Arts Next Door, Rockingham Arts Council helps bring music, art and theater to rural areas
Leave this field empty
Friday, July 21, 2017
By Bizzer Events
Music, theater and art in counties that border Guilford.
Rockingham may be a rural county, but arts programs are thriving there.
Theater productions are drawing larger audiences, and more people are participating in projects sponsored by the Rockingham County Arts Council.
“A lot of people who live in these rural counties don’t have access to be able to go Durham or Charlotte to see a touring Broadway show. If we bring them to our county, we’re exposing them to new shows, new things they didn’t know existed.”
Justin Bulla, theater teacher at Rockingham County High School
Americans for the Arts, a Washington-based nonprofit group that advocates for the arts, recently released its findings on the economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences.
The arts in North Carolina is a $2.1 billion industry that supports the equivalent of 71,977 full-time jobs, according to the study. It also said the arts generates nearly $1.5 billion in household income and more than $201 million in government revenue. Findings like this further legitimize the importance of arts in communities.
Randolph Arts Guild offers outlet for artistry
ASHEBORO — Giant ants crafted from empty propane tanks and rebar climb the brick facade of the W.H. Moring Jr. Arts Center.
They signal the artistry nurtured inside this downtown building, in a city 28 miles south of Greensboro.
The Randolph Arts Guild’s home hosts a growing number of visual art classes, a gallery and gift shop filled with hand-crafted items such as jewelry, soaps — even sketches by a Tony Award-winning costume designer.
“It’s a place for the community to share their art,” said Scottie Michelle of Asheboro, a longtime member whose knitted items sell quickly there.
RSVP Community Theatre operates under its umbrella, rehearsing shows there that it performs in the nearby city-owned Sunset Theatre.
RSVP Community Theatre presents "Hello, Dolly!"
When: July 28-30 and Aug. 4-6
Where: Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Ave., Asheboro
Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 for students up to age 19 and those 60 and older, available by calling 336-629-0399.
Arts in Alamance create a sense of community
In an unassuming studio in tiny Saxapahaw, the puppets take shape. Fantastical creatures — massive birds, turtles and the like — are painstakingly crafted each year by artisans and community volunteers using papier-mâché and other techniques for Paperhand Puppet Intervention’s eye-popping stage shows.
Every summer, the puppet troupe invites members of the community — whether they have professional arts experience or not — to join the effort of producing their annual shows. The volunteers help the group to put on their shows each year, while building something just as amazing as the puppets — community.
“We wanted to contribute to the idea of creative community, finding ways to be together that’s not just sitting in a movie theater or at a ball game,” says Donovan Zimmerman, co-director of Paperhand Puppet Intervention.
Alamance Children's Theatre produces three shows or musicals each year and offers theater opportunities on- and offstage for ages 8 through 18. ACT also offers monthly workshops on auditioning, make-up and more. alamancechildrenstheatre.com.