The new Dartmouth Cultural Center opened its doors at the Old Southworth library on August 28 for a meet and greet and open registration, having signed the lease for the building only the day before.

“There’s a great sense of relief and exhaustion,” said Jill Law, the president of the Center.

The old library building was bustling with instructors and students getting to know each other and filling out paperwork in anticipation of classes, which will begin on September 17.

“We have a wonderful group of skilled people of various talents,” said Kathleen Del Sordo, who started the original “Save Old Southworth” group with Enid Silva. She said that the group, which began as an effort to keep the building from being sold, always intended on filling it with a community focused non-profit. She said that the idea for the cultural center came from the fact that there are no public spaces for art in Dartmouth or the surrounding towns.

Del Sordo emphasized the variety of classes and workshops that will be available through the center, including poetry, music, art, and culinary classes.

“We are lucky the town is so supportive,” Jill Law said. Law and Del Sordo also expressed gratitude to the selectboard for their enthusiasm and to Greg Barnes, who worked closely with the group while the town was between administrators.

The group is also working on plans to restore and preserve the building, and is hoping to find corporate-level sponsors and sustaining donors to help make that work possible.

So far, the interest in classes has been good, both online and in person at the open house. Law said there were people outside at 3:30 for the event, which was scheduled to begin at 4.

Lisa Blanchard of Dartmouth was one enthusiastic student.

“I’m very excited about taking some art classes and poetry-- things I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” she said. Blanchard said that she has done some art and poetry on her own, but she is really looking forward to being introduced to new ideas and revising old poems. She has already signed up for three classes: one about abstraction, a pastel painting class, and a poetry class.

S.F. Ricci, the founder of the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod, will be the instructor of the Intro to Pastels workshop that Blanchard will be taking. Ricci is a firm believer that aspiring artists do not need to know how to draw to be able to paint.

“What I do instead is teach people how to get it onto the paper,” Ricci said.

The Dartmouth Cultural Center will be holding additional open house registration events on Thursday, August 30, and Friday, August 31, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The center will also have a community fundraiser at Fay’s Restaurant at 613 Dartmouth St. on Thursday, August 30, from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. During this time, 20% of all food sales will be donated to the center. Prospective students can browse classes and register online at www.dartmouthculturalcenterinc.org.