The city of Pembroke was an award recipient Aug. 15 during the Georgia Downtown Awards of Excellence at the Lucas Theater in Savannah.
Pembroke received the Bronze Award of Excellence in Promotions for the “Pembroke Through My Eyes” art exhibit.  
According to Sharroll Fanslau, Pembroke’s Downtown Development Authority director, “Pembroke through My Eyes” began as a community cultural-arts project created by the city and the DDA/Better Hometown Program for the 2013 Georgia Cities Week celebration.  
“The goal was to promote downtown businesses and bring the arts back to the community,” she said. “School children created art that represented their vision of the city and local artists were encouraged to submit their paintings and photographs. Over 100 works of art including photographs, paintings, sketches and drawings were displayed in the old drugstore downtown.  Over 200 visitors came through the exhibit and the community feedback for the first cultural arts event was 110 percent positive.”  
The awards event is held annually in conjunction with the Georgia Downtown Conference and recognizes achievements in downtown development by local communities, volunteers and downtown development professionals.  
More than 50 applications were received in competition for this year’s awards.  Winners received recognition in four different categories including design, promotions, organization and economic development.
Billy Peppers, special assistant at the Department of Community Affairs, reflected that “It would be impossible to recognize all of the many accomplishments achieved by our downtown communities, but this year’s award recipients represent the cream of the crop in Georgia.”