This weekend, a big celebration is planned for a new resource to the Chatham County community. After several years of planning, the new county-run Arts Center is now open and offering workshops to people – and will hold a grand opening ceremony Saturday, May 17 to give people the chance to learn what to expect. The arts center is located at 964 East Street in Pittsboro, sharing a building with the county’s parks and recreation cultural resources division – which oversees the project – and other Chatham County departments. The space opened up after the county moved its fitness classes to the new community center built at Chatham Grove Elementary School, creating a big spot for Arts and Cultural Program Supervisor Leigh Babcock to begin developing what the arts center could offer. Babcock arrived in Chatham County a couple years ago, taking up the role last January after working as a mixed-medium artist in Virginia and the City of Norfolk’s Parks and Recreation Visual Arts Center. Her ...