2021-611-E-Arts Commission-Hillsborough Arts Council-Restart the Arts

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Provide a brief description of your pre-pandemic core arts-related programming or offerings. Many of our signature programs successfully expanded their impact in the summer/fall of 2019. HAC’s Last Fridays Art W alk brought thousands of locals and v isitors to Hillsborough between March and October to enjoy music, more than 20 arts and craft v endors, and town wide exhibitions and musical performances at local v enues and galleries. The Riv erpark Concert in October 2019 was attended by more than 15,000 music lov ers including families. The Parlor Concert Series expanded from a season 3, to 6 planned concerts, performed by div erse artists in 6 different genres, hosted in local homes of residents from v arious racial and socio-economic backgrounds. The Handmade Parade (ev ery other year) and Solstice Lantern W alk (ev ery December) brought thousands of locals and v isitors, especially families, to Hillsborough with their handmade puppets and lanterns. Through these programs, HAC regularly worked with leaders, organizations, and schools in outlying rural and minority communities, hosting workshops and organizing after school programs in county public elementary schools, 2 minority community centers and 5 minority churches. In 2019, the more than 50 artists in our retail shop earned ov er $25,000 in commissions. Art in the Heart, our juried Spring Art Show, brought in top artisans from throughout the greater Triangle Area to showcase their work. Looking at data we hav e collected through our point of sale system at our Gallery and Gift Shop and online ticket sales, our div erse audiences and patrons come from all ov er Orange County and the broader Triangle Area. Most of our programs are free and open to the public remov ing socio-economic barriers to participation. Between 2010 and 2019, our region has experienced a population growth of more than 300,000 people. According to the most recent census, the North Carolina Triangle Area is one of the fastest growing and urbanizing regions in the United States, a trend mostly driv en by migration. W ith many of these new arriv als coming from other countries as well as from culturally distinct regions of the United States, our historically significant, southern, rural mill town is faced with the task of protecting its rich indigenous, black, and early Colonial era Arts, culture, and character from the ov erwhelming force of gentrification, homogenization, and urbanization, while maintaining sensitiv ity and openness to the process of cultural and generational change. The Hillsborough Arts Council has turned to our community's indigenous leaders, African American poets, and Roots musicians, and artisans to lead us as we graft these new branches onto our deeply rooted tree--adding colors, sounds, languages, smells, and flav ors from other parts of the nation and world. The thousands of Triangle residents and out of town v isitors we serv e experience a culture that is meaningful with a strong sense of place that is racially, ethnically, ideologically, generationally, and socioeconomically div erse, that celebrates personal creativ ity and unique characters, and inv ites newcomers to participate in culture making rather than simply absorbing them. Cultiv ating young Arts leaders and practitioners is a high priority for The Hillsborough Arts Council. W e are proud to hav e longstanding partnerships with local schools. DocuSign Envelope ID: 5F87C543-753D-43CF-B6E6-16661AB51ADE