Randy Grider

Randy Grider is the current Executive Director of the Mentone Cultural Arts Center in Mentone, AL. In his spare time he is history researcher and lecturer. Prior to serving in this role, Randy worked as a career journalist. For fun, Randy enjoys the outdoors and traveling.

Randy likes to refer to himself as “a local ambassador for Nature Sacred” in Mentone, and is a dedicated and passionate Firesoul for his historic community.

Mentone is a small arts hamlet (pop. 390) in the foothills of Northeast Alabama. The community chose to construct a sculpture garden featuring Cherokee linguist and inventor of the Cherokee written language, who lived in the area when he introduced the Cherokee syllabary in the early 1820s. The sculpture of Sequoyah, a central feature of the Sacred Place was done by local sculptors Carl McCleskey and Betsy Scott. While the garden has a small footprint, its overall design is very impactful as it encompasses both the Native American and arts heritage that draws tourists to this area.

“Our Sacred Place is important to our community because it encompasses our history and arts heritage in beautiful setting. It’s both reflective and historic in setting and persona”.