Register for the Durham Art Walk

Durham Art Walk Spring Market will run Saturday and Sunday, April 28 and 29.
The deadline to register is Thursday, March 1.
This celebration of Durham's visual culture will highlight the continuing growth and development of the cultural scene, businesses and restaurants of downtown Durham.
For online artist registration, click here.
For sponsor registration forms, click here.
(click here)
For more information, contact Lindsay Gordon, artist services manager, at lgordon@durhamarts.org or (919) 560.2719.
Durham Art Walk is presented and produced by the Durham Arts Council.

Earth Action Day—call for exhibitors and artists

The fifth annual Earth Action Day comes to Southern Community Park in Chapel Hill on Saturday, April 14, from noon to 5 p.m. Nonprofits, commercial organizations and artists are invited to submit an application to share their message educating and encouraging the latest in living sustainably to a crowd of over 3,500 people in the community.
Earth Action Day is a local event that encourages visitors to learn about the earth’s bounty and how our daily choices affect our environment. Southern Community Park is the perfect place to hold the event, as it was designed with a focus on public art utilizing on-site materials that showcase the thematic elements of earth, air, water, fire, fauna and flora.
Visitors at the event will have the chance to enjoy the Swap-O-Rama clothing swap, interactive workshops, live entertainment and the local food pavilion. We are also excited to bring back the mARTket, a fair featuring artists who create work fundamentally using recycled and up-cycled materials. Local artists who follow such a sustainable approach are encouraged to apply to sell their artwork.
The application deadline for entry is due March 10. The exhibition fee for artists and non-profits is $50 and for commercial organizations, $150. Register online to exhibit at Earth Action Day; apply early as space is limited.

Festifall 2012 calls for non-profit and commerical exhibitors

Applications for local non-profit and commercial businesses at Chapel Hill’s 40th annual Festifall 2012 are now being accepted by the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department. Festifall will take place Sunday, Oct. 7, from noon to 6 p.m. on the tree-lined street of West Franklin. Applications are due by June 1st; space is limited.
More than 15,000 local and visiting attendees are entertained throughout the day with live music and the best that the local art scene has to offer accompanied by participatory interactive art and dance activities. Festifall was voted Best Festival by Chapel Hill Magazine readers 2011/12 In 2011 and attracts 15,000+ people from all over Central North Carolina; no other event in Chapel Hill or Orange County attracts as many people in one afternoon.
Partnerships in publicity include the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership and the Chapel Hill Visitor’s Bureau. Festifall is also promoted through 30,000 printed event guides, in regional print, radio and television advertisements as well as the most current, wide-reaching social media outlets.
To support the Town’s sustainability efforts, we are encouraging all interested artists to apply using the paperless application. A hard copy, PDF version, can be downloaded at this site as well.
More information, including the full official event guide, parking, and pictures from Festifall 2011, can be found online. Questions about registration for Festifall 2012 can be directed to Carter Hubbard at chubbard@townofchapelhill.org.

Festifall 2012 artist applications now available

Applications for artist booths at Chapel Hill’s 40th annual Festifall 2012 are now being accepted by the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department. Festifall will take place Sunday, Oct. 7, from noon to 6 p.m. on the tree-lined street of West Franklin. Applications are due by May 1, and space is limited to 120 qualifiers.
Festifall artists will be awarded cash prizes for: first place at $350, second place at $250 and third place at $150, and juror, Sara Latta Gress, owner of the North Carolina Crafts Gallery in Carrboro, will be selecting the awards this year.
Selected artists creating in all media will be a part of this well-publicized annual event celebrating the cultural arts held in downtown Chapel Hill. More than 15,000 local and visiting attendees are entertained throughout the day with live music and the best that the local art scene has to offer, accompanied by participatory interactive art and dance activities.
Partnerships in publicity include the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership and the Chapel Hill Visitor’s Bureau. Festifall is also promoted through 30,000 printed event guides, in regional print, radio and television advertisements as well as the most current: wide-reaching social media outlets.
To support the Town’s sustainability efforts, we are encouraging all interested artists to apply using the paper-less application. A hard copy, PDF version, can be downloaded at this site as well. Applications are accompanied by a fee of $25. Applicants’ images will be reviewed by a panel of local artist jurors, and accepted artists will be notified on June 15.
More information, including the full official event guide, parking, and pictures from Festifall 2011, can be found online. Questions about registration for Festifall 2012 can be directed to Carter Hubbard at chubbard@townofchapelhill.org.

CenterFest holds planning focus groups

We invite your participation in the CenterFest continuing planning process!
Durham Arts Council, producer and presenter of CenterFest Arts Festival for 37 years, announced in July its plans to expand and re-envision CenterFest. DAC and its key partners have been underway in the visioning/planning process for the 2012 event and invite your participation in the next step: CenterFest focus groups.
Focus Groups take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Durham Arts Council, 120 Morris St. in Durham. If discussions need additional time the groups will continue to 8 p.m.
Please RSVP by clicking on the link for each focus group. You are welcome to attend one, several or all.

CenterFest—Visual Arts Focus Group
Wednesday Jan. 18 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at DAC. If discussion needs additional time the group will continue to 8 p.m.
The visual arts focus group will discuss event components related to the visual artists who apply for sales/display booth space and other possible visual arts elements of the festival such as interactive public art, art demonstrations, student art showcase and other ideas.
Co-Moderated by: Molly Pasca, Pottery artist and Lucy Grant, DAC Board Member

CenterFest—Creative Community Focus Group
Friday, Jan 20, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at DAC. If discussion needs additional time the group will continue to 8 p.m.
The focus group for the creative community will discuss some new elements being considered for CenterFest such as showcases for new creative businesses, design arts and technology and favorite past elements such as the non-profit showcase. Although anyone is invited to attend, this focus group will be most appropriate for designers, game developers, architects, music industry, film arts, arts non-profits and other creative businesses that have not typically been part of traditional arts festivals.
Co-moderated by: Matthew Coppedge, Downtown Durham Inc. and Meredythe Holmes, Monarch Services and Beverly Meek, Duke University

CenterFest—Food/Beverage/Culinary Arts Focus Group
Monday, Jan. 23, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at DAC. If discussion needs additional time the group will continue to 8 p.m.
This focus group will discuss possible new culinary arts/beverage/food elements for CenterFest and how we might do that. Locally sourced foods, wine festival, beer garden, food truck rodeo, chef competitions and other foodie ideas will be on the table. Restauranteurs, brewers, wine folks encouraged to attend and all who can think with gastronomic glee.
Co-moderated by: Diane Daniel, author of Farm Fresh North Carolina and Shelly Green, President & CEO of Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau

CenterFest—Music/Performing Arts Focus Group
Thursday, Jan. 26, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at DAC. If discussion needs additional time the group will continue to 8 p.m.
This focus group will discuss the music and performing arts entertainment elements of the festival, including performances on the festival grounds and main stages and surrounding venues. This may possibly include both non-ticketed free performances, ticketed performances, a wrist-band access series, roaming entertainment, interactive crowd elements (planned and spontaneous) and other ideas.
Co-moderated by: Mike Woodard, DAC Board VP/Duke University/City Councilman; Joe Newberry, musician; Marc Lee, WNCU radio announcer/emcee; and Kirk Ridge, NC Songwriters Co-Op

CenterFest—Site/Venues/Format Focus Group
Monday, Jan. 30, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at DAC. If discussion needs additional time the group will continue to 8 p.m.
This focus group will discuss the possible sites, venues, event layout, gating, admission, load-in/load-out, look and feel of the event, security, volunteers and other site and format considerations.
Co-Moderated by: Casey Steinbacher, President & CEO, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce;
Sioux Watson, Publisher, The Independent; and Sherry DeVries, DAC Executive Director.

Durham Arts Council Executive Director, Staff and Board Leadership will be present at all the focus groups to provide information, listen and document all the great ideas, and answer questions.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Thanks to all of you who have already responded to the CenterFest Survey. You can still fill out the survey -click here!

The CenterFest Focus Groups will culminate in early February in a final Design Charrette co-facilitated by DAC and the Durham Area Designers with support from DCVB, DDI, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, and Durham Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

Hats off to the ladies!

Ladies Night Out kicked off Thursday, April 28, with special deals for the ladies around downtown Hillsborough, live music and a hat competition.