HANNIBAL SQUARE HERITAGE CENTER

A YEAR IN REVIEW

WINTER PARK, FL — The City of Winter Park and Crealdé School of Art are proud to announce the successful completion of the first year at the Hannibal Square Heritage Center. The center opened on April 28, 2007 after several years of conversation, planning, and community rallying. The grand opening celebration was attended by over 400 people and featured jazz music by Jackie Jones and a community painting project with renowned Plant City folk artist Ruby Williams. Over the past year, the center has hosted a dozen events, including the Winter Park Collects Folk Art Gala event, opening receptions for the Mr. Imagination and Hannibal Square Portrait art exhibitions, as well as numerous open houses and community receptions. During the year, visitation grew to over 400 visitors per month at the center for the following Crealdé programs:

Phase IV of the Heritage Collection was unveiled after a 7th Community Day where residents could share their family photographs and give recorded oral histories to Crealdé’s Heritage Collection team. A dozen classes from Crealdé’s curriculum are held at the Heritage Center including digital photography, business development for artists, creative water media, plein-air painting, and children’s classes.
The Winter Park Collects Folk Art Gala featured an exhibition of work from the collections of Winter Park residents. The Gala featured the music of Ruth King and was catered by Whole Foods Market, Crealdé’s food sponsor for the Heritage Center.
Crealdé hosted its first two-venue exhibition, The World of Mr. Imagination, with Smithsonian Institution collected folk artist Mr. Imagination. The night after the exhibition opening, Mr. Imagination’s Pennsylvania home burned to the ground. In spite of this tragedy, Mr. I was able to return to Crealdé in February to complete his two-week residency working with community members and area school children on a collaborative public art project The Hannibal Square Memory Wall.
The What Heritage Means to Me field trip program hosted children from Central Florida elementary and middle schools during the Mr. Imagination Memory Wall workshop to tour the center and consider heritage from a new perspective through interaction with the Heritage Collection and the Memory Wall.
The Heritage Center became the first Winter Park organization to receive a Tourism Development Grant from Orange County. The $40,000 grant has been used to establish partnerships statewide including the Florida Museum of History, and to publicize the Heritage Center to bring new visitors to Winter Park.
The Community Foundation of Central Florida awarded Crealdé School of Art $22,400 to fund a digital photography classroom at the Heritage Center.

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Hours of Operation: for viewing and docent tours of the Heritage Collection and traveling exhibitions, access to Family History Program.
The Heritage Center is staffed by a Docent Manager who is responsible for facilitating tours of the collection, the training of volunteer docents,
sales of artwork and other gift items, and security.

Tuesday - Thursday 12:00–4:00 p.m., Friday 12:00–5:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00–2:00 p.m.

Directions: The Heritage Center is located at 642 W. New England Avenue in Winter Park, across from the Community Center.
From I-4, take the Fairbanks exit and go towards Winter Park; turn left at Park Avenue (by Rollins College) and left on New England.
From Semoran/436, go down Aloma towards Winter Park, turn right on Park Avenue and left on New England.

 
Mission Statement for the Hannibal Square Heritage Center The mission of the center is to inspire residents and visitors alike to participate in and celebrate their own community’s history. Through learning about the story and contributions of the West Winter Park community, residents young and old have the opportunity to reconnect and learn about their own neighborhood’s history, and people from everywhere, not just Central Florida or Winter Park, will be moved to explore their own.

In partnership with the community and the City of Winter Park’s Community Redevelopment Agency, Crealdé School of Art operates the Heritage Center under a 30-year lease as a tribute to the past, present and future contributions of Winter Park’s African American community. Through innovative programming in the arts and humanities, The Heritage Center is a neighborhood focal point, archive, and home to the Heritage Collection: Photographs and Oral Histories of West Winter Park. Staffed by a life-long community ember supported by resident docents, the center hosts art classes for children, adults, and seniors, traveling exhibitions, family history research and cultural programs with a focus on local history, cultural preservation, and southern folklore offered in partnership with area academic institutions and other not-for-profit organizations.

Crealdé School of Art is a community based not-for-profit arts organization established in 1975. It features a year-round curriculum of over 80 visual arts classes for students of all ages, exhibitions, a sculpture garden, and award-winning outreach programs. For more information on events or classes, please call (407) 671-1886 or visit our web site at www.crealde.org.