Piedmont Arts is a not-for-profit corporation serving the City of Martinsville, Henry County Virginia and the surrounding region. Piedmont Arts was formed in 1961 and incorporated in 1976 by a group of art enthusiasts to become a chapter member of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. We believe that art enhances the quality of life. Therefore, the mission of Piedmont Arts is to provide experiences in the visual and performing arts to enrich and enlighten the lives of the people of Martinsville, Henry County, and neighboring areas.

Through all of our activities, we strive to bring the arts close to home. Piedmont Arts’ programming may be divided into three general categories: Exhibitions, Performing Arts, and Educational Outreach. Educational outreach is a major component in Piedmont Arts’ mission. Piedmont Arts assists other area arts groups (Community Partners) including the Lynwood Artists (area art league), Virginia Foothills Quilters Guild, Piedmont Writers’ Guild, Piedmont Music Teachers Association, TheatreWorks, For Art’s Sake, and the Piedmont Literacy Group. Piedmont Arts is a member of the American Association of Museums, the Virginia Association of Museums, and the Virginians for the Arts and is a Museum Partner of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Open 292 days per year, 8 full-time staff and 2 part-time staff support the activities of Piedmont Arts.

What We Do:

We strive to cultivate an appreciation for the arts both in our physical facility and in the community through exhibits, live performances, and educational programs for children and adults.  Additionally, Piedmont Arts invites participation in the arts with display, marketing, and performance opportunities available for artists and craftsmen.  Piedmont Arts offers programming in both the visual and performing arts that targets a broad range of ages, interests and backgrounds. We serve the entire Martinsville-Henry County community, all ages, genders, races and income levels through yearlong free exhibit programming.

The Piedmont Arts facility includes five galleries containing exhibitions that rotate 6-8 times a year, a classroom/studio, a multipurpose room available for rent by members, an in-house caterer, a Discovery Room for children, a multimedia room and a reference library. Of the five exhibition galleries, three spaces are devoted to touring exhibits of regional and national scope. A fourth gallery is designated for exhibitions of the Lynwood Artists, a Piedmont Arts Community Partner and locally-based art league which draws its membership and exhibiting artists from the Piedmont region. The fifth gallery, the Young Artists Gallery, is reserved during the school year for students from area schools and is managed by the Charity League of Martinsville and Henry County.

In 2007-2008, Piedmont Art’s galleries had visitors from 42 states and eight foreign countries. Additionally, in partnership with Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County, Piedmont Arts has developed a Satellite Gallery in the hospital’s entrance space, which features four exhibitions annually. This partnership gives many who may never have been to Piedmont Arts' facility the opportunity to participate in Piedmont Arts programming.