Once a year, the Averitt Center staff lights up the big nine-foot tree, hangs the wreaths, and sets out the Nutcracker. For the 2010 holiday season, the Averitt Center has picked an Americana theme for its decorating - birch bark ribbon, carved wooden birds and iron jiggle-bell balls.
      In keeping with the idea of an old-fashioned holiday season, "The Director's Invitational Exhibition" features the work of Scott Foxx, a professional artist and master story-teller. A graduate of the Atlanta College of Art, Foxx's background includes gallery and museum shows, as well as puppeteering and poetry. And through it all, comes the story of the South.
      Foxx is from the south. He knows about weathered signs, whirligigs and weathervanes, how they remind everyone what it means to be "of the land, not just on it".
      "In my art," Foxx said, "I try to capture the essence of time passing but somehow remaining unchanged."
      He uses layers of paper and paint to create the boards for his paintings, sanding and then painting again, at last adding the message - the voice - that will tell the story of the farmer, the churchgoer, the whittler.
      Foxx said people may "know" the people and places in his stories. That's why, he said, he named his exhibition "Our Town."  The Director's Invitational Opening and Reception is set for 7 p.m. Thursday in the Averitt Center Main Gallery.  Refreshments will feature a grits bar with a gamut of toppings, cheese biscuit cookies, wine and lemonade. Musicians Joe Nelson and James Pittman will play fiddle, banjo and mandolin to provide old-time folk and country music.
      Also, handmade holiday cards will be on display. Along with creations from the various schools in the Bulloch area, the work of artists who have painted original holiday artwork is highlighted.
      Statesboro Mayor Joe Brannen made the selection for the Averitt Holiday Card Purchase Award from entries submitted by local artists. The winner was Candy B.K. Schille's mixed media painting that features a poinsettia against the soft background of the Averitt Center in a pale teal. Schille's work, along with the winners from past years, will be exhibited alongside other original holiday cards on the third floor of the Averitt Center beginning Thursday.
      For more information, call the Averitt Center at (912) 212-2787.