Cities are constantly changing to keep up with the pace of those who live in them. If you’ve visited Greenville recently, you’ve probably noticed all of the construction and updates that happening in the city.

At the Greenville Museum of Art this summer, visitors have a chance to travel back in time to a older Greenville. The exhibit is called “Greenville, Then and Now”, and focuses on the historic landscape of the expanding area.

Senator John F. Kennedy with NC Governor Luther H. Hodges after Kennedy flew into The Pitt County Airport to speak at East Carolina College during his presidential campaign (1960).

The exhibit features two different sections. One represents the past or “then” portion of the display. ECU’s Joyner Library worked with the Greenville Museum of Art to collect historic photos and paintings from their archives. Donations of personal items were donated as well, like photos, yearbooks, clothing, family pictures, and other forms of memorabilia.

The second part of the exhibit, or “now”, displayed the Greenville that exists today.

“We had a few really awesome pieces in the collection that we wanted to bring out that had to do with Greenville. Whether they were faculty at ECU at some point. So if it’s a building or a landscape that had to do with Greenville, we put it up.”

– Trista Reis Porter, Executive Director at The Greenville Museum of Art

The process of picking which arts to use in the exhibition was difficult, due to the high volume of talented artists and locals who were turning over pieces to potentially be used. Ultimately, Porter said the deciding factor was the ability to connect art to Greenville and its cultural landscape.

The exhibit end October 5th, but the museum has multiple other events coming up. Click here to see.