ACC Leisure Services

Lyndon House Arts Center

293 Hoyt Street
Athens, Georgia
(706)613-3623
Lyndon House Arts Center is operated by the Athens-Clarke County Department of Leisure Services as a center of excellence for the benefit and cultural enrichment of youth and adults. Gallery exhibitions, historic house museum, festivals, workshops, art meetings, special events, and art classes aim to provide area citizens with a positive experience in the visual arts, encouraging them to appreciate the arts and to develop their creative talents.

Lyndon House Arts Center operating hours are Tuesday & Thursday from Noon until 9:00 p.m. and Wednesday, Friday, Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

For program information, schedule updates, rental availability and group tours of the galleries and/or the historic Ware-Lyndon House, please call 706-613-3623. Lyndon House Arts Center accepts MasterCard and Visa credit cards.

Click here to read the most recent edition of the Lyndon House Arts Foundation newsletter ArtiFacts Winter/Spring 2010

Past Issues:

ArtiFacts Summer/Autumn 2009
ArtiFacts Fall/Winter 2008-2009 Vol. 4 No. 2
ArtiFacts Spring/Summer 2008 Vol. 4 No. 1

Attractions
Gallery Shop
Featuring unique handcrafted items by over 70 artists from Athens and surrounding areas, the Gallery Shop offers blown, fused and stained glass, pottery, wooden vessels, toys, handbags, silk scarves, and jewelry, paintings and photographs, as well as CD's by local musicians and books by local authors and illustrators. Artists interested in participating in the shop may call 613-3624 ext. 224 and request guidelines.

Historic House Museum
The Ware-Lyndon House is a c.1840's Late Greek Revival home with Italianate influence. It is the last remaining house in Lickskillet, the once fashionable 19th century in-town neighborhood. The interior has been restored and arranged with decorative art and furnishings of the period. The historic display room features artifacts relevant to the historic house and to the history of Athens with informative labels.

This two-story brick dwelling with a four-over-four room, central hall plan represents a blend of late Greek Revival and Italianate styles. Heavy entablatures and pilasters frame the floor-length, first-floor windows, and a similarly framed, trabeated doorway possesses sidelights and a transom. A full-width porch of ornate cast iron grille work distinguishes the facade, and delicate brackets under the eaves suggest an Italianate influence. A one-story rear section appears to be original to the dwelling.
Prominent Athens physician Edward R. Ware built this residence around 1850 in the once-fashionable neighborhood called Lickskillet. The property extended northward to the banks of the Oconee River and contained a large wooded tract to the west.

Much of the northern and western tract had been sold off for railroad right-of-way by the time Edward S. Lyndon bought the house in 1880. Dr. Lyndon, a successful druggist, also owned a millwork company on the western tract that eventually became the Athens Lumber Company. When the City of Athens acquired the Ware-Lyndon House for government offices in 1939, it was the first building other than City Hall owned by the city. During World War II the house served as the site of the local USO, and in the 1950s it came under the auspices of the newly formed Recreation Department. Following its restoration in the 1960s, the Ware-Lyndon House launched in l973 Athens's first government sponsored community arts program and subsequently broadened its mission of promoting the visual arts to include education, exhibitions, community based programs, and resource services. The Lyndon House Arts Foundation, Inc. was created to assist in the development, maintenance, and operation of the Lyndon House Art Center. In 1994 Athens voters approved a Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), which included a provision for a significant addition to the Lyndon House Art Center.

The Ware-Lyndon House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (March 15, 1976) and has been locally designated as a Historic Landmark (February 2, 1988).

Learn all about the historic Ware-Lyndon House and listen to the selection of podtours of the history and furnishings of the home.
Listen to the Historic Ware-Lyndon House Podtours

Get a copy of the custom designed Historic Ware-Lyndon House Activity Book are also available for young visitors of all ages.
Ages: For all ages (children must be accompanied by an adult)
Group visits may be arranged call (706) 613-3623
Dates: Daily, Tuesday through Saturday
Times: Tuesdays & Thursdays from Noon - 9:00 p.m.
Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: Lyndon House Arts Center (706) 613-3623
Fee: Free

Library Resource Room
Part of SPLOST IV and a joint partnership between the Athens-Clarke County Library and Lyndon House Arts Center, the LHAC Library Resource Room provides an arts related research collection of publications. Publications are available during operating hours on a reference room basis. Book donations are welcome.