Longtime locals are familiar with a pair of tall, friendly red doors at 301 Hay St. in downtown Fayetteville. And new residents can’t help but notice these same doors. Above them reads a simple but stately title: “THE ARTS CENTER.” This month, the organization behind those doors, the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, turns 45.

Since its founding by local visionaries in 1973, the Arts Council has become an integral driver of Cumberland County’s culture and economy – and not by accident.

Deborah Mintz, executive director who’s worked at the Arts Council for more than half its existence, is retiring early next year. She’s responsible for the development of many of the nonprofit’s beloved community events, including A Dickens Holiday and the International Folk Festival. These events also draw thousands of outside visitors each year. In September, the IFF celebrated its 40th year and saw about 120,000 people enjoy downtown Fayetteville.

“I see the cultural arts industry as a dynamic partner with our local and state governments, economic development and educational organizations and institutions,” Mintz said. “Today, the nonprofit cultural arts industry provides close to $60 million annually in direct investment in our community.”

Behind those red doors, the Arts Council also runs a gallery that showcases art from local and international artists. Its exhibitions highlight and spark discussion of issues that range from the community to global level. The gallery’s latest exhibition, “Touchstone: Images Of Service,” opened last week and invited photographers to submit works that capture heroism, sacrifice and courage.

The Arts Council also spearheads public art installation initiatives with results that can be seen peppered throughout downtown.

While most residents are familiar with the Arts Council’s events and gallery, not as many know much about its Artists in Schools program and the grant money it disburses.

Artists in Schools brings high-caliber arts educatorsto over 80 public and private schools in Cumberland County and Fort Bragg. The program offers matching grants to schools to cover fees for residencies, assemblyperformances and workshops conducted by teaching artists. The Arts Council vets these teaching artists from a pool of local, regional and national talent.

Last year, said Arts Council Education & Outreach Director Adrienne Trego, Artists in Schools helped students learn about physics through circus acts, create their own silk banners celebrating their school and use drumming to learn about math.

The Arts Council also grants more than half a million dollars annually to support community organizations and individual artists in this community. These grants include the support of local nonprofit treasures like Cape Fear Regional Theatre, Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and Cape Fear Botanical Garden.

Janet Gibson, a Fayetteville native who joined the Arts Council early this year as director of marketing and communications, remembers writing about the Arts Council as a young reporter in November of 1987.

“That was when the Arts Council moved into the building at 301 Hay St.,” she said. “I remember being here for a reception, and it was beyond celebratory. … It’s been very fulfilling to watch the Arts Council] grow and prosper and become admired by the arts community – not only statewide but nationally – in its reputation for being a leader and a trailblazer.

“The thing about the arts in our area is they provide jobs and really feed the economy.”

Mintz said the quality that’s best served her in leading the Arts Council is tenacity – that and “a passionate knowledge that the arts are critical to the growth and success of our citizens and community.” Gibson put it this way: the Arts Council is successful because of “so many visionaries and people who refuse to give up. They know that Fayetteville is this… center of creative expression.”

Mintz said the thing she’ll miss most in her retirement is working with these passionate people, though she’s not moving. “I’ve lived here longer than anywhere else. I am a Fayettevillian, not by birth, but by choice,” she said. “I will still be right here in my adopted hometown.”

The Arts Council is conducting a national search for a new executive director who can build on Mintz’s legacy.

To learn more about the Arts Council and view a full list of upcoming exhibitions at The Arts Center, visit www.theartscouncil.com.