Donors, Volunteers, Board Members
Honored at Annual Celebration
The Cabarrus Arts Council hosted its Annual Celebration on Tuesday, July 20, at the Wingate Inn.
The highlight of the meeting was the awards given to those corporations who support the arts council at the $10,000 level: First Charter, CTCommunications and The Independent Tribune. They were each given a print created by 2002 Regional Artist, Kenneth Barry, using the bromoil photography process popular in the early 20th century.
Departing board members Gary Mills, Kristy Solomon and Mark Shelley were honored and new board members and officers were elected for the 2004-2005 fiscal year. The complete roster of board members is: Jim Greene, President; Anne Forrest, Vice President; Dakeita Vanderburg Horton, Treasurer; Edie Barnhardt, Secretary; Doris Rogers, Past President; Sara Heiser, Executive Board; Austin Entwistle, Executive Board; Cathy Floyd, Bob Prescott, Glenda Thomas, Carrie Myers, Lin Barnhardt, Doris Goedeke, Carole Price, Debbie Black, Georgann Sapp, Linda Young, Steve Little, Carol Lovin, Kay Yates, Susan Feeley, Carla Black, Terry Bradley, Mike Legg, and Betsy Hamilton Smith.
Regional artists Lin Barnhardt and Jeffrey Pender created a mini-gallery where guests could see their work, talk to the artists and view the installation of an exhibition through slides. Local arts organizations -- Cabarrus Art Guild, Piedmont Choral Society, Primetime Community Band, Cabarrus High School Playmakers and the Piedmont Dance Company -- displayed examples of their a ctivities and answered questions. The Clarion Brass Quintet played festive music as guests visited and enjoyed the various displays.
President Jim Greene gave the annual summary of the Cabarrus Arts Council’s activities. Highlights included: over the past year arts council programs reached more than 180,000 participants; it helped generate $468,000 for the arts in Cabarrus County; more than 360 volunteers worked on arts council activities; the arts council was awarded a prestigious Challenge America Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to bring a Wolf Trap dancer to the Kannapolis More at Four program for a week-long residence; only 14% of the council’s budget was used for general administration; and the total number of donors increased from the previous year by 43%. Dakeita Vanderburg Horton and Lynne Scott Safrit were thanked for their outstanding work as fundraising co-chairs.
Dakeita Vanderburg Horton introduced Diane Honeycutt as the featured speaker. Diane emphasized the importance of the arts council to business. “We all know how important the arts are to education, how much we enjoy a fine performance or a breathtaking work of art…but we need to be aware of the impact the arts have on our economy as well,” she said. She listed the audience of 14,500 that was attracted to the two Pops in the Parks concerts as well as the 10,000 people who attend the Union Street Live concerts as prime examples of the number of people the arts council is attracting to our county. As conventions and visitors are sought as sources of revenue, Diane encouraged everyone to invest in the arts council.