Cultural Groups

All non-profit arts organizations in Cabarrus County have the opportunity to apply for annual funding from the Cabarrus Arts Council. The funding for grants is received through the Grassroots Arts Program of the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency, and funds that the Cabarrus Arts Council raises from the community.

The arts council works with its funded groups to strengthen each organization. The executive director conducts administrative workshops on board development, budgeting, fundraising, marketing and calendar coordination. The council also provides meeting space and publicity for these groups. The groups below are eligible for Grassroots Grants.

Ballet

Piedmont Dance Theatre

Piedmont Dance Theatre is a non-profit youth dance company that invites dancers from all local studios to audition for its Nutcracker production and summer performance. Its directors are professional dancers who train their students to pursue a dance career. Rebecca Wiley performed with the American Dance Festival and is a faculty member at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Daniel Wiley was a principal dancer with the North Carolina Dance Theatre and was named the 2005 Best Dancer in Charlotte Magazine’s Best of the Best edition.

http://www.piedmontdancetheatre.com

Community Theater

Old Courthouse Theatre

OCT is a community theatre, using local talent to perform five shows annually. Actors, set builders, light and sound technicians, and box office personnel are all community volunteers. A different Artistic Director is hired for each show, keeping the shows fresh and creative, and each season offers a variety that includes musicals, comedies, and dramas. This community theatre welcomes all who are interested to become involved – there is a place for everyone who wants to participate. OCT is located at 49 Spring Street in Concord in a renovated church.

http://www.oldcourthousetheatre.org

Choral Music

Piedmont Choral Society

The Piedmont Choral Society is a chorus that includes singers from across the community. Its mission is to provide high-caliber performances of both sacred and secular choral masterworks that have stood the test of time and have become standards to which all other musical literature is compared. The chorus performs a Christmas concert and a spring concert in addition to appearances in nursing homes, retirement centers, and other community venues. They are often accompanied by professional orchestra and guest musicians. Rehearsals occur every Tuesday evening and auditions are required.

Instrumental Music

Piedmont Prime Time Community Band

The community band creates an opportunity for people who play a musical instrument to enjoy practicing and performing with others in the community. The band was formed and is conducted by Jon Hutchinson and provides musical entertainment for the community with concerts in the spring, fall, and during the holiday season. The band also performs at other special events in the area such as outdoor celebrations in the park and for other events upon invitation. Rehearsals occur every Thursday evening and no auditions are required.

http://www.primetimeband.org

Visual Arts

Cabarrus Art Guild

The Art Guild provides opportunities for visual artists to gather, learn from each other, and enjoy lectures and workshops conducted by visiting artists. Twice annually the guild exhibits the work of its members. Monthly gallery talks held in the arts council’s Davis Theatre are co-sponsored by the guild and the arts council, featuring regional artists whose work is exhibited in The Galleries. Past speakers have included Marcus Hamilton, illustrator of Dennis the Menace, photographer Phil Moody, fiber artist Jane Doub of Piedmont Craftsmen, and Belinda Tate, director of the Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University. Artists and non-artists are welcome to join the Cabarrus Art Guild and attend the gallery talks on the second Thursday of each month.

http://www.cabarrusartguild.org

Woodturning

Southern Piedmont Woodturners

The Southern Piedmont Woodturners is dedicated to the art of woodturning through education. They achieve this mission through monthly meetings that feature a variety of national, regional and local woodturners. SPW hosts A Day at the Lathe, an annual two-day woodturning conference featuring three nationally renowned artists. Meetings are held on the third Tuesdays at 7:00 in the arts council’s Davis Theatre, and the public is welcome.

http://www.spwoodturners.org/