2017-452-E Arts - Town of Chapel Hill Parks & Recreation Dept. - 2017-18 Arts Grant Agreement

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DocuSign Envelope ID:9CBAA6B1-266B-4426-BDCC-20AAE9B937EF PROJECT NARRATIVE 1. The Cultural Arts Division of the Town of Chapel Hill's Parks and Recreation Department oversees numerous cultural arts events such as the Town's Percent for Art program; a sculpture loan program that places sculpture throughout the community; a yearly school residency project; teacher workshops, community-based projects with teens, seniors, and immigrant populations; and special large-scale collaborative programs like Festifall, Shimmer, a 4t'l of July event with music and fireworks, a series of twelve music, dance and other performances at the 140 West Plaza in addition to other non-art community events. Overall the Division's programs reach a diversity of people (about 70,000 people per year). The Division is advised by an II- member Cultural Arts Commission appointed by the Town Council. 2. Shimmer: the Art of light is a one-night outdoor event/exhibition/performance featuring installations, projections and interactive displays by artists utilizing light in its many creative forms. Collaboratively sponsored by the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with other partners, the Shimmer installations are situated in a six-block radius where the two towns intersect. Shimmer debuted in February 2016 as an independent program curated by Sarah Wolfe/smARTS Creative Programs& Events and co-sponsored by the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrbcro and others. It was a one-of-a-kind event in North Carolina and featured some 24 artworks located in the described area (roughly from the 300 East Main Street complex in Carrbcro to Graham Street in Chapel Hill - see attached map). On a February night some 2,00,0 people walked the footprint and hundreds more drove down the main streets slowly to view the art, The program was repeated in 2017 with the same result and the independent curator has now stepped away. The popularity of the event, offered at a time when very little is happening in the two downtowns, has prompted Chapel Hill and Carrboro to want to continue the success by offering Shimmer in February of 2018 while making changes to boost the quality of the art, expand the footprint to include art in more retail-defined areas of the two towns, create more entertainment/performances within the event footprint, and perhaps find a way to extend some of the displays beyond the single evening format (see project activities below). 3, The goals for Shimmer are: a. To create and maintain a highly imaginative, good quality, and irnpactful event that is unique to both Chapel Hill and Carrboro that attracts people to the two downtowns. Currently the closest similar event takes place in Richmond, VA. b. To deepen the 2" Friday Artwalk brand that already exists by fostering a greater sense of community and economic partnership (Shimmer takes place the 2nct Friday in February). c. To create a program that two contiguous towns can simultaneously support while further promoting the porous border between the two despite jurisdictional boundaries.