The Gateway Regional Arts Center will honor the late Dolly Parton later this week with some fun activities that will also support Montgomery County’s Imagination Library.
Jordan Campbell, arts center executive director, said Sept. 25 was intentionally selected for its Give Like Dolly Day event.
“9/25 or Nine Two Five” is a playful nod to one of the iconic singer’s most notable songs and films.
“It felt like the perfect date to celebrate Dolly, but we also wanted the evening to be about more than nostalgia. Dolly has always modeled generosity, imagination, literacy, creativity and care for community, so we’re really thinking of it as a ‘Give Like Dolly Day,’” Campbell told the Advocate.
Campbell also serves as the county’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library coordinator. Through the program, children enrolled ages birth through 5 receive a free, age-appropriate book mailed directly to their residence.
“We administer that program locally here in Montgomery County, so this event gives us a fun way to celebrate Dolly while also helping sustain something that directly benefits children and families right here at home.”
Activities will begin Friday at 6 p.m. The event is free, but a $9.25 donation at the door is suggested to support the Imagination Library. All dollars from those donations will support the Imagination Library here.
“We are packing a lot into the evening. We’ll have live music from 6–8 p.m., followed by Dolly karaoke from 8–9 p.m., plus Dolly music throughout the night,” Campbell said. “There will also be a Dolly look-alike contest, a live mural painting, a Dolly-inspired paint-pour activity and an opportunity for people to decorate a quilt square that will become part of a community ‘Coat of Many Colors.’ We’ll have family-friendly activities, food and specialty drinks and some special Dolly-themed surprises throughout the evening.”
At 8 p.m. the arts center plans to announce the first production of its 2027 theater season.
“And I’ll just say that there may be a Dolly connection there too,” Campbell told the Advocate.
Most of the activities will take place in a newly completed outdoor courtyard space between the main arts center building and the center’s annex.
“We have officially named that space ‘The Holler at GRAC,’ and this will be one of its first big community celebrations,” Campbell said.
The mural will be painted on the exterior wall overlooking The Holler.
“We’re designing it as a celebration of the arts and of this region—something colorful, joyful and distinctly eastern Kentucky/Bluegrass. The concept incorporates abstract references to music, theater, visual art, writing, the Bluegrass landscape and the hills and cliffs of the Red River Gorge. It will also include the Dolly quote, ‘Find out who you are and do it on purpose,’” Campbell told the Advocate.
He added, “I love that quote because it really connects Dolly’s philosophy with what we try to do at GRAC: give people permission and opportunities to discover who they are creatively and then pursue it.”
While there will be a few optional paid activities and food items as well as special-edition merchandise for sale with proceeds benefiting the Imagination Library, Campbell said no one is required to donate to attend.
“We want families to be able to come celebrate regardless of their ability to give.”
While the event will be fun, there is also real purpose behind it, Campbell stressed.
“Dolly has shown us what it looks like when an artist uses her success to reinvest in people, particularly children and the communities that shaped her. The Imagination Library is one of the clearest examples of that. ... So on 9/25, we’re celebrating Dolly by doing what I think she would want us to do: bringing people together, making some art, having a good time and hopefully sending a few more books to kids in Montgomery County,” Campbell said.
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