With his wife Holly and daughter Skylar along with some of his closest colleagues and friends gathered inside the Emma Kelly Theater, the late Kelly Berry became the eighth member of the Averitt Center for the Arts Legend of the Arts Gallery.

And for Trish Tootle, who came to know Berry while working with him on the Averitt Center Board, Berry was right there with everybody during Tuesday’s induction ceremony.

“When I walk into this building, I see Kelly and I sense his presence,” she said. “I see him in the stairway. I see him sitting in the workroom making decisions that led the Center to success. I see the smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye. And from this day forward, everyone who comes through our doors will be able to see the face of a man that lived forward with passion and he made us all better. We are better because Kelly Berry came our way.”

Tootle was one of five speakers who shared their appreciation and admiration in helping induct Berry into the Legends Gallery, joining Emma Kelly, Blind Willie McTell, Michael Braz, Roxie Remley, Del Presley, Betty Foy Sanders and Mical Whitaker.

Berry passed away in June 2023 at the age of 50. He was active in the Averitt Center for many years and served in several capacities and offices, including president of the Center’s Board of Directors in the two years prior to his death.

Berry moved to Statesboro in 2003 and began his career with Georgia Southern University as a professor of theatre. He was the director of theatre at the time of his death.

Mical Whitaker

“And in 2003, when he began teaching at Georgia Southern University, we began our director/designer teamwork,” said 2021 Legend Mical Whitaker. “Working with Kelly was easy. Always easy. He loved the challenge, his creation of the soundscape for my productions of ‘Our Town’ still ranks as one of the most innovative feats of theatrical magic. I've ever seen in academic theater.

“A show with multiple locations, no problem. A show of very realistic details like August Wilson's ‘Joe Turner's Come and Gone’ or the surrealism of an apocalypse like Lorraine Hansberry’s  ‘What Use Are Flowers?’ All Kelly Berry designed and lit with great integrity and aplomb. 

“And right down on West Main, in the Whitaker Black Box. All the specific sights, sounds and colors of a senior citizen's home made this set for the ‘Gin Game’ an actor's dream for Carol Thompson and me.”

Ralph Cowart

Averitt Center Board Vice President Ralph Cowart said he always was amazed at Berry’s ability to work diplomatically with so many different personalities and points of view.

“It was such a privilege for us to serve on board with him and to actually see the light in his eyes and the excitement with which he talked about shows. To see him vigorously work at getting an art collection or a show to come to the Averitt.

“He touched our lives, and he left us with this remarkable program through his dedication and his leadership. And we're better for being called his board members, fellow thespians, artists and, most importantly, his friends.

“He…worked to make sure that we were profitable and successful but also that every child that came in here learned and had an opportunity to come and know what he loved, which was the arts.”

Dr. Sarah McCarroll

Dr. Sarah McCarroll said she quickly discovered Berry’s gift in getting the best out of his students and fellow professors working with him as a professor in Georgia Southern’s Theater Department.

“(Kelly always looked to give his students) enough space to grow into the potential that he saw in you,” she said. “That was true for me, too, as a junior faculty member. I know it was true for his colleagues across campus. There are students of his sitting in the house this evening for whom I know it was true. 

“Kelly was always the first to remind any of us that our priority was our students and if we made a decision that put them first, we were on the right track.

“He said that our students don't need us to give them their voices. They know what their voices are, they know what they have to say. What they need is for us to help them make the space to use their voices. That's what Kelly did. He made space. In planned ways, and in impromptu and off-the-cuff ways at every moment along the way.”

Trish Tootle

Tootle also wanted to remind everyone about what Berry held most dear.

“I just want to emphasize a few wonderful qualities I saw firsthand with this remarkable man,” she said. “He was a leader. He was a visionary. He was a teacher. He was a mentor. He was a friend. And he was a confidante. But most of all, he was a husband and he was a father. We never started a conversation, Skylar, that I didn't hear about what you were doing that day and how wonderful you were.”

The unveiling

Whitaker said he shared a similar passion for the power of their medium with Berry.

“For both Kelly and me, theater was a way to bring about change,” he said. “Social change. Art does that. The great artists, actors, singers, writers, dancers and designers do that. They find ways to open portals and give us windows in so that we can see all of the thoughts, all of the struggles, all of the contradictions hidden within ourselves and within our communities. Kelly did that.

“And now, at the eighth seat of this table, my friend, Kelly Shumpert Berry. Ladies and gentlemen, my heart sings. I can’t tell you how proud I am to be part of the welcoming unit to the Gallery. My friend, Kelly Berry.”

With Holly and Skylar Berry on the Emma Kelly stage, the stunning portrait of Berry painted by local artist Penny Marz was unveiled. A smiling, relaxed Berry is depicted with a stage behind him. With tears, the Berrys marveled at the painting together.

“I can’t express what I’m feeling,” Holly Berry said. “Thank you all for loving him like you did and do.”