West Virginia Executive Fall 2018 | Page 48

Inspiring Creativity, Learning and Wonder through the Arts and Sciences A pinnacle of the Charleston community, the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences opened in 2003 and remains an economic, cultural and educational icon for the state. The 240,000-square-foot structure houses performing arts, visual arts and sciences all under one roof—one of the few of its kind in the country—in an effort to expose all West Virginians and people of the surrounding region to the arts and sciences. The Clay Center is home to the Avampato Discovery Museum, Juliet Art Museum and Maier Foundation Performance Hall. Since 2016, the Clay Center has undergone a complete reinvention of its exhibits, which now include Water Works, the Maier Foundation Music Studio, Healthy Me, Art Space, Ashton’s Climbing Sculpture and My Town, and offers a variety of educational programs, tours and workshops, facilitating exploration that brings the museum experience to all ages. The Maier Foundation Performance Hall has hosted a multitude of national and international showcases featuring legendary artists like Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, John Legend and Jason Mraz. The performance hall also plays host to wonderful local partners like the Charleston Light Opera Guild, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Ballet and FestivALL. The Clay Center is truly a revolutionary structure that has changed the landscape of entertainment, tourism and the arts and sciences in Charleston and the Mountain State. 1 Clay Square Charleston, WV 25301 (304) 561-3570 www.theclaycenter.org West Virginia's Largest Supplier of Memorials and Monuments Since 1911 Sears Monument Company has served more than 150,000 families since its inception in 1911 by Roy Oscar Sears. Today, Sears Monument is owned and operated by Roy’s grandson, Brent Sears, and has four showrooms located in Charleston, Huntington, Beckley and Parkersburg. As West Virginia’s oldest and largest supplier of memorials and monuments, the company produces and installs monuments in West Virginia, southeastern Ohio and western Kentucky and has established a reputation of creative memorialization, exceptional workmanship and guaranteed satisfaction. Sears’ customers can choose from flat markers, upright monuments, flat bronze memorials, benches, cremation memorials and urns, mausoleums, bronze plaques, granite signs, military monuments and uniquely shaped monuments. Delivering and installing memorials in more than 600 different cemeteries annually, the company is knowledgeable on cemetery locations and terrains across the state. Sears Monument Company pledges to all West Virginia families, for generations to come, proper memorialization for their loved ones. 124 Virginia Street East Charleston, WV 25301 (304) 342-4158 [email protected] www.searsmonument.com