This is my blog on the arts scene of Carrboro, Chapel Hill and surrounding Triangle communities. I'll focus on visual arts and the 2ndFriday Artwalk and other visual art events but that doesn't mean I won't chat about music, literary events, film or anything else in the local creative world. Please email with ideas, links, comments or brickbats. [I have comment moderation on so if you don't see your comment right away that means that I haven't had a chance to approve it yet. Sorry, but the spammers.....]
Here's the invite, open to all interested in the arts in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and the Triangle:
“What Makes a Great Creativity District?”, the second in a series of open community meetings about the proposed Carrboro Arts & Creativity District, will take place at The ArtsCenter, 300-G East Main St, from 6:30 until 7:30 PM on Monday, March 10.
After a brief presentation highlighting features of outstanding arts and cultural districts in other towns, anyone attending the session will be invited to share his or her ideas and questions about the proposed district currently under consideration for Carrboro.
The public is welcome and there is no charge for admission.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Anita Jones-McNair, Carrboro Recreation & Parks Dept. (919-918-7381, amcnair@townofcarrboro.org, or Art Menius, The ArtsCenter (919-929-2787x217, director@artscenterlive.org)
Building the future of the Arts in Carrboro: Public meeting this Thursday, Jan. 16th 6:00pm at The Century Center
Join us this Thursday, January 16th at 6:00pm at The Century Center to discuss the development of the Arts in Carrboro and the planning of our future Arts District. This meeting is free and open to the public. Come with feedback, questions, ideas, or simply to listen and learn. Public involvement is what drives this process. Come out and get involved in the future of Carrboro!
Jeri Lynn Schulke of the ArtsCenter in Carrboro asked me to join her back in March on WCOM 1360 AM on the Arts Spot, a community arts interview program of the ArtsCenter. My interview along with many others can be heard by going here.
Saturday and Sunday at 11:30am. Join Tess Mangum Ocana and other hosts from the Arts Center in Carrboro, North Carolina as they sit down with musicians, actors, actresses, painters, and more from around the Triangle and around the world. The Arts Spot focuses on the cultural enrichment and enhancement of our lives that the arts provide.
We talked mostly about the activities of the Town of Carrboro Arts Committee that I chair but also more generally about the arts in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and the Triangle. We had a fun talk and got into some interesting issues for developing the arts within our area. You can download the interview as a mps or stream it.
There is a good bit of interest in the Triangle in creating an energetic pop-up art scene. Pop-ups typically find temporary uses for underutilized space where artists, collectives, art groups, etc. take advantage of the surplus of available space in many of our towns and cities. I'm on the board of Triangle ArtWorks and we're researching options to identify sites, examine the legal and financial issues and gauge the interest of the various parties -- downtown development, artists, real estate owners and agents -- in using free space (free as in available and perhaps free as in rent-free or low rent). It can be a win-win for all parties but we are particularly interested in wins for artists and art groups.
Many of you are familiar with the small space in front of the main area of the ArtsCenter in downtwon Carrboro. The ArtsCenter has used the space for temporary exhibits that mostly revolve around the 2ndFriday Artwalk. The East End Holiday Craft Shop is a little different. There's some good info on the project at their Facebook page.
Yesterday I popped in to the pop-up to see what was happening there. There's a wide range of arts and crafts materials -- interesting multimedia art pieces, cool silk screened t shirts and other clothing, jewelry, home goods, etc -- all made by local, independent artists and craftspeople.
River, one of the artists pictured below gave me some background. Check it out. You know you need presents for somebody, right?
Last night I attended the Joe Ely show at the ArtsCenter. The medium sized crowd (for what should have been a sellout) was remarkably enthusiastic and brought Joe and his top-notch band back for two encores. The combination of a terrific musical retrospective of his long career was used as a way to showcase some wonderful new tunes from his latest cd available at Amazon or iTunes.
The Triangle Music Scene has the scoop on the Love Language tour with two cool videos (one I'll link to below). More importantly, Carrboroites, is that the LL are playing at our beloved Cat's Cradle on Saturday, this Saturday, January 15th. Be there with tickets in hand. UPDATE: Ack, if you don't have tix you are out of luck as it's a sellout! Well done folks! (But then again I have my ticket.)
Still there's plenty of good music coming up. At the Cradle, Yo La Tengo Saturday Jan 23 is sold out (you can't have my ticket to that one either) but the Sunday show is still available. Alejandro Escovedo, who lived in the area for a while in the late 90s, early 00s, is back on Jan 27th. Down the road, our own Superchunk will play Mar 4th followed by Greg Brown the following night. Then there is a solo acoustic show from Citizen Cope (tix on sale this Friday the 14th) for an Apr 14th show.
At Local 506Mandolin Orange plays Jan 22 followed by the wonderful, oddball Jonathan Richman who returns on Feb 25. In between, on Feb 5th, you've got a chance to see Ted Leo (of the Pharmacists) and Mac McCaughan (Superchunk and Merge Records). (Due to a family emergency the Ted Leo concert has been postponed/canceled.)
At the ArtsCenter you've got Solas on Jan 28 followed by Bettye LaVette the following night.
Okay, that's enough for now so I leave you with the Love Language doing sparxx on Wrightsville Beach under the pier....
Here's a nice article on the 101st 2nd Friday ArtWalk of Chapel Hill & Carrboro. In nine years over a million people have attended the ArtWalk, in rain, shine, snow and heat. Congrats!
Jon Wilner, executive director of The ArtsCenter, will announce his retirement today. Wilner plans to stay on through September to help with a transition once a new director is selected.
After that, he plans to work with the center as a community representative for $1 per year. A formal announcement is expected sometime later today.
