Members of the Boys & Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley will soon have a new center for the arts. Today, the organization will open its Visual and Performing Arts Center located in its Teen Center in Moline.
Spokesperson Jennifer Garlock says many public schools have made cuts to arts programs, which is why the Boys & Girls Club saw a need for a new arts center.
Garlock says since club membership requires young people to be enrolled in school, the arts center is also an incentive to stay in school.
The Visual and Performing Arts Center includes a dance floor, seating for 300 people, and a section for clay making and painting.
The center cost $500,000, with funding from donations and fundraising events. On a given day, the Boys & Girls Club in Moline serves around 30 teenagers in its Teen Center.