PITTSBORO – Thanks to diligent advocacy by ArtsNC and the North Carolina Arts Council, as well as support from state elected officials, the North Carolina General Assembly expanded funding for Grassroots Arts Grants for 2024-25! Chatham Arts Council (CAC) has been partnering with the NC Arts Council for the last 22 years to bring Grassroots Arts Grants Chatham County in support of local nonprofits. In that time, the organization has awarded more than $236,000 to Chatham nonprofits using the arts to do extraordinary work all over the county.
This year, CAC is thrilled to announce that more than $28,000 has been awarded to ten Chatham County nonprofits, expanding arts access all across the county. The funding will be used in a variety of creative ways.
- Circle City Theatre’s Chatham Cafe Cabaret will allow Chatham teens to showcase their performing arts talents at four events to be held at local cafes in Pittsboro and Siler City.
- Chatham Education Foundation will fund one Chatham teacher’s plan to bring a new art program to a Chatham County school.
- Chatham Partnership for Children hosts Day of the Books/El Dia de los Libros, a Siler City festival that allows families in the community to come together with community partners and local artists to celebrate children, the arts, literacy, and multiculturalism.
- Community Outreach for Racial Equality (CORE) will host their 8th Annual Juneteenth Black Arts Festival. Their goal this year is to expand into experiential art-making and will host artist workshops for the community.
- El Vinculo Hispano hosts the Hispanic Heritage Fiesta, an outdoor, family-friendly festival at Shakori Hills that showcases rich Latin-American cultural traditions through music, dance, food, games, and outreach booths. There will also be an art exhibit at the NC Arts Incubator in Siler City.
- JMArts will host a three-day leather craft workshop for visual arts students, as well as hire the pit orchestra for their spring musical Matilda: the Musical.
- Pittsboro Elementary will hire North Carolina Arts in Action to teach 100 fourth grade students confidence, perseverance, and excellence through the performing arts in a 10 session residency.
- Seaforth High School will hire an experienced technical director to spearhead the backstage for their spring musical, as well guest lecturing in their Technical Theatre classes.
- Shakori Hills/Hoppin John Fiddlers Convention brings fiddler workshops and performances to northwestern Chatham every fall.
- Welcome Chatham, Inc. (also known as Murals of Pittsboro) will restore and embellish the mural on Salisbury Street, originally painted by Clyde Jones in 1996.