FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2021
CATCH LIVE MUSIC & ENJOY LOCAL ART AT THIS YEAR’S CHATHAM EXPERIENCE
Chatham Arts Council’s Nov. 7 Event Features JumpstART Artists Eager to Share their Works with the Community
Pittsboro, NC—Ready for an outdoor event that has a little something for ALL arts lovers? The Chatham Arts Council’s Chatham Experience, Featuring JumpstART Artists is here to deliver! The event, sponsored by MOSAIC and Chatham Park, is being held in partnership with The Pittsboro Business Association and Main Street Pittsboro. It will take place on Nov. 7 as part of Pittsboro First Sunday. Designed to help get Chatham County artists and arts-workers back to work by paying artists to make art, Chatham Experience features local artists who were awarded the JumpstART grant. The Chatham Arts Council (CAC) is excited to help these artists bring their art to the public sphere as we reconnect with one another in our public spaces.
“I’m honored to be part of an event that is showing so much art in one of Chatham County’s downtown streets,” expressed Steve Fagan, participating artist. “Art exists solely for the sake of beauty, inspiration, and thought. With the events of the past few years having sown isolation and division in our world, both great and small, public displays of art have the ability to unify. Everyone can appreciate it, no matter what’s going on in their lives or what they believe. Maybe it gives us a moment of inspiration or causes us to look at the world in a different way — that’s important.”
The JumpstART grant was awarded to performing, visual, and literary artists living in Chatham County who have been financially impacted due to COVID-19 cancellations and closures. It was generously funded by Manbites Dog Theater Fund and the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.
Chatham Experience, Featuring JumpstART Artists will include the 15 JumpstART grant recipients and their artistic collaborators, representing multiple art forms:
- Sculpture with JR Butler, Steve Fagan, Alexander Percy;
- Textiles with Tanja Cole;
- Painting/Drawing with Britt Flood, Julia Kennedy, Kate Ladd, Nancy Ann Moore, Felix Obelix (aka Wendy Spitzer), ~buffy, Cope Aesthetic;
- Literary with Brenda Linton, Dolly Sickles;
- Music with the Chatham Rabbits, Grand Shores, and Breadfoot. Meet This Artist-featured musician, Edith McCaskill, will also be joining the lineup.
“It feels so good to be able to share work from these talented artists with our community,” expressed Cheryl Chamblee, CAC Executive Director. “We’re all craving something positive that brings us together right now. The arts have a unique ability to create a sense of unity, while allowing individuals to have a distinctive, meaningful experience.”
JumpstART visual artists’ work will be on display in both the Welcome Center in downtown Pittsboro and participating surrounding businesses, including The Salon, Edwards Antiques, Perch Co-Working, Chatham Park, Carolina Cravings, Pittsboro Toys, Ladies Fitness Center, Page Vernon Park, and Eric Michaels Salon. In addition to the November 7 Chatham Experience event date, JumpstART visual art will be on show from October 30 until November 16. Chatham Experience, Featuring JumpstART artists is free to the public and made possible with additional support from Chatham Magazine.
Pittsboro First Sunday
Pittsboro First Sunday takes place on the first Sunday of the month (March through December) from 12-4 p.m. It’s a family-friendly event with food trucks and vendors selling art, jewelry, textiles, woodwork, soaps, pottery, and more.
The Chatham Arts Council will continue to monitor COVID-19 conditions and work to provide a safe environment following all local and state mandates at the time of the event.
ABOUT THE CHATHAM ARTS COUNCIL
The Chatham Arts Council nurtures creative thinkers in Chatham County. We do this in two ways: we invest in artists, and we educate kids through the arts. In its thirty-ninth year as a nonprofit arts agency, Chatham Arts Council’s flagship programs include Meet This Artist, Go See This, artist grants, and the Chatham Artists-in-Schools Initiative – serving more than 3,500 children this year. Chatham Arts Council is proud to partner with the North Carolina Arts Council, the Durham Arts Council, Chatham County Schools, and numerous Chatham arts organizations, human resource nonprofits, and local businesses. For more information, visit www.ChathamArtsCouncil.org.
ABOUT MOSAIC
MOSAIC at Chatham Park is a 44-acre, mixed-used development serving as the commercial gateway to Chatham Park, a 7,100-acre live-work-play-learn community located in Pittsboro, NC near the Raleigh-Durham metro area. Once complete, this $180 million entertainment and lifestyle destination will offer 200,000+ sq. ft. of local and regional shops, restaurants and services; a 121-key Hampton Inn & Suites; 164 “urban-burb” apartment residences; 50 luxury condominiums; 88,000 sq. ft. of technical and creative office space, including a 30,000 sq. ft. innovation hub; 10,000 sq. ft. of multi-generational educational space; and 30,000 sq. ft. of recreational and civic amenities; and the MOSAIC Family Commons with an outdoor stage. Learn more at https://www.mosaicatchathampark.com/.
ABOUT CHATHAM PARK
Developed by award-winning Preston Development Company, Chatham Park is a technology centric 7,068-acre live, work, play, learn master-planned community located just outside of Raleigh in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Founded on five pillars: Innovation, Connectivity, Quality Design, Wellness, and Stewardship, the vision of Chatham Park is to offer a balanced, well-rounded lifestyle for those In Pursuit of a Life Well Lived. More than 2,000 acres will be dedicated to parks and open space in addition to a wide range of amenities including over 30 miles of scenic walking, biking and multimodal trails; access to Haw River and Jordan Lake; an amphitheater for live music and entertainment; shops, dining, art galleries, and so much more. Chatham Park will feature unique home designs in five villages along with schools, office and retail space. www.ChathamPark.com.
ABOUT PITTSBORO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
The Pittsboro Business Association is a membership-driven organization that promotes member businesses and positions Pittsboro as a tourist destination in the heart of North Carolina. Pittsboro and Chatham County are poised for unprecedented growth. This presents a tremendous opportunity for businesses. By advocating for our members, encouraging local spending, and engaging town and county governments, we can drive economic vitality. For more information, visit www.shoppittsboro.com.
ABOUT MAIN STREET PITTSBORO
As a Main Street America Affiliate™, Main Street Pittsboro is part of a national network of more than 1,200 neighbor-hoods and communities that share both a commitment to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. We accomplish this through organization, promotion, design, and economic vitality, encouraging the mission to preserve and protect the unique flavor of downtown Pittsboro. For more information visit www.mainstreetpittsboro.org.
CONTACT: April Starling, Marketing/Public Relations Leader of the Chatham Arts Council, april@chathamartscouncil.org or 917.544.0608.
NOTE: Feel free to publish partially or in its entirety, with or without a byline. The article was written by April Starling, Marketing/Public Relations Leader, Chatham Arts Council.
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