a random tent. I think my mom still has that inedible macaroni on construction paper somewhere.
This year’s Family Area has a lot more Non-Profits. Which is amazing. Highlighting all the hard work that these organizations do with local children and helping to put them in front of the families they serve is truly heart warming. Seeing them excited about the crafts they are putting together for the kiddos gets me excited.
Another thing that amazes me about this festival is the Family drive behind it. I’m working the Family Area with my Family Area Family – Jeremy, Erica and Cheronda (Nancy has earned your YAM retirement), but the festival has a bigger, extended chosen family. A group of individuals who come together each year and are striving to make each festival the best yet. All for the community. Many of whom are volunteering their time, talents, and endless energy to do so. Oftentimes, it’s not just our staff, board and annual volunteers that make this thing happen – it’s also our own friends and family members who get in on the action.
Case in point, Jeremy and I’s dear friend Joey joined us on the Family Stage as Pete the Parksosaurus to do Pictionary for prizes. He couldn’t see too well out of the inflatable costume, so Jeremy had to help him with is giant pencil and sketch pad. But after he was birthed back out of the costume at the end, he was sweaty but also happy to have had some fun with our littlest arts patrons.
It’s the same with the rest of our team. Zoe’s mom and grandmother are coming down, Denise has friends in all the main volunteer areas, Bryce… Well Bryce was essentially first roped in by his mom to volunteer, so now he works here recruiting all the volunteers for the festival with our Fall Intern, Hannah.
I’m not joking when I tell folks that we start planning Arts in the Heart the day after Arts in the Heart. It’s a ton of stress for our office of 4 (5 plus Hannah), and the small but mighty committee to organize this festival before hand. Heck, even during the festival it can get pretty crazy. Usually, by Saturday morning, we are in the swing and having a good time. We’ve caught our second wind and the days seem to fly by.
So, if you want to join our rag tag team of crazy people who just want to make art happen in Augusta, come volunteer with us. Or, if you wanna see how the festival operates from the inside to gain perspective, come volunteer with us. Heck, we might even be looking to recruit committee members next year, with a lot of our team ready to retire after decades of work. Having some fresh and funky ideas for future festivals is what keeps this 40+ year old festival growing and glowing. Join the AITH fam and step up for your community.
That’s several words for you. Now back to assembling giant shade umbrellas.
-Heather
