The North Carolina Arts Council became an official state
agency on April 11, 1967. We operate as a division of the North
Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the nation's first cabinet
level state agency for the arts, history and libraries. The Council is
advised by a 24-member citizen board of directors appointed by the
governor to serve three-year terms.
Our Mission
Our mission at the North Carolina Arts Council is to enrich the
cultural life of the state by nurturing and supporting excellence in
the arts and by providing opportunities for every North Carolinian to
experience the arts. The Council has been a catalyst for the
development of arts organizations and facilities by making grants and
offering technical advice and counsel for more than 30 years.
Our Services and Programs
The Council and its staff are resources for information
about the arts in North Carolina and about the arts as an industry. We
have a statewide scope and perspective which gives us an overview of
the strengths, needs and issues in the arts across the state. We
encourage and support diversity in the arts as a reflection of our
state's rich and increasingly diverse population.
We encourage excellence in the arts by sponsoring outstanding
achievement awards to North Carolina's artists through Folk
Heritage Awards and through Fellowship Awards for composers,
choreographers, song writers, playwrights, poets, creative writers of
both fiction and nonfiction, visual artists, media artists and
craftspeople. To encourage the continued development of the arts, the
Council sponsors the commissioning of new works for theater, music and
the visual arts.
To ensure that creativity is stimulated at an early age and that
the arts play a key role in educational reform, the Council assists
with model arts-in-education programs. We provide general
agency assistance, both in technical expertise and funding for many of
the state's arts groups and cultural facilities, and we encourage
public/private partnership in the community. To enhance and strengthen
our built environment, we sponsor projects for art in public places.
Advice and Referrals
Our staff provides professional expertise on topics like
community arts development, arts-in-education and touring and
presenting. We consult on activities in the specific disciplines of
dance, folk arts, literature, music, theater and the visual arts. We
provide reference materials on topics such as how to start a
non-profit organization, how to adapt an existing building for use as
an arts center, how to start public art projects in your community or
how to hire staff and involve board members.
Information Clearinghouse
Consider us a resource and clearinghouse for information. We
answer questions by phone or mail and make referrals. Our staff
gathers and compiles data about the arts across North Carolina. Using
this extensive database, we can put you in touch with artists
and arts organizations in every county of the state. We produce some
standard lists free of charge such as lists of organizations for
artists seeking outlets for their work or major arts attractions for
tourists. These lists are
available on our web site. For a small fee, we can provide
customized lists or labels of artists or arts organizations in
zip-code order by county, by art form, or by type of organization. We
can add interested citizens, as well as artists to our mailing
list to receive our information.
Our Grantmaking Role
Through our citizen board, the Council serves as the steward of
state and federal funds appropriated for arts programs. Grants
are awarded statewide on a highly competitive basis. The grants
process activates partnerships between artists, arts organizations and
communities that benefit every county in the state. In fact, each
dollar granted by the Council in 1997-98 was matched by fourteen other
dollars. Our role in grantsmaking is to help our vast array of artists
and arts organizations stay strong so they can continue to produce
rich and diverse arts experiences for the state's citizens and
visitors.
State of the Arts: North Carolina
North Carolina's arts community is strong and vibrant and it
contributes greatly to the rich quality of life and to the healthy
economy that this state enjoys. For 32 years, the North Carolina Arts
Council has worked to build this community of artists and arts
organizations so that all of our citizens and visitors to our state
will have the opportunity to enjoy the arts. The North Carolina Arts
Council is a division within the Department of Cultural Resources. It
has a 24-member board appointed by the Governor and a 24-person staff.
The Arts Make a Significant Impact
on North Carolinaνs tourism industry
on downtown revitalization projects in numerous towns and cities
in the creation of jobs, both within arts organizations and
indirectly in
restaurants, hotels, parking lots, and printing and catering
businesses
in attracting and keeping desirable industries by making
communities more
stimulating places in which to live and work
North Carolina Arts Council Responsibilities
1. To develop and support North Carolina's arts resources
2. To build stronger communities through the arts
3. To help the state accomplish its other agendas, specifically
economic and community development
global trade and communication
better educated children
a more involved citizenry
Arts Council Programs
take artists into the schools
tour professional dance, music and theater companies throughout
the state
support the state's major professional music, dance, theater,
visual arts, and
literary organizations, many of which have regional and national
reputations
fund local priorities through the decentralized Grassroots Arts
Program
recognize our finest folk artists with Folk Heritage Awards and
our finest
career artists with fellowships
provide targeted assistance to organizations in previously
under-served
communities
work with local community leaders to develop cultural tourism
opportunities back...
