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Each year the Ava Gardner Museum celebrates Ava's life and career by hosting the Ava Gardner Festival. This annual event includes heritage tours, screenings of classic Ava Gardner films, and special exhibits. To support this annual event, the Ava Gardner Museum has been awarded two grants: $500 from the Johnston County Visitors Bureau; and $1,750 from the Johnston County Arts Council/North Carolina Arts Council.
The grant received from the Johnston County Visitors Bureau was for the marketing and promotion of the Ava Gardner Festival. “For over 20 years, the Johnston County Visitors Bureau has been supporting organizations that host events and festivals, performing arts, and sporting events in the county. Marketing grants help these organizations with advertising and promotional brochures which helps to bring thousands of visitors to Johnston County each year,” said Donna Bailey-Taylor, Executive Director, Johnston County Visitors Bureau.


The grant received from the Johnston County Arts Council was in support of the Tennessee Williams Reading Series, which was held in conjunction with the Ava Gardner Festival. In partnership with the Public Library of Johnston County and Smithfield, community residents were encouraged to read and discuss Tennessee Williams’ play The Night of the Iguana and attend a Tennessee Williams lecture held at the Museum. Participants were given free museum admission and invited to the film screening of The Night of the Iguana, which was shown during the Festival. Because of the financial support of the Johnston County Arts Council, these resources were available to the public at no charge.


The Ava Gardner Museum is located in downtown Smithfield, at 325 E. Market Street and more information may be found on the museum website, www.avagardner.org or by calling 919-934-5830. The museum is open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm and Sunday 2pm-5pm with admission of $6.00 adults, $5.00 seniors and groups and $4.00 children.

This project received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Johnston County Arts Council is the North Carolina Arts Council’s Designated County Partner for Johnston County.