Kemp Center for the Arts

The Kemp Center for the Arts occupies a restored 1917 building in Wichita Falls, Texas that first opened its doors in 1918 as a public library, a birthday gift from Joseph Kemp to his wife Flora. After the building fell into disuse, the City of Wichita Falls leased it to the Arts Council Wichita Falls in 1998, which carried out an extensive renovation and reopened it in 2002 as the Kemp Center for the Arts. Today the historic venue serves as a hub for the Arts Council, the Wichita Falls Symphony, and the Youth Symphony, alongside two professional gallery spaces, art classrooms, and an outdoor Sculpture Garden. Its Great Hall, a ballroom accommodating 40 to 200 guests, is suited to luncheons, business meetings, showers, and wedding ceremonies and receptions, while the Sculpture Garden offers an outdoor setting for garden parties, receptions, and ceremonies. The center also hosts art-themed birthday party rentals through its Creative Celebrations program. The Kemp Center is operated by the Arts Council Wichita Falls, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and its galleries remain free and open to the public.