Lancaster Cultural Arts Center

05/03/2026

A standout program was performed by flutist Emily Nazario and pianist Connor Austell at the Lancaster Cultural Arts Center.

03/18/2026

Further progress at the future Lancaster County Archives.

01/10/2026

Now at the Lancaster Cultural Arts Center.
DUO ARPEGGIONE

01/05/2026

With construction of the Lancaster County Archives Center on West Gay Street well underway, it is timely to look back on the colorful history of the Old Library Building, the core of the Archives Center. Long-serving former Lancaster County Librarian Richard Band will provide the look back at the first Conversation at the Lancaster Cultural Arts Center of 2026, on Wednesday, January 7. Band will relate how the building was a thriving gathering place in the community for almost four decades, from 1936 to 1970, and indeed played a key role in the cultural development of the region. Band's presentation will draw on the large archive of photographs taken of events at the Library over the years when Lancaster was emerging from the Depression, experiencing World War II, and then participating in post-War recovery and growth. He will note the appropriate repurposing of this historic structure as the Lancaster County Archives Center.

The Conversation will begin at noon and close at 1 pm. The CAC is located at 307 West Gay St. in historic downtown Lancaster, where free onsite and street parking are available. No admission is charged for this event and no reservations are necessary. We hope to see you on Wednesday.
John Craig

01/05/2026

On Saturday evening, January 10, 2026 at 6:30 pm, Duo Arpeggione will perform the first concert of the year at the historic Lancaster Cultural Arts Center. Crowd favorites pianist Catherine Lan and cellist Claudio Jaffe' will play classical works covering a span of 200 years, including pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Arthur Foote. Each Duo Arpeggione recital includes insightful commentary on the composers and their work, enhancing the concert experience. Both artists bring extensive life-long performance experience at an international level, having performed at major capitals including London, Tokyo, Helsinki, Bangkok, Amsterdam, Tallinn, Buenos Aires and many more, as well as multiple performances as guest soloist with orchestras. This talented ensemble never fails to please, and always delights at CAC concerts.

Online tickets can be purchased for $21 (including admin fee) at lcshp.org. If you need help with online purchases, please call 803-287-6826. Tickets at the door will be $25.

The CAC is located at 307 West Gay St. in historic downtown Lancaster, SC 29720. Free onsite and street parking are available.

12/17/2025

Continued progress on 308 west Gay Street. Rebuilding the original porch surround.

11/24/2025

The renovation at the forthcoming Lancaster County Archives is proceeding as planned. We are pleased to have Preception Builders overseeing the project.

11/19/2025

On Saturday night, come to the Lancaster Cultural Arts Center for a toe-tappin’ good time provided by the popular Lazybirds Band from Boone, NC. The concert will be at 6:30 p.m. on November 22, 2025, at 307 West Gay St. in historic downtown Lancaster, SC 29720.

The LazyBirds classic American roots band is a crowd favorite at the CAC, bringing rousing music that features popular, traditional, and original works including early American string band music, country, and Dylan classics. Lazybirds band leader Jay Brown says, “We'll be swinging in at full force with the five-piece band, coming off the heels of the Black Mountain Blues Fest and the LEAF fest where we played a swing dance, so we expect to see some serious chair dancin' out in the pews on the 22nd. And almost certainly, there will be a Hank Williams song or two.”

Advance tickets for the concert can be purchased for $20 at the user-friendly website http://www.lcshp.org. Patrons should call 803-287-6826 if they have any difficulties with their online purchase. Tickets at the door are $25. Free onsite and street parking are available at the CAC.

This event was made possible in part by the City of Lancaster's support.

11/10/2025

Dear Friends,
Friday, November 14, 2025, is GiveLocal Day in Lancaster and Chester, SC, and we hope you will take this opportunity to make a donation to the Lancaster County Society for Historical Preservation. As you know, the LCSHP is a leader in revitalizing historic downtown Lancaster, using preservation as an investment tool.

The LCSHP's first major project was rescuing the 1862 Old Presbyterian Church on West Gay St. (just two block west of Main St.) and turning it into the vibrant Lancaster Cultural Arts Center (CAC). The Center hosts more than 30 musical concerts a year, a monthly continuing education seminar series, and other events, and draws audiences from surrounding counties and even Charlotte, Charleston, Greenville, and Spartanburg. https://youtu.be/TIbf7LJd8uM?si=UNOB0Y6wvIUtcBgE&t=12

We are in the process of rehabilitating historic houses across from the CAC on West Gay St., with two now on the market and the restoration of two more getting underway. This work will be a major boost for revitalizing the Lancaster Cultural District neighborhood and making it again an attractive residential community.

Just east of the CAC, the creation of the Lancaster County Archives Center has recently gotten underway, with the restoration and adaptation of the 1936 Old Library Building and structure behind it. The Center will be a safe depository for the many historic documents now scattered around the County, and an important research center drawing visitors from far and wide.

Once the Archives Center project is completed, the LCSHP's next project will be transforming the adjacent historic 1823 Old Jail into the formal Lancaster County Visitors Center and Historic Preservation Museum.

LCSHP's work is entirely conducted by its volunteer board, without paid staff. Donations to the organization enable it to carry out an ambitious work program and we think can rightly be seen as an investment in Lancaster's future.

So we hope you will think of the LCSHP when you make your philanthropic gifts on November 14th. It's easy to give. Just go online to https://www.givelocalsc.org/organizations/lancaster-county-society-for-historical-preservation Online donations must occur beginning 12:01 a.m. on November 14 and ending midnight November 14 in order to be counted in the competition for grant awards available to organizations. Checks can be dropped off at the ARRAS Foundation on N. Main St., Lancaster, any day this week.

If you have already given to the LCSHP this year, you have our sincere gratitude, and thanks for taking this appeal under consideration.

Regards,
John Craig, LCSHP Board Chair

Join me and give back!

11/05/2025

On Sunday, November 9th at 3:00 pm. Chamber Music for All will perform a program of “Piano, Clarinet & Strings” at the Lancaster Cultural Arts Center. Virtuoso violinist and Charlotte Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Calin Lupanu will lead the ensemble in a trio of works by composers considered to be among the best of the 20th century: Frenchman Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), Russian Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), and Soviet-era composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). Works performed will be Milhaud’s Suite 157b for Clarinet, Violin and Piano; Stravinsky “L’Histoire du Soldat for Clarinet, Violin and Piano”; and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio no 2 in E Minor. Lupanu says “The Shostakovich composition is one of the most important pieces in the trio repertoire and by performing it we are continuing to celebrate this magnificent composer who passed away 50 years ago.” In addition to Lupanu, musicians for the afternoon include violinist Monica Boboc, cellist Marlene Ballena, pianist Phillip Bush, and clarinetist Taylor Marino.

Tickets to Sunday’s concert can be purchased at lcshp.org for $21 online. Tickets at the door will be $25. If you have any difficulties with online purchasing, call 803-287-6826.

The CAC is located at 307 West Gay St. in historic downtown Lancaster, SC 29720, where free onsite and street parking are available.
We hope to see you on Sunday afternoon.
John Craig

10/21/2025

Mallarme' Music returns to the Lancaster Cultural Arts Center on Saturday night with its annual Halloween silent horror movie-with-classical music performance--this time featuring "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." This quintessential 1920 work of early German Expressionistic cinema tells the story of an insane hypnotist who uses a brainwashed somnambulist to commit murders. The film features a dark, twisted visual style, with sharp-pointed forms; oblique, curving lines; structures and landscapes that lean and twist in unusual angles; and shadows and streaks of light painted directly onto the sets. Don't be scared away--the outstanding Mallarme Music ensemble's classical music score, written especially for the movie, may not put your mind at ease but will certainly lift your spirits! And free popcorn will be served!
The CAC is located at 307 West Gay St. in historic downtown Lancaster, SC 29720, where free on-site and adjacent street parking are available.