Cary Arts Center Dedication Weekend!
Come on out to Cary’s newest art facility and learn more about the programs and classes for adults. There will be artist demonstrations and opportunities for you to try your hand at various art mediums.
Upon arrival, participants will receive a schedule of mini-classes and demonstrations occurring throughout the facility and may choose to participate in all events or only those that interest them.
The Open House event is being held in conjunction with the monthly Cary Art Loop. Local galleries and businesses open their doors to the public on the final Friday of each month to showcase the works of area artists.
Saturday, August 13th 10:00 AM - 9:30 PM
Come celebrate the opening of Cary's Newest Arts Center!
Activities for the whole family, behind the scenes tours, and performances throughout the whole day!
Sunday, August 14
3 p.m.
From Vision to Blueprints: A Roundtable Discussion with Artists Involved with the Design and Renovation of New Arts Center
Artists Norie Sato, Jim Hirschfield and Sonya Ishii were members of the Design Team that designed the new Cary community arts center. They will discuss their process and how artists’ ideas and thinking contributed to the overall built environment. The artists will share their sources of inspiration and how working as a Team with architects and engineers they develop ideas that create the unique look and feel of the project. Humanities Scholars Hilary Green, PhD and Architect Jim Smith will moderate the discussion.
What will the Cary Cultural Arts Center Offer?
The Town of Cary is renovating what used to be the Old Cary Elementary School and turning it into a Community Arts Center. The Cary Cultural Arts Center will offer a variety of art classrooms, studio, rehearsal, performance and office space for visual arts, ceramic arts and performing arts and will be nearly 47,000 square feet.
Visitors will encounter a drastic change to Cary Elementary on the main floor with its enormous lobby. The space reaches up to the third floor and down below to the main floor through use of an art wall holding the open stairway. The wall combines form and function with inspiration from the artist team of Norie Sato, Jim Hirschfield and Sonya Ishi who used replicas of photos taken from the town’s archives and integrated them into this wall and others, including the concession area. The staircase wall will extend from the lower level through to the third floor.
The renovation of the lower level will unify the original space into a “U” shaped hallway. One wing will house the Ceramics area and will include an adult classroom, children’s classroom, open studio space and a kiln area. The other wing will have the wood shop, costume shop, dressing rooms and a green room for the stage area. Specialized studios will provide for new classes for wood-working, faux painting techniques, print-making/lithography, ceramics, jewelry, glass-making, fine arts, dance, and youth and adult performances. The Art Gallery will enable local artists to exhibit their works.
The auditorium floor will be slanted with nearly 400 seats. The back of the building will have a fly tower which will allow sets to be built and housed on site and backdrops controlled using pulleys.
The Cary Cultural Arts Center will offer classes throughout the day and musical and dance performances in the evenings. The renovation of the Old Cary Elementary School into a cultural arts center will offer opportunities for integrated art and design elements and make it an anchor for the community.
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