Are you an artist looking for exhibit opportunities within Orange County? A nonprofit worker looking for arts grants? A teacher looking to borrow costumes or props for an upcoming school play? Maybe you’re an arts lover wanting to connect with other like-minded locals?
Whatever your reason, a newly created Facebook group hopes to offer an easy way to connect with other arts workers and supporters in the community. Orange County Creatives is a closed Facebook group (meaning you have to request to “join” the group in order to participate), open to artists, teachers, nonprofit workers, as well as art lovers and supporters. The goal of the group is to serve as a first step in bridging the communication gap within the arts scene of Orange County by offering a forum to share ideas, needs and opportunities.
Created by the Orange County Arts Commission, the group will serve as a launchpad for future networking events geared towards bettering communication and collaboration among the arts communities within the county, a need identified by the commission’s new director, Katie Murray:
There are over 170 arts organizations within Orange County, as well as an infinite number of artists, performers and writers. In assessing the needs of the arts community during my first few months in this position, almost everyone I have spoken with has expressed a need for better communication. This is needed on both the small and large scale; it is needed among similar arts groups, among the existing arts efforts within each of the three primary communities, as well as communication between the arts communities of Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Most arts-oriented nonprofits are so busy managing the day-to-day, and most working artists are busy trying to make a living. I feel this is a role the Arts Commission can play for the greater arts community.
A series of affiliated social events to bring together the arts community are scheduled to take place in early 2017.
