Evelyn C. McDonald
Arts & Culture Reporter
January 19, 2016 6:27 a.m.
On Monday, January 11, Ruthellen Mulberg and Andrew Yellen hosted a group of Fernandina residents to discuss the Fernandina Little Theatre’s future. Mulberg stressed that, contrary to what’s been heard, the theatre is open and available to any groups that would like to rent it. She said she had been approached by several residents asking her to continue to operate the theatre.
The purpose of convening the meeting was to explore new directions, new offerings that the theatre might develop. The ideas offered by the attendees included screening films, offering a home for children’s theatre, holding arts events, and such.
Muhlberg is looking for potential board members and interested parties who will support the theatre by through volunteering and providing financial support. She stressed that the overhead was low thus the space could be rented at a reasonable cost.
The group was united in saying that there was a need for an intimate performance space such as is offered by the theatre. They also stressed that it would be valuable to identify unmet arts and culture needs that might be satisfied by the theatre. The suggestion was made that a focus group would be a useful means to determine unmet needs and evaluate possible new directions.
Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ’s Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.
FLT owned it, now the INDIA, Inc. non-profit run my Muhlberg and Yellin owns it. The instrument of sale was a quit claim deed, as FLT’s mortgage was held by Yellin.