Public and Cultural Arts Office

Overview

The Town of Chapel Hill's Public and Cultural Arts Office, a division of the Parks & Recreation Department, develops and implements art programs to increase public access to the arts, provides opportunities for local artists to display their work, and promotes public understanding and awareness of the arts.  The Office is advised by and works collaboratively with the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission, an 11-member volunteer board established in 1992 and appointed by the Town Council.  The Office’s Percent for Art Program, established by a 2002 Ordinance, allocates one percent of selected capital projects for the creation and maintenance of works of public art.  Funding for the Percent for Art projects comes from each project’s construction budget.  

   

Programs

In addition to the Percent For Art Program, other programs currently administered by the Public and Cultural Arts Office include an Artists in Residence program that connects local artists with young people in specific communities, schools and groups; the Community Art Project, where an artist or artist team engages a particular community in the creation of a public art piece or event; the Community Clay Studio, a 1500-foot ceramic arts studio offering classes and camps to the community; the Downtown Art Program which enlivens the downtown environment with arts happenings and events; the Juried Exhibitions Series which showcases artwork by established and emerging artists at Chapel Hill Town Hall and the Chapel Hill Library; and Sculpture Visions, a temporary, large-scale, outdoor, sculpture exhibition sited throughout public spaces in downtown Chapel Hill.  To learn more about these programs, please visit our Programs pages.

   

Resources

The Public and Cultural Arts Office works with many artists and arts organizations in the community, throughout the region and across the country.  We invite you to join our electronic mailing list to receive exhibition announcements and calls to artists based on your preferences, and/or to share the web address of your art organization or endeavor.  The Public and Cultural Arts Office maintains an image catalog of publicly-accessible works of art in Chapel Hill and an electronic archive of artworks by artists who have exhibited in our programs.