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The Wayne Center for the Arts

The Wayne Center for the Arts has been offering culturally stimulating arts experiences to Wayne County residents for over 31 years. The center, formerly known as the Wooster Arts Center, was founded in 1973 on the campus of  The College of Wooster. In 1984, through a gift from the Rubbermaid Foundation and with the support of the community, the Arts Center was able to move into the newly renovated Walnut Street School at 237 South Walnut Street, Wooster.

Since its beginning in 1973, the center has continued to grow offering numerous activities throughout the year including classes, special events, performances and exhibits. In June of 1999, The Rubbermaid Foundation donated the Walnut Street building to Wayne Center for the Arts assuring the community that a cultural arts center would continue to thrive in the downtown Wooster area.

The Wayne Center for the Arts Photography Contest

In short, the purpose of the Wayne Center for the Arts Photography Contest is to more closely engage local youth and young adults with the Center and its mission, and to give them a forum in which to exhibit their artistic talents. The Center realized at some point that there aren't very many local venues where school-age youth and young adults can compete in an artistic medium like photography. Therefore, we decided to change this very fact and are hoping to see lots of great entries for the 2010 Wayne Center for the Arts Photography Contest coming in soon!

The 2010 Wayne Center for the Arts Photography Contest Judges

A special "thank you" goes out to our 2010 Contest Judges, Steve Shapiro and M.J. Albacete.

Steve Shapiro is a long-time resident of Wooster. He worked in the scrap metal business for over thirty years, retiring as Chairman of the Board of Wooster Iron & Metal Company in 2005. Shapiro has had a life-long interest in photography, with a particular interest in nature subjects.  He has traveled through the American West, Peru, the Galapagos Islands and Alaska to capture many of his most recent images. In 2008, the Wayne Center for the Arts presented a solo exhibition of his photography.

M.J. Albacete is the Executive Director of the Canton Museum of Art, and is Adjunct Professor of Art History and Architecture at Kent State University, Stark Campus. He has been a photographer for over forty years and has taught photography for the Museum and other organizations. He has received a number of grants to visit and photograph significant sites around the world. From his image collections, he has created many fascinating illustrated lectures on topics related to art, art history, architecture, and archaeology.