We’re more than 30 years young!
In the years since our incorporation in 1982, Chatham Arts Council has:
- granted critical funding to County nonprofits as a Designated County Partner to the North Carolina Arts Council;
- augmented core curricula in local schools through scholarships, exhibits, after school outlets, and classroom residencies;
- Incubated the now-thriving Bynum Front Porch;
- created the Chatham County Studio Tour and spun off the extraordinary Chatham Artists Guild that produces that tour so beautifully each year;
- developed, along with Horton Middle School and the Chatham County Black Historical Society, the George Moses Horton Project in January 2000;
- created the Sustainable Film Series, an intimate exchange among Chatham residents and local Filmmakers;
- Produced the annual concert of local bluegrass legends, The Bluegrass Experience;
- hosted a gallery space where Chatham artists could show and sell work;
- produced ClydeFEST, a one-of-a-kind kids’ arts festival.
The Chatham Arts Council has been primarily driven by a strong volunteer Board, with help of one or two staff members. The Council’s recent full-time Executive Director, Molly Matlock, brought the Council to a new level in her 5-year tenure.
It is from this place of strength that new Executive Director Cheryl Chamblee and the Board were able to take a fresh look at our activities beginning in early 2013. In this self-examination, we were thrilled to see so many successes for the arts in Chatham County.
That said, we also saw that our successes were not having the greatest possible impact for the resources used. We were inspired to take action.
Spending the next two years reaching out for community input and looking inward to build organizational strength, we committed to a new identity and a tightened focus. We are poised for stronger, more creative, more sustainable work—in partnership with artists, arts organizations, and arts appreciators throughout Chatham County.
