(upbeat music) - [Narrator] The Alliance for the Arts has been a creative hub for the Fort Myers art scene since the mid seventies, but lately their focus has been on what's new.

The new executive director at the Alliance, Molly Deckart, is very excited about the new campus renovations.

- Lydia Black, the former executive director really spearheaded this project and worked to give us all a nice intersection between arts and the environment.

So the renovations that have been done on the campus really increase access to our community.

So before there wasn't a sidewalk on McGregor, so that addition has really allowed people to have better access to this space.

We also have new signage, welcoming people into the city of Fort Myers.

We've really seen children, and people, and families coming into the space that we haven't seen before.

And in addition to its beauty, the ecosystems are nicely represented throughout the campus.

You have prairie, you have marshlands and you'll see it all.

And really the anchoring piece is Michael Singer's water wall, which is a beautiful representation of the Caloosahatchee River.

But to us, the campus really has beautified the outside to match her inside.

- [Narrator] But like many organizations in Southwest Florida, the COVID pandemic forced to change in plans.

- I've been really impressed with how well the Alliance has pivoted through that.

And there's been a lot of conscious programming on how to keep things going.

And we're still able to offer programming in a way that a lot of other places can't.

We do concerts, we have readings, we've done theater out there in a way that is keeping everyone safe.

And that is tantamount to everything we do.

COVID I think has surprised us all, but I've been very proud of everybody.

- [Narrator] Despite the obstacles the pandemic has created, or perhaps how her staff has been able to overcome them Deckart is looking forward to a new beginning.

- I'm really excited about the future of the Alliance and more music, more theater, more arts, and how really the Alliance connects better.

I want the Alliance to be a hub and I want to make sure that we are also in the community in which we live.