The late John Kollock was instrumental in the Bavarian design of Helen’s architecture, making it a tourism hub in the Northeast Georgia mountains.

Now his influence and artist creativity will be honored in the Kollock room of the Helen Arts & Heritage history museum.

To mark the construction of the room and the museum, the HAHC is hosting the Kollock Kocktail, a reception fundraiser and sneak preview of the center’s progress, said Carol Powell, history program coordinator at Helen Arts & Heritage Museum.

The party will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, April 1, in the museum of the HAHC at 25 Chattahoochee Strasse in Helen. Admission is a $25 donation, payable at the door. All donations are tax deductible and will fund the remaining needs of the museum’s renovation progress.

Guests may taste the food and wine and have the opportunity to win impressive art pieces and other fine gifts through raffles.

The evening’s highlight will be the unveiling of a mural painted by German artist, Josef K. Mahler.

Born in Wurzburg, Germany, Mahler has a degree in graphic design and commercial art from the Kunst-und Handwerker Schule, where he was the youngest student to receive a scholarship. He then studied religious art at the Franciscan Eremitage near Regensburg, Germany. A sample of Mahler’s works are the murals of the four seasons in Helen’s Festhalle which he painted in 2015.

“We are most honored to have Joseph’s work included in the Kollock exhibit as it connects all that we are trying to say about John’s life and his lifelong work,” HAHC president Nancy Ackerman said.

Mahler and his wife, Helga, immigrated to Cape Coral, Fla., in 1983. Nearly 14 years later, the couple relocated to Sautee.

A limited amount of free parking is available in the rear area of the arts center and in the municipal lot down from the center on Chattahoochee Strasse.

For more information, visit helenarts.org.