2014-357 Arts - Hillsborough Arts Council for Spring 2014 Arts Grant Agreement $1,500

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5 Arts Program Application Narrative • Organizational Profile – a brief overview your organization's mission and history. The Hillsborough Arts Council is a 501[c]3 non-profit organization whose primary role is to organize and promote cultural and educational events featuring local and statewide artists for the enjoyment and education of the general public. Our mission is, "Enriching our community through the arts." Programs are funded through partnerships and donations,and by grants from such entities as the Hillsborough Tourism Board,OCAC, and NC Arts Council.This support allows us to offer some events free of charge, and other programs for a small fee. The HAC Board is a diverse group of artists and art lovers, and the membership includes potters,jewelry makers, poets, sculptors, photographers, mixed media painters, designers and art enthusiasts from Hillsborough and the surrounding area. Monthly council meetings are open to the public. Both Board and Council members chair and serve on committees for the various HAC events and activities. The HAC has one employee,a part-time bookkeeper. Free Spirit Freedom is a cultural arts initiative under the Hillsborough Arts Council umbrella. The program emerged in summer 2010 when co-founders Renee Price and Thomas Watson with a select group of area residents convened and concurred that the Orange County needed to preserve,acknowledge and celebrate its diverse heritage. We recognized the photographer as an artist capturing moments in time and sentiments, and so,we are using photography as our primary medium,along with narrative,to: link the past to our future,show our unique identities, and acknowledge a broader spectrum of values. FSF interweaves historical images, photography, narrative and personal expression. Our inaugural exhibition took place January to March of 2011,at the HAC gallery,at which we hosted a well-attended opening and participated in the February Art Walk. Since then: • exhibited at the Central Orange High School Alumni reunion • set up at the Hillsborough's Last Friday events • had two month-long exhibitions at the Central Orange Senior Center • hosted "An Outdoor Cultural Affair" at Moorefields featuring storyteller,Joyce Grear as Harriet Tubman. • in January 2013 and January 2014, exhibited at the Orange County Annual Human Relations Day Forum,hosted by the OC Human Relations Commission. Free Spirit Freedom's mission is to use the arts to promote our common history, establish social bonds, celebrate our cultural traditions and create bridges of cross-cultural understanding among diverse populations of all generations. We want to relate the struggles and triumphs in the determined effort to achieve civil and human rights for all Americans—yet in particular,for people of color. Eventually,we intend to build Free Spirit Freedom into a vibrant community resource that collects old photographs and historic images,along with oral histories and narratives,for an on-going public exhibition that will instill a sense of being and a sense of place while promoting diversity and inclusiveness in local affairs. • Current Programs and Services – a brief list • Last Fridays free concert series with arts, crafts, children's activities and nonprofit organizations around the Old Courthouse