Dixie Art Colony Foundation relocates to Prattville, reclaims local art heritage

The Dixie Art Colony Foundation moved its mailing address to 2751 Legends Parkway, Suite 241, in Prattville, shifting the organization from Wetumpka into Autauga County’s downtown orbit. The City of Prattville said the foundation, established in 2015, is led by founder and director Mark Andrew Harris.

The relocation gives Prattville another institution tied to art history, not just a new office address. The foundation describes the Dixie Art Colony as “one of The Deep South's First Art Colonies,” and its own history traces that lineage to 1933, when Elmore County artists John Kelly Fitzpatrick and Warree Carmichael LeBron founded the colony. Four years later, the colony had a presence on the Deatsville side of Lake Jordan, where artists stayed for weeks in cabins.

That historical thread matters in a city that already markets preservation and heritage as public assets. Prattville’s Arts Council page lists five special-interest groups under its umbrella, the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce building is listed as a downtown venue associated with the foundation, and the city’s Historic Preservation Commission is charged with protecting historically significant buildings, sites, structures, areas and objects. The Daniel Pratt Historic District downtown covers about fifteen city blocks and includes more than 200 properties dating from 1840 to 1930.

The foundation’s move also places it closer to existing visitor destinations that already draw people to downtown Prattville. Explore Prattville says the Prattaugan Museum & Archives is housed in a c. 1840 Greek-revival house and serves history and genealogy visitors. The Prattaugan Museum & Heritage Center, the Autauga County Heritage Association and the Old Prattvillage area all reinforce the city’s heritage identity, giving the new Prattville base a ready-made context for exhibits, talks and other public programming.

That programming is not hypothetical. The foundation’s site and listings show a downtown Prattville presence at the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce building, and a Facebook listing gives 342 South Chestnut Street, Downtown Prattville, with a phone number of (334) 513-1086. Elmore-Autauga News also reported a new Dixie Art Colony exhibit opening Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, titled “Island Time with Great Artwork!” Taken together, those details show the foundation is arriving in Prattville with a public-facing schedule, a downtown footprint and a direct line to the county’s heritage economy.