Kickoff is 5:00 p.m.,Thursday, January 29, Canteen Market and Bistro
Winston-Salem, NC (January 18 2019) – The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County will kick off its 2019 Community Fund for the Arts Campaign at 5:00 p.m., Thursday, January 29, at Canteen Market and Bistro in downtown Winston-Salem. The kickoff is a highlight of The Arts Council year. It is free, and the public is invited. Popular Winston-Salem music personality Martha Bassett will perform.
Reservations are not required but an Rsvp for planning purposes would be appreciated to dblanchard@uintothearts.org or 336.747.3477.
Connie Quinn, Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Marketing and Administrative Officer for The Arts Council, said the 2019 goal is $2.5 million. “Our campaign is always volunteer driven,” Quinn said, “and each year we are amazed at the energy and enthusiasm our volunteers bring. Our mantra this year is ‘touch every corner,’ and we will be drawing on the help of arts advocates throughout the city and county. In turn, monies raised will enable grants and special initiatives that touch every corner of the community.”
Melinda McConnell, Arts Council Board Chair, said The Arts Council has a newly established Development Committee chaired by board member Shaheen Syal, Director of Communications at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. “It’s a talented, resourceful, highly motivated group,” she said, “and we are fortunate to have them in place and driving the 2019 campaign. They share my determination that we meet our $2.5 goal!”
Arts Council President and CEO, Randy Eaddy, who took the leadership position at The Arts Council last July, noted that 2019 will be his first full Community Fund for the Arts Campaign. “This is an exciting prospect for me,” he said. “It gives me an opportunity to be out and meeting arts advocates and volunteers on a daily basis who are the strength of our Arts Council. I have no doubt that residents of this city and county, who are so convinced of the value of arts and culture, will again demonstrate their generosity. In turn, the Arts Council going forward can provide support for the arts organizations that, through their excellence, allow us to call ourselves with pride, “a city of arts and innovation.”
Winston-Salem, known as a City of Arts and Innovation, and Forsyth County have a robust arts community that enriches the lives of area residents every day and accounts in large part for the recognition they continue to receive as a great place to live, learn, work and play. The most recent studies available showed that Forsyth County’s nonprofit arts industry supports 5,559 full time equivalent jobs; accounts for more than $129 million in resident household income, and generates more than $14.8 million in local and state tax revenues.