North Carolina Arts Council strategic plan, 2009-2013

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STRATEGIES
Establish cARTwheels as a permanent program and create cARTwheels II to
provide more in depth educational experiences through artist residencies
conducted by smaller companies and touring artists. Develop a Web site that
provides comprehensive resources for educators, students, and families.
Establish partnership agreements with the primary arts in education providers
around the state to produce strategic, coordinated arts in education programs
in various geographic regions. Expand TAPS into10 new counties and create a component that pairs advanced students with local master traditional artists for a 1- 2 year apprenticeship.
Convene an annual gathering of TAPS students and teachers.
North Carolina’s vast network of artists and arts organizations provides us with high
quality exhibits, performances, workshops and classes, presentations, readings, and
festivals – a multitude of ways for the state’s citizenry to participate in arts and culture.
In 2001, with a major grant from the Wallace Foundation, we created Learning Audiences
North Carolina, a five year initiative that explored new approaches to building arts
participation. We partnered with Arts Action Research to conduct an extensive series
of workshops and consultations, and funded 30 demonstration projects that showed the
importance of building relationships with audiences and linking arts programs with their
interests and experiences.
Still, there are significant segments of our population which require very distinct and focused
strategies to become full participants in North Carolina’s arts network.
Currently arts organizations are eager to connect with the rising “ creative class” of
Generation X and Y. These younger adults, accustomed to Facebook, YouTube, mashups,
and Second Life, seek interactive experiences that allow them to customize and curate
their participation. At the same time, our fast growing retiree population, many of whom
are long- time arts patrons, have specific expectations and demands regarding their arts
experiences. A third group of new audiences are the ethnically diverse populations, who
have rich cultural traditions.
More funding is needed to help arts organizations keep up with the rising costs of high
quality arts productions, offer more learning and participatory experiences, increase
interactive technology capabilities, and improve accessibility to participants with disabilities. LIVES FILLED WITH DISCOVERY AND LEARNING
1. Expand opportunities for all citizens to experience the arts.
2. Provide the state’s young people with arts learning experiences
that spark creativity, imagination, and innovation.
All of our major arts organizations have developed engaging arts learning programs
for students in their counties and regions. We have an expansive roster of teaching artists
and companies that, through artist residencies, creates valuable learning opportunities
for children, their families, and educators.
In 2006, the General Assembly appropriated funds to pilot a touring program with the
goal that every child experiences opera, theater, music, and dance before they leave
elementary school. The cARTwheels program was designed to complement the North
Carolina Symphony’s education concerts, one of the nation’s oldest and most extensive
music education programs. Now in its 3rd pilot year, cARTwheels tours 10 of the state’s
finest performing arts companies to approximately 40 rural counties annually. Children
are treated to an age- appropriate, fully- staged 50- minute performance. The program
receives high praise from students, educators, and arts councils and has received recog-nition
as the largest program of its kind in the nation.
The Traditional Arts Program for Students ( TAPS) makes sure that the state’s important
traditional artistry is transmitted to young people. TAPS operates as an after- school
program in 11 counties. It provides elementary and middle school students with weekly
instruction in an art form that has deep cultural roots in their community. These include
Appalachian music; traditional pottery- making; Native American song and drumming;
Korean dance, drumming, and calligraphy arts; and African American blues, jazz, and
gospel music.
Above: Students at Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville learn to play the fiddle, banjo, mandolin,
guitar, using instruments provided by the center. Part of the successful Junior Appalachian
Musicians ( JAM) program funded by the N. C. Arts Council, lessons are free and allow students to
learn the traditional music of their region from master local musicians. Photo by Robin Dreyer for
the N. C. Arts Council.