The Hudgens offers fine art classes for adults & children, summer art camps, and outreach programs (go to Education on our website to learn more about these programs), facility rentals for special events, and much more.

The Hudgens also features a lovely gift shop filled with paintings, pottery, prints, glass art, jewelry, art supplies, books and other fun gift items; an interactive Children’s Art Zone with make & take art stations, musical stations, a giant kaleidoscope, a puppet theatre and a well-stocked reading nook; and the award-winning Al Weeks Sculpture Garden, recently designated an Audubon Society Wildlife Refuge.

The Children’s Art Zone features fun ‘make & take’ art projects for children, as well as a puppet theatre for them to put on their own shows, a well-stocked reading nook and musical stations. Kids also love visiting our outdoors sculpture garden on nice days!

The Al Weeks Sculpture Garden is an award-winning outdoor space, perfect for our members to have a quiet picnic set aside from the hustle and bustle of the day. It features sculptures throughout, as well a lovely fishpond with waterfalls, lillies and other flowers. Our dedicated Garden Committee has truly made this a must-see stop at The Hudgens!

The Sculpture Garden has also been designated an Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary, and at different times of year you can see green herons, nesting Canada geese, songbirds and other wildlife. The garden is a lovely place to hold outdoor parties or even an outdoor wedding or reception.

The Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts showcases a range of artwork in our galleries throughout the year, highlighting a wide variety of media, from paintings, drawings and prints to pottery and sculpture.

Since its organization in 1981, the Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts (formerly the Arts Council) has grown from a grassroots effort into a thriving center for the arts. In 1983, the Board of Directors renovated the Council’s first home – the 2,000 sq ft Williams House in Lawrenceville

In 1989, the Board and staff once again renovated a facility, this time the historic Lawrenceville Post Office, which provided a ‘spacious’ 7,000 sq ft building and served the Council until 1993, when the Council moved to the new Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts at the Gwinnett Center.

The original 14,000 sq ft Hudgens Center for the Arts featured 4,000 sq ft of gallery space, a large education department, and an additional 28,000 sq ft comprising the Al Weeks Sculpture Garden, which graces the eastern side of the building.

Enormous commitment and energy was expended in raising private funds to build the Center and to create the accompanying endowment. In 2000, an additional 20,000 sq ft of galleries, classrooms and performance space was added to the Center, bringing it up to the current size and configuration.