Up & Coming Weekly

16 UCW NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2009 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM SONI MARTIN, Contributing Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or Stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com Visual Ar t Alliance Brings New Perspective on the Ar ts in Fayetteville/Cumberland Count y by SONI MARTIN Approximately 10 years ago Greg Hathaway, a gallery owner, brought the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County and the downtown art galleries together in an effort to organize a monthly focus on the visual arts. The monthly event became what is now known as 4th Friday in the historic downtown area. The art organizations were very clear about their efforts to support local artists and bring art supporters and the general public to the downtown art galleries in a relaxing and sociable way. The 4th Friday events have become a popular way to spend a Friday evening at the end of each month. The art agencies and galleries are open on 4th Fridays, but it has also expanded into a monthly street fair, a mix of art, music, dancers and something fun for all ages. The initial event has transformed into a multifaceted experience which includes the visual arts. From its inception, the 4th Friday focus was on the downtown galleries; satellite galler- ies were on their own. This time it was Bill Bowman, publisher of Up & Coming Weekly, who had the idea to refocus on the visual arts by suggesting a working collaboration between the downtown galleries and satellite galleries. Bowman called an informal meeting with represen- tatives from the local art agencies, galleries, museum and the area's university and college art departments to discuss the idea of a visual art coalition. The next meetings with Bowman was six months later, after the coalition, now called the Visual Art Alliance, had met regularly and was ready to go public with their plan of action. The Visual Art Alliance of Cumberland County already has a set of bylaws, at this time is a fi duciary of the Fayetteville Art Guild, and has developed a plan of action. A new organization, VAA is dedicated to building a vibrant and enduring visual art com- munity in Fayetteville. At this time its members are the Cape Fear Studios, the Arts Council of Faeytteville/Cumberland County, Rosenthal Gallery at Fayetteville State University, the Fayetteville Art Guild, the Fayetteville Museum of Art and the art gallery at Fayetteville Technical Community College. Membership into the alliance must comply with a set of guidelines including but not limited to the following: the organization must present original works of art, have rotating exhibitions schedules planned six months in advance, be capable of hosting receptions and pay annual dues. The purpose of the VAA is to promote member organization events and pursue collaborative programming and marketing. In addition its purpose is to promote activi- ties in an effort to promote Fayetteville as an art-buying destination and to reshape the perception of the visual arts in Fayetteville. The alliance will work as a collective to promote its events, seek cooperative grants and funding, and estab- lish visual art forums designed to increase the number of individuals who attend openings and art events all over the city. As a challenge the alliance is a working collaborative that has been created to combat the spiraling decline of visual art entities and opportunities in the area. The cooperative will iden- tify problem areas in the general public's perception on the visual arts and work to increase "the demand" for high quality visual-arts events and activities with their advertising efforts. For the fi rst VAA initiative members of the alliance will have stacks of post card-size maps at their locations to indicate all the member's geographic locations in the city. On alter- nating weeks, Up & Coming Weekly will run a showcase article about something happening in the alliance and an ad that lists events. For more information on the Visual Art Alliance, call its president, Sean McDaniel at Fayetteville Technical Community College (910) 678-0042, or secretary Chris Kastner, executive director of the Cape Fear Studios (910) 433-2986. Give t he g ift of n t e rt a i n m en t t his H oli day Give t he g ift of L I VE E n t e rt a i n m en t t his H oli day Christmas with Emile Pandolfi December 11 December 11 Boogie Wonder Band January 23 December 5 The Russian National Ballet Theatre Cinderella March 30 Davy Jones Davy Jones March 26 March 26 1.800.367.0778 / 910.521.6361 www.uncp.edu/gpac Give GPAC Give GPAC Gift Certifi cates Gift Certifi cates

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