What
The Chatham Arts Council nurtures creative thinkers in Chatham County.
That’s the short version. But other folks do that, too. Here’s what makes us unique:
We’re the ones who put our arms around the artists and the kids of Chatham County.
Yep. We’ve focused in on doing two things and doing them really well:
- One: We invest in artists.
- Two: We educate kids through the arts.
We launched this new identity for the Chatham Arts Council in November 2014, a crazy exciting leap after a full two years of internal work and outreach in the community.
Chatham County is home to an astonishing number of artists and arts appreciators—and we’re looking forward to being the arts council this county deserves.
Join us, will you?
Why & How
Because we value artists.
We value artists who paint, perform, draw, dance, act, cook, sculpt, write, sew, film, play, sing, and record.
We value professional artists, emerging artists, artists-in-secret, aspiring artists, and young artists-to-be.
You can check out We Invest in Artists and We Educate Kids through Arts to see more particulars about the whys behind our two focus areas.
Just as important as the Why is the How. And our Board and Staff are committed to doing this work in the following ways:
- Exemplary
- Impactful
- Inclusive
- Innovative
- Intentional
- Reliable
- Sustainable
- Unique
Hold us to that, okay?
Our Staff
CHERYL CHAMBLEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (part-time)
creator . strategist . mama
Cheryl’s professional background includes working alongside arts administration hero Joyce A. Moffatt to build the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago, nine years as a major gifts fundraiser in the Triangle, writing and producing 10 original plays as co-founder of both hands theatre company, and helping artists bring their projects to fruition as co-founder of The Creativity School. She joined the Chatham Arts Council as Executive Director in late 2012.
What are you doing when you’re not leading the Chatham Arts Council?
I have adventures with my daughter and husband, make theatre, and coach other creative-leader-mamas.
Any current obsessions?
Minimalism and focus for nonprofits and life—identifying the things we need to let go in order to spend our time on what’s most important. And this: parenting in a way that supports the natural curiosity and creativity of my child.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Making a Three Wise Men craft with Q-Tips, construction paper, and cardboard with my own mama. Age three. And yes, we still have it.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
I have two: Gotham Woods Farm and Lizard Leap. Ooh, and I sure do love Oakleaf Restaurant and Small B&B Cafe in Pittsboro—and the great feel of potential in downtown Siler City.
DANIELLE DU CLOS
visionary artist . bridge . mystical musical poet
Danielle has had adventures in many areas of the arts, including working as a photographer and then managing a photography foundation in New York. She continues to create music and interactive art and drawings. Her most recent live performances have included solo and in collaboration with innovative artists diving into intersections of sonic and visual experience through live improvisation and original compositions at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Galapagos, Ars Nova, Knitting Factory and Cornell University and she has also led kirtans in NY.
What are you doing when you’re not working at the Chatham Arts Council?
Getting to know the natural world, patterns and movement of energy, often by singing with nature (including cats), composing music, lyrics, and art in a process that becomes an adventure for me. I am exploring and engaging in community healing and building and curious about how we can evolve with creativity to meet our challenges to reach a new stage of human connection and community worldwide.
Any current obsessions?
With early hearing loss over the last 20 years, I’ve come to notice different things than I otherwise might have, and I’ve become fascinated with the connections between sight, sound, vibration and consciousness, cognitive mapping, and the interconnections between all living things.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Experiencing and dancing to Debussy as an elephant…and going around all over with my tape recorder collecting sounds and voices of the world around me in the city along with the songs I’d write about a day in the life of a rabbit in the woods and the meanings of rainbows.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
The banks of the Haw River—enchanted lands.
MIKI ADAMS
painter . stitcher . reader
Traveling, and rejoicing and adjusting to recent retirement.
Art, gardens, domesticated animals.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Walking to and prowling through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC with my father.
Chatham Community Library in Pittsboro.
Our Board
GINA HARRISON, PRESIDENT
cheerleader . designer . musician
Gina has lived in Chatham County since 1983, and she joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2006. She has a special interest in arts advocacy and arts education.
What do you do with your days?
Work as an arts education advocate for Chatham Arts Council, Arts North Carolina, and the NHS Arts Education Foundation; graphic design; and whatever craft I’m obsessed with at the moment.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Attending the high school theatre production when I was in the first grade.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
Home. And Northwood High School.
BETT WILSON FOLEY, VICE-PRESIDENT
community builder . designer . nurturer
Bett has lived in Chatham County for much of her life. She grew up here until she went off to college, and she moved back in 2002. She joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2012. A Pittsboro Town Commissioner, Bett believes in creativity as a positive force in communities.
What do you do with your days?
I garden, arrange flowers, shoot photographs, hike, and spend time with my family and four dogs.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
My mother kept a large stack of blank newspring on hand at all times. My sisters and I loved to draw. Mom also filled a cedar chest full of fabric and craft supplies. We created all sorts of things!
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
The Haw River.
LESLEY L. LANDIS, SECRETARY
organizer . introvert . dreamer
Lesley has lived in Chatham County since 2002, and she joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2006. She believes that the arts are essential to community-building.
What do you do with your days?
I play with my dog, garden, and am a graphic designer at Lesley Landis Designs.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Learning to write my letters and attributing human characteristics to them based on their darkness, boldness, slant, and size.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
My home.
BARRY UDIS, TREASURER
retiree . photographer . searcher
Barry has lived in Chatham County since 2009, and he joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2014. A retired flow cytologist, he is now a photographer who is particularly interested in our Investing in Artists focus area.
What do you do with your days?
Focus on my photography.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Seeing Salvador Dali on Fifth Avenue.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
Twin Lakes Golf Course.
SELBE BARTLETT
thinker . maker . strategist
Selbe has lived in Chatham County since 2004, and she joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2016. She’s eager to provide Chatham youth with arts experiences that build a love of the arts throughout their lives.
What do you do with your days?
I love, laugh, and work with my family and community and then work some more at AllScripts.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
When I was on the stage crew for a high school theater production, I was amazed at how talented everyone was.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
Downtown Pittsboro. I absolutely love to walk around downtown. It is so relaxing to watch the small town wanderings of people enjoying their community.
DR. LORI MAJOR CARLIN
thinker . mommy . educator
Lori has lived in Chatham County since 2005, and she joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2013. She is much beloved as the former theatre teacher for Northwood High School, and she is a strong proponent of arts in the schools.
What do you do with your days?
I serve as the Chatham County Schools Public Information Officer & Arts Education Coordinator.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
I was The Littlest Angel in the play, “The Littlest Angel.”
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
The Northwood High School Auditorium.
ELISABETH LEWIS CORLEY
poet . actor . screenwriter
Elizabeth has lived in Chatham County since 2003, and joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2016. An award-winning actor, screenwriter, editor, director, poet, and producer of plays and films, she’s eager to contribute to an increasingly vital life of the arts in Chatham County.
What do you do with your days?
Lately I spend a lot of time working as a producer for theatre and short films for StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance, and Harland’s Creek Productions. When I can slip away (and sometimes when I shouldn’t), I ride horses, studying dressage.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
When I was four I wrote what I hoped was a poem.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
I’m a homebody: Harland’s Creek – our home, our woods, the cabin.
TAYLOR HOBBS
designer . team builder . dad
Taylor has lived in Chatham County since 2005, and he joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2014. An architect by profession, he brings an artist’s view and a business owner’s perspective to our table. As a dad, he brings a belief in arts in education.
What do you do with your days?
Work, parent, play, work, work. As a principal at Hobbs Architects, PA, I’m currently spending lots of time as project architect for the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center and the Chatham County Environmental Quality Headquarters.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Drawing and sketching in church from a young age.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
Chatham Mills.
KAREN HOWARD
activist . mother . collaborator
Karen has lived in Chatham County since 2007, and she joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2013. With a professional background as an attorney, a mother of six—including a child with special needs, she is passionate about working for arts in education.
What do you do with your days?
Drive kids, cook, clean, and repeat. Service on the Chatham County Board of Commissioners.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Seeing “Finian’s Rainbow” at the Dundas theatre in the Bahamas in 1971.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
The bridge over the Haw River on 15-501 at sunrise.
GILDA McDANIEL
planner . collector . cat-herder
Gilda has lived in Chatham County since 1998, and she is our longest-serving Board member, having joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2003. She is a major force behind the wonder that is ClydeFEST.
What do you do with your days?
I’m the Special Events Manager for Fearrington Village.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Listening to my father sing opera to the cats! Seriously, visiting many museums and attending musical events with parents as a small child and growing up.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
Home.
JON SPOON
maker . thinker . helper
Jon has lived in Chatham County for most of his life. He grew up here, left for college, and moved back in 2012. He joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2016. An avid potter and sculptor, he wants to help local artists connect with opportunities for career advancement through continuing education and development of new sales avenues.
What do you do with your days?
I’m the Director of the Small Business Center at CCCC.
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Attending art shows with my mother and spending many hours with a box of modeling clay.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
The banks of the Rocky River.
SUE SZARY
energizer . innovator . optimist
Sue has lived in Chatham County since 2006, and joined the Chatham Arts Council board in 2016. Her two businesses, a retail shop and a wholesale business selling handcrafted fiber art tools, reflect her passion for fiber arts. She’s eager to serve as a conduit to connect the Siler City creative community with the rest of Chatham County.
What do you do with your days?
I tend the critters on my farm, including silk worms, spin fiber, and weave, and run Twin Birch Products and my retail shop “against his will studio.”
What is your earliest memorable arts experience?
Sweeping sawdust from the floor of my Dad’s woodshop.
What’s your favorite place in Chatham County?
Home!
And What We Don’t Do
When you narrow your focus to be the best you can be at two things, there are a lot of cool things you have to let go.
Here are some things you might be looking for, important things that other organizations or people can help you with a whole lot better than we can:
- Do you offer arts classes?
We don’t, but there are some awesome classes around the county—and just beyond our borders. You might start by searching for “teacher” in our Arts and Artists Directory. And you could also check with the good people at Central Carolina Community College, the NC Arts Incubator, and the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.
- Where can I find gallery representation?
Hm. That’s not our area of expertise, but lots of the fine folks at the Chatham Artists Guild and the NC Arts Incubator have gallery representation, so check in with them.
- I need space for my art—performance space or exhibition space or studio space. Where can I find it?
We don’t have a catalog of spaces right now, though that’s a fabulous idea for the future. You might check in with area businesses or the Chatham Artists Guild or the NC Arts Incubator about exhibition space. And the last two would likely have tips on studio space as well, especially space at the Incubator. For performance space, a little more creativity may be required.
