JOPLIN, Mo. — Art and music lovers gather this weekend — to celebrate the one-year milestone of a local, state-of-the-art venue. It’s the Harry M. Cornell Arts and Entertainment Complex.

Since the venue’s opening in 2022 — it’s seen more than 28,000 visitors come through its doors for more than 400 events.

The main groups that reside in the complex are Connect2Culture and the Spiva Center for the Arts.

The pair will host an array of events this weekend — kicking off with a free workshop about St. Louis native pianist, Brian Woods.

Connect2Culture Executive Director Emily Frankoski tells us — the complex has become a beacon for entertainment in Joplin.

“I’ve just been so fortunate to see it from just a vision to actually being a building and realized. So, it has been really exciting to watch the arts and cultural community grow and being a part of it. Especially for Connect2Culture, we used to have, you know, four to six shows a year,” said Emily Frankoski, Connect2Culture Executive Director.

If you’d like to help celebrate — there’s still a chance.

Pro Musica will have a string quartet performance taking place at the complex tomorrow evening at 7 p.m.