Welcome to the arts in North Carolina!

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Arts North Carolina recently released informative documents to promote the arts in North Carolina. Click on the icon below to link document (PDF). Acrobat reader required.

courtesy: www.artsnc.org

The North Carolina Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the Pasquotank Arts Council recently sponsoreda free Arts Law Clinic on Tuesday May 25, 2004, from 10AM until 4PM at the Pasquotank Arts Council Gallery, 609 East Main Street, Elizabeth City, NC. The Arts Law Clinic provided the opportunity for artists and representatives of arts organizations to have free half-hour consultations with an attorney that works in the field of arts law. The North Carolina Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is a statewide, non profit organization; its mission is to be the link between the arts and the legal community. For more information about NCVLA visit their website:

On June 16, the U.S. House of Representatives voted by a record margin (241 to 185) in favor of an amendment to increase NEA funding by $10 million and NEH funding by $3.5 million. Learn more about this bipartisan amendment that represents a strong statement about the importance of federal funding for the arts and the humanities in America. Click on the AFTA logo for details

jillsimm@bellsouth.net

Artists available for bookings are:
Peachtree Brass Quintet
Scott Douglas, Solo Percussionist
Life Force Jazz Quintet
Joanna Maddox, Actress/African- American Biographical Storyteller
Josie Bailey, Stories by Josie
Kay Rosenblum as Queen Emeralda
The Living Record, Griots/Storytellers
Francine Jennings, Character Edutainment Stories through Drama
Kele's Pacific Dancers
Le'Zette Jordan, Chance to Dance Movement Workshops
Tunde Afolayan, Visual Artist/Muralist
Kris Kelly, Native American Culturalist

Artists can be booked also for PTA nights, festivals, and professional development workshops.

(Elizabeth City, NC,,,) ARTSZONE, INC. in partnership with the Albemarle Family YMCA presents "We Build People": A Youth Mural Project
This visual art workshop takes youth on a creative adventure that nurtures self-expression, critical thinking and appreciation for the arts. Click on this image to view the project POSTER

This exciting Visual Art Workshop is designed for youth ages 6 -12.
The after school mural workshop begins November 5 through December 17, 2004, each Friday from 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 PM. at the Albemarle Family YMCA 1240 N. Road Street in Elizabeth City. The participants for this project will be selected from the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public School System. Click here to download PRESS RELEASE

COMMUNITY PALETTE

ARTSZONE completes a 'Community Palette Series'. A large mural depicting the Pasquotank River view was thesubject of this piece. Artszone is in the process of donating this mural to the local public library where it should be accessible to the public.
The mural was painted by people in the community during a one day outdoor creative engagement at a Culti-Cultural Fair held at the US Coast Guard Base in Elizabeth City, NC. Click on the image to view Mural

 ARTSZONE FINDS HOME IN ELIZABETH CITY

(Elizabeth City, NC…) There's a new addition to Elizabeth City's evolving cultural landscape. Elizabeth City arts community welcomes ARTSZONE, a community based nonprofit youth arts program initiative with specific emphasis on the arts in education and community revitalization. ArtsZone is a vision developed by painter and art educator Tunde Afolayan, (pronounced "Toon-Day Ah-for-lion") an Elizabeth City resident artist and adjunct instructor of art at Elizabeth City State University.

'ARTMOVES' an all arts magazine did a review on ARTSZONE in their Spring edition. Click on ARTMOVES image for full review (PDF). *Acrobat reader is required to download this document.

June 11 2004 ...Members of Elizabeth City local arts communities joined in on a national telephonic audio conference on the arts. Tunde Afolayan (ArtsZone), Lisa Winslow (Pasquotank Arts Council) and Fae Deaton (ArtsZone Board) were among the participants o f the audio conference at the Pasqutank Arts Council Gallery in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The audio conference was sponsored by the Americans For the ARTS. Click on this REPORT to download conference documents (PDF).

Washington, DC... Tunde Afolayan of ArtsZone, Inc. is a recipient of a scholarship award to participate in pARTicipate 2004, the largest gathering of local and State arts leaders in Washington, DC. Americans for the Arts has awarded Tunde Afolayan a $500 reimbursement scholarship to be used toward registration, travel, and/or hotel expenses associated with attending pARTicipate2004, the second joint convention of Americans for the Arts and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, July 17-20, 2004, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. For more information about pARTicipate2004 log on to:

Absolute Art, Inc…Enriching lives through the arts is the mission of Absolute Art, Inc., a new educational/cultural arts service. Absolute Art books seasoned teaching artists with curriculum related arts educational assembly, workshop and residency programs into schools and library systems as well as other community and corporate venues.

Its founder and managing director Jill Rucker Simmons has a passion for the arts, which began at age five when she started art studies at the Newark (New Jersey) Museum Saturday Classes for Children. Involved professionally in the arts for almost 30 years, Jill exhibited paintings and photographs throughout the north and southeast including the Museum of Natural History, Nikon House and Studio Museum of Harlem. She worked in the photo industry as a legal photographer, high school photo instructor, and field representative/troubleshooter for a major New Jersey photofinishing corporation. While employed with the Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs during the mid 80's, she assisted with the establishment of New Visions Gallery of Contemporary Art.

For over 14 years, Jill managed scheduling operations and program coordination for Young Audiences of Atlanta. She also was steward of Fulton and DeKalb County grants for libraries, art centers, senior facilities, the National Black Arts Festival and the Share the World Project of the Atlanta Public School System while with Young Audiences (YA). After leaving YA in 2002 to be more available for her middle school student, help care for aging relatives, and pursue other opportunities, she continued "connecting the arts to the world" on a smaller scale with arts booking service ArtsNetwork, Inc.

She serves on the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia High School Art Competition Committee and is a consultant to the High Museum of Art I See Literacy Residency Program.

To book the artists for your schools, contact Absolute Art, Inc. at 404 - 284 - 9207 or jillsimm@bellsouth.net