Marie-Louise Moreto has a dream. She wants a dedicated performing arts center that would serve the entire East Cooper arts community. “We need a community arts center that would provide both performance, rehearsal space and studio space,” she said. “So in 2016, we founded the Mount Pleasant Community Arts Center Committee. Our goal is to promote and increase access to the arts.”
Mayor Will Haynie presents the 2020 National Arts and Humanities Award to Marie-Louise Moreto, the President of the Mount Pleasant Community Arts Center.
Such a space, as it is envisioned by the committee, would include a theater space for plays, concerts and other types of performances, studio and rehearsal space for all types of art disciplines, a gallery for exhibits, and a gift shop. The concept is also to create what the committee describes as a “business incubator” to promote the arts and provide arts educational outreach to the community.
Moreto has been involved in the arts for many years. She had a career in theater and television in New York where she said most of her work was “off-Broadway.” She was a member of the New York Ensemble Studio Theatre and the National Academy of Arts and Sciences. When her husband’s company downsized, and after “multiple snow storms” they decided to head south and have been in the Charleston area since 1994.
She recently received the Town of Mount Pleasant’s Culture, Arts and Pride Commission’s 2020 National Arts and Humanities Award for her efforts to bring the arts to the area. The COVID-19 pandemic has unfortunately brought new challenges to her work.
“We had planned to put on an opera for children during Piccolo (the Piccolo Spoleto Festival held each year in Charleston) last June,” she said. However, Piccolo was canceled due to the danger of the virus and the many plans the arts center committee had made also “were pushed on hold.”
Moreto said they had planned to hold a fundraiser and were looking into starting a series of one-act plays. “What we are doing now is we formed a partnership with Charleston area performing artists and we do monthly networking sessions.” These sessions are held virtually. “We recently did one on the state of film in the area and last month was how to protect your online image.” November’s session will focus on marketing.
Moreto emphasizes there is a large artistic community here that would provide culture and entertainment for the community and enhance the town’s livability. “There was the South Coast Symphony and the Town spoke to them about changing their name, so they did, and now they are the Mount Pleasant Symphony. They perform at Christ Church here in Mount Pleasant. But they have to go to The Citadel to rehearse. There is no place for them to rehearse here,” she said.
“We don’t want this to just be a rental facility, we want to set up a resident acting company and then space can to rented out to other organizations who would like to use it,” Moreto stressed. “We’re not trying to be a performing arts center that brings big shows in from out-of-town. We want it to be for the community, to develop local theater for local talent.”
The realities of the pandemic have forced a creative adjustment to how the arts, especially performance art, is managed. “Some groups are doing virtual performances,” Moreto said, emphasizing that artists will find a way to reach their audiences if they can. She said she hopes that people this year will consider supporting the local arts community when shopping for holiday gifts. ”Instead of doing your usual shopping,” she said, “go shop at art galleries, buy a piece of art, or a craft, shop at the museum shops. That helps to support the arts.”
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Plans continue for creation of Mt Pleasant Community Arts Center - Charleston Post Courier
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