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Watkinsville voted America's Top 25 Arts Destination
Posted on May 24, 2011 by Rusty Haygood |
Oconee County, GA – Watkinsville has been dubbed the “Artland of Georgia” within art circles of northeast Georgia. However, recent rankings take that a step further and prove that Watkinsville is indeed worthy of that moniker. The May 2011 edition of American Style magazine has resulted in Watkinsville being ranked in the Top 25 small towns for art in the nation.
This is the first time that Watkinsville has been ranked in this publication’s listing of top arts communities. The rankings were generated by nationwide online voting through American Style’s website. Watkinsville came into the competition at a disadvantage since last year’s top communities were already listed on the website. All of the votes received by Watkinsville were specifically entered into the survey and did not have the benefit of having the box beside its name checked to be included in the count.
The effort to have Watkinsville ranked was spearheaded out of the Oconee County Tourism Office, and more specifically by Peggy Holcomb (Tourism Director) and Justin Martin (Tourism Assistant). Holcomb stated, “This is a great honor for Watkinsville. When you factor in all of the events and activities that are done by the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, the galleries in the community, and the artists that are scattered across the community, we truly are a great arts community.” Martin stated, “Now the challenge is to make sure we continue to get votes in the future to ensure that we stay in the Top 25 and actually move up in the rankings.” The Oconee County Tourism Office and the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation will collaborate to ensure Watkinsville moves up in the rankings in the future.
Watkinsville joined Atlanta (#7 big city), Savannah (#2 mid-sized cities) and Athens (#12 mid-sized cities) as the only four Georgia cities recognized in the publication. For more information see American Style magazine at www.AmericanStyle.com.
Tagged: watkinsville, ga, top 25 arts destination in america, american style magazine