Art fans to explore downtown in art hunt, The 567 celebrates 15 years

It’s time for Macon’s favorite art game.

Ready to play?

The 567 Center for Renewal’s Great Art Hunt is this weekend. Each year, individual and team participants are given clues to find public outdoor art for a chance to win prizes and have fun while locating Macon art treasures.

As The 567’s only fundraiser, participants also help The 567 in its mission to foster cultural life and creative community
downtown.

“The Great Art Hunt is a fun way for people to look at art in a new way and explore downtown Macon at the same time,” said Melissa Macker, The 567’s executive director. “Instead of looking at art inside a gallery, the clues take you on an outside hunt around downtown to find art that we pass by every day; sometimes art that becomes hidden in plain sight. People who like trivia love it. Some clues require you to figure out who the famous person is who’s featured in the art and other clues have to do with the work itself or its location, things like that. It’s a little like playing ‘Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?’”

This is the hunt’s sixth year and each year it gets bigger with more and more outdoor public art – like sculptures, murals and other works – being added in Macon and more works being added to the hunt itself.

“I did a quick, unofficial count and in the main part of downtown there are more than 50 pieces of public art,” Macker said. “And this year, there are more pieces on our hunt map than ever before. Public art is important for growing a sense of identity and place. What we have is unique to us and part of what distinguishes Macon from other places. It’s been shown that it’s part of what connects people to Macon and makes them want to stay here or come here in the first place. Of course, it also draws tourists. People take a lot of pictures and selfies in front of the art that’s been added to our city streets and walls. There can be a surprise around every corner.”

Public art in Macon often capitalizes on its rich music history, but that’s not the only subject matter by a long shot.

Great Art Hunt facts

Registration for the Great Art Hunt is open to anyone and primarily done online with links and information at The 567’s site, but here are some of the hunt facts from the organization:

Participation runs from $40 for an individual to $145 for a team of six. 

If you successfully finish the hunt, you and your team could win a Great Art Hunt Macon Weekend Prize Package with the grand prize including:

• A two-night stay at Hotel Forty Five
• Dinner at Downtown Grill
• Coffee from Taste & See Coffee Shop & Gallery
• Tickets for the Macon Mercer Symphony Orchestra at the Grand Opera House 
• A gift certificate for an art workshop or experience at The 567 Center 
•  Great Art Hunt T-shirts
•  A candle from 7th Street Salvage

The real payoff, though, is the fun of doing the art hunt itself, and thankfully, weather predictors are saying things should be cooling off by the weekend with few or no rain chances. But showers or not, you do have days to complete the hunt if needed. Done all at once, it should take an average of only four hours.

Here are some key participation-specific facts. You can sign up through Friday, but all participants must pick up their maps, clue sheets and other materials at The 567 by Friday from 5-8 p.m., so you have to register before then to get in on the hunt.

The 567 is located at 456 First St.

To verify that you or your team has solved a clue and found an artwork, you take a team photo with it and email it to The 567. If you find all 30 hunt locations, all team members are entered into the grand prize drawing.

On Saturday only, you might also find additional small pieces of art to keep as mini prizes. At any rate, you’ll be getting to keep your hunt tote bag and T-shirt, so there’s that.

To be eligible for the grand prize drawing, the hunt must be completed and emails sent in by Monday, 8 p.m. Children 10 and under can take part for free with registered participants, though child registration doesn’t include a tote bag.

“Another great part of the hunt, besides getting to hang out with friends and seeing all the incredible art, is being downtown, which is full of unique shops, amazing restaurants, historic architecture and beautiful green spaces,” Macker said. “You can take the time to grab a bite, do some shopping and enjoy exploring. Whether you live in Macon or are visiting, you can enjoy all the downtown nooks and crannies. And you can do the hunt by car, foot, bicycle – whatever you choose.”

The 567 celebrates 15 years

The 567 Center for Renewal got its start at 567 Cherry St., hence the original 567 in the name.

But how about renewal?

“Back when we started, there was very little going on downtown,” Macker said. “It was mostly empty with nothing open on Mondays and very little on Sundays. Renewal was part of the name because the idea was to create something to help renew business and cultural life downtown through music, art and business. At first, we were more of a music venue that added art by local artists to our walls. We were also a business incubator and cooperative workspace to help fledgling businesses get a start downtown. We changed to a more strictly art-focused approach when others began doing more music downtown and others were doing such a great job helping those wanting to start a downtown business. But we did a lot of things there on Cherry Street.”

The 567 was originally begun by New City Church as a way to connect with, serve and be of benefit to the community. New City Church had been conducting services at the then-Cox Capitol Theater since 2008 and used part of the 567 space for children’s activities.

When the other components were added, The 567 was a success and became its own 501(c)(3) and continued to operate as a gallery and location for a variety of art classes from painting to pottery and more.

It was in 2016 that The 567 bought and moved into the building it’s now in on First Street, continuing its mission to be “a community space for entrepreneurs, artists, and musicians who will bring a collaboratively creative life to downtown Macon and surrounding areas through events, classes and business development.”

First Friday is this week

The 567 provides information each First Friday about the First Friday Art Crawl as a Facebook events page, while NewTown Macon presents an overall view.

Check them out for a fairly complete listing of all that’s going on at galleries, in shops, restaurants and music venues.

But since we’re talking about The 567 this week, note that its reception for a new August show called “Form & Function” is Friday from 5-8 p.m. Macker said the show is an exhibit of 3D glass art, pottery, sculpture and more. See the exhibit, have light refreshments and meet many of the 16 different artists involved. 

Also, while at The 567, take advantage of running next door to The Green Light Gallery for what will be its last Friday event before closing its doors for good and shifting to online and other art sales.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him at @michael_w_pannell on Instagram.