FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Pat Verner Program Director

     A hundred people from our community gathered at the Wingate Inn August 23 to celebrate the arts at our 25th annual meeting. Guests enjoyed jazz standards played by Jack Murray on saxophone, flute and clarinet and Alan Kaufman on keyboard as they dined on an hors d’oeuvres buffet provided by the Wingate Inn.  Murray, the recipient of a 2006 Regional Artist Grant, has played for an inaugural ball for President Bush, toured with the Four Tops and The Temptations and appeared with Natalie Cole, the late Ray Charles, Lou Rawls, Tony Bennett, Kenny Rogers, Manhatten Transfer, Rosemary Clooney and Bernadette Peters.  Kaufman arranges and produces commercial jingles, albums and soundtracks and has worked with the Buddy Rich Band, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Chairmen of the Board and Dan Truhitte.
Noelle Scott, arts council executive director, began the annual meeting by noting that it has been a “momentous year with great changes and new possibilities for the arts council and the arts community.”  She recognized the non-profit arts groups in our community supported by the arts council:  Old Courthouse Theatre, Piedmont Choral Society, Cabarrus Art Guild, Piedmont Dance Theatre, Piedmont Primetime Community Band, Cabarrus High School Playmakers and the Southern Piedmont Woodturners. 
Sara Heiser, arts council president, shared the new mission statement recently adopted by the board of directors:  energizing our community through arts excellence. “This statement reflects everything the council does and will guide us in every decision we make,” she said.  Looking toward the future, the board also has created the first vision statement for the organization:  to become the premiere cultural resource in our community, developing a statewide reputation for excellence and diversity in the arts.
Ten people were elected to the board of directors:  Leesa Bain, Joyce Beatty, Phyllis Beaver, Mike Downs, Jim Hipp, Paul Lorenz, Carole Price, Georgann Sapp, Kim Stamey and Linda Young.  New officers were also chosen:  Sara Heiser, president; Linda Young, vice president; Glenda Steel, treasurer; and Kay Yates, secretary.
Outgoing board  members were recognized for their service and presented with an arts council logo stadium blanket:  Lin Barnhardt, Bill Connolly, Bob Dowless, Susan Feeley, Doris Goedeke, Dakeita Vanderburg Horton and Doris Rogers.
Works of art were presented to corporations that gave $10,000 or more to the arts council in the past year and to the leaders of the successful fund-raising breakfast and corporate campaign.  Sepia-toned black and white photographs featuring the landmark Fieldcrest Cannon smokestacks in Kannapolis made by Chad Mitchell and framed with actual pieces of maple floor from the plant went to Philip Morris USA for donations totaling $20,000; CT Communications for $12,500; First Charter for $10,000; and The Independent Tribune for $11,000 in-kind donation.
Corporate campaign chair Marie Kluttz and breakfast co-chairs Austin Entwistle and Kay Wall were presented pottery created by Randy Calhoun.  Frank Davis, executive director of the Cannon Foundation, received a plaque recognizing the foundation’s $125,000 gift to Cabarrus County to help renovate the historic courthouse.

Excerpts from Arts Council President's Address

      We have accomplished a tremendous amount over the past year and have had yet another year that surpassed our expectations.  Two of our newest events, the improvisational performance and the Arts Walk, were extremely popular, with audiences larger than we had dared to dream.  All of this tells us that Cabarrus County is hungry for the arts and for what the arts council has planned.
Cabarrus County is changing every day.  Every morning there is another headline in the newspaper proclaiming the latest happenings.  Who could have imagined that Kannapolis would be the home of a superconducting magnet that is the only one of its kind in the world? Who would have predicted that a new research campus would be built on the site of Cannon Mills, and become major news around the country?
Now, I don’t know much about superconducting magnets or nuclear magnetic resonance, but I do know this:  developments such as this will bring more and more people to Cabarrus County.  Newcomers are looking for a vibrant cultural life in the communities where they make their homes.  That’s what the arts council is all about!  You can be sure that we will foster more and more arts experiences for everyone in our area.  Indeed, the arts council will be energizing our community through arts excellence.  It is an exciting time in Cabarrus County.  It is an exciting time for the arts council!