A focal point for the arts is the Holland Area Arts Council. From its 17,000-square-foot downtown Holland facility, the council provides cultural opportunities for residents of all ages and abilities. Every year, more than 1,600 children and adults take one of the council's 150 classes in dance, music, drama, pottery, photography and other visual and performing arts.

Three exhibition galleries occupy the Arts Council's first floor, where each year as many as 15 exhibitions are presented featuring the work of local, regional and national artists. Two second floor galleries display monthly exhibits of the artwork of area students.

The Arts Council's programming includes the Holland Area Youth Orchestra, a Junior strings program, two youth chorales and a Youth Ballet Company. The Performing Arts Series, a children's touring theater, brings live theater to area schools. In the summer, the council runs an arts camp.

Also, the Arts Council coordinates a number of community events. Annual highlights include the Michigan Art Competition, a juried art show, and the Summer Festival of the Arts. Held mid-June through September, the Festival comprises some 30 different events, including concerts, puppet shows, storytelling and art workshops.

Hope College offers concerts, lectures, plays, films and exhibitions to students and the general public throughout the academic year. Hope also owns and operates the Knickerbocker Theater in downtown Holland, a popular venue for plays, dance recitals, concerts and a variety of art, foreign and classic films. Hope's Summer Repertory Theatre, based in the DeWitt Center, has been presenting a series of summer performances for more than 25 years.

Also presenting live is the Holland Chorale. Founded in 1961, the chorus performs before churches, nursing homes and other local groups. It co-sponsors the March Festival of the Arts, an annual musical event that includes visual art, creative writing, photography, dance and drama. Young voices are nurtured through the Holland Area Youth Chorale, which performs at area high schools and Hope College's Dimnent Chapel.

Although a relative newcomer on the local music scene, the Holland Symphony Orchestra has developed a loyal following since it was founded in 1990. The orchestra's membership has grown to over 50 musicians, and now features a full complement of winds and brass. The orchestra annually performs a half dozen concerts at venues throughout the community.

The highlight of the community's cultural calendar is the annual Tulip Time festival. Tracing its roots to 1927, the event has grown to include wooden-shoe clad "klompen" dancers, an authentic Dutch street scrubbing parade, parade of bands, children's costume parade and a variety of other entertainment. Today, Tulip Time spans seven days, attracting almost a million visitors.

Holland's Dutch heritage is also kept alive at several area attractions. An educational family-oriented place to visit is Dutch Village, a recreation of a small, 100-year-old Dutch town. Exhibits include a farmhouse and barn, museum, weigh house and wooden shoe factory. Located a short drive north of Holland is Veldheer's Tulip Garden and DeKlomp Wooden Shoe & Delft Factory. Founded in 1955 by Vernin Veldheer as a hobby, the gardens comprise millions of tulips, as well as lilies, peonies and a rainbow of other flowers. The gift shop has one of the largest selections of bulbs in the country. Veldheer's DeKlomp Wooden Shoe & Delft Factory makes traditional wooden shoes, and is the only factory in the United States crafting authentic Delft pottery.

"De Zwaan," an 18th Century Dutch windmill, is one of the highlights of Windmill Island, a 36-acre area of manicured tulip gardens, dikes, canals and the Posthouse, a re-creation of a 14th Century Dutch wayside inn housing a collection of Dutch furnishings and historic documents. Every year more than 100,000 people visit the park, located in the Macatawa Marsh on the edge of downtown Holland.

Located in the city's downtown historic district are the Holland Museum and the Cappon House Museum. The museum houses a variety of artifacts, and recounts the story of the Dutch immigrants who settled here in 1847. The Victorian-style Cappon House, built by Holland's first mayor in 1874, still retains many of the family's original furnishings. A recently restored historic house, just east of the Cappon House, offers insights in the city's early working class residents. Built in 1867, the "Settlers House" was one of the few structures in Holland to survive the disastrous fire of 1871. Believed to have been built on speculation by city founder Rev. Christiaan Van Raalte, the 900-square-foot house was first owned by Thomas Morrissey, a ship's carpenter from Canada, and his Irish wife.

The heritage of the city's large Hispanic community is celebrated at the annual Fiesta observance, sponsored by the local Latin Americans United for Progress. Other much-anticipated annual events include the Ottawa and Allegan county fairs and the Art in the Park art show. The winter holidays feature the annual Dutch WinterFest, a three-week event that kicks off with a European Lantern Parade.

Residents learn about their heritage, and lots more, at the Herrick District Library, in Holland. Recently remodeled and expanded, the state-of-the-art facility includes reference computers, internet access, study rooms, a genealogy room, children's room, conference room, gift shop and 185-seat auditorium. If what you're looking for isn't at Herrick Library, check out the campus libraries of Hope College, Western Theological Seminary and Davenport University, all of which are open to residents.

If art is in your heart, you'll fall in love with what Holland has to offer.