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Jessica Allen Polsky was recently named the new executive director of the Firehouse Arts Center, replacing Leigh Parsons.

Polsky was previously on the Firehouse Arts Center Board and said she invested in the art community. Readers may also remember she, along with Natalie Kirbo, also previously owned Maiden South, which sold handmade goods.

“I care a lot about the creative spirit here in Bainbridge,” she said. “I care about more than just painting, too. There’s so many different forms of art that I’m interested in exploring in this position.”

Polsky is excited to begin her role and said she sees a lot of potential in what the Firehouse Arts Center could be.

“I think a lot of people don’t see this space as an art gallery, but more of event center,” she shared. “While that’s been wonderful for us, our mission is to support the arts in our local community.”

Because of their mission, Polsky said her goal is to find more activities to engage the community in arts rather it be through fundraisers, workshops, educational tours or events.

“I want to do anything that puts art in the forefront of people’s minds,” she said. “We want to be a place where people can have creative thoughts and experiences.”

With Polsky just taking on the new position, she has yet to definitively nail down any new art exhibit dates, but spoke on several other upcoming events.

“We always have our Southwest Georgia Art Show, so that will continue” she said.

She also shared that Bainbridge native Paul Kwilecki is having a documentary filmed on him, and they plan to collaborate with the Bainbridge Little Theatre to promote it.

“They are going to show the documentary, while we have a display of his artwork, so we are looking forward to that,” she said.

She hopes this collaboration and exploration of other art forms, such as documentaries only expands the Bainbridge art horizons.

“We would love to expand it to ceramics, photography, dance” she said. “Anything we can possibly offer; we would love to.”

Polsky pointed out that many people forget that the Firehouse Arts Center is a non-profit, so anything they offer such as, the ceramics and pottery classes are fundraisers used for art supplies to provide to kids in the community or for building maintenance.

“This year we really want to focus on getting our building back to where it needs to be, shining it up and offering interactive art exhibits for the community,” she ended.

Polsky is open to any ideas, as she said she is coming into the center brand new with only bright hopes for the future.