News & Events
Artist of the Month
May Artist of the Month:
Coleman Dance
Spring
Coleman Dance has been named by the Lenoir County Artist League as the featured "Artist of the Month" for May. Her painting, "Spring," will be on display at The Arts Center, home of the Kinston Community Council for the Arts, 400 N Queen Street. Coleman is a charter member of the Community Council for the Arts and of the Lenoir County Artist League and has been painting for over 40 years. Over the years, Coleman has had lots of great teachers and has taken numerous workshops. She has exhibited her paintings in many shows, has won recognition for her works, and is owned in many private collections. She has been juried into numerous exhibitions along with a women artist's show in Chapel Hill. Her painting, "Spring", is an abstract, untypical of her usual painting style. Coleman used design elements along with abstraction to showcase the many beautiful colors we see at this time of year. This piece combines pastels and flower-like brush strokes in a variation of the crucifix and will be on display through the month of May.
The Arts Center and Tourism
The Arts Center contributes to tourism. How?? In the month of March, due to just the activities of the Arts Council we have rented 50 motel rooms for artists in residence in our community. At an average of $100/room that’s $5,000 and does not include meals, gas, sundries, etc. which at an average of $50/person/day is (180 days = 15 people totaling 15 days of stay) equals $11,250. In addition, the Arts Center, due to the artist’s tech riders has spent an additional $5,000. The total, $12,250.00 has been spent in our community through the artistic programs of the Arts Council in just one month. This does not include the grants that supported the artistic fees which totaled $29,000 or the volunteer hours. Also it does not count the artists visiting other attractions in our community or other visitors utilizing the Arts Center for events. These events not only bring visitors who rent motel rooms or stay in private rooms, but also spend dollars, particularly with the hospitality industry -caterers, florists, linen services, etc. The Arts Council is a good investment in Kinston/Lenoir County.
