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Hi! I was wondering which city offered the most arts (theater, dance, live music, art galleries, ect) in the state? I know about Asheville's artsy reputation, but are there others?
Most of the major cities have good arts scenes. Do you have a particular area of interest?
Many young indie rock musicians looking to get noticed, for example, head to the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). There's a very good, supportive, well known indie music scene here. I would say the Triangle is probably the best place in NC to be a musician, but Asheville is also very good. I think they're both better areas for musicians than Charlotte, the Triad, Wilmington, etc. The Cat's Cradle in Carrboro (sister town to Chapel Hill) is a nationally known club that brings in many great artists. Chapel Hill and Carrboro regularly get listed in great places to see music lists: Top 20 Cities With The Hottest Indie Music Venues | Indie Music Universe and Top 10 Lists | America's Best Places To Live, Visit, Travel & Relocate | Livability
Looking at your screen name, though, while there is a bit of a jazz scene here there aren't dedicated jazz clubs that I know of. NC certainly has a rich history of jazz, though, (home to Monk, Nina Simone, Coltrane) and NC Central University has an all jazz radio station.
Excellent dance in the Triangle, Durham hosts the American Dance Festival every summer which is a HUGE deal in dance, with companies like Pilobolus, Mark Morris, Paul Taylor and many others performing throughout June and July.
Yes, of course the bigger the city (whatever the state), the more Arts offerings, usually. But Winston-Salem and maybe Durham have more "Arts per capita", within the NC cites, it seems to me.
Really, Francois? You think W-S has more arts per capita than Carrboro/Chapel Hill? I find that hard to believe and I have friends in the Triad who are artists.
So, is the Triad a thriving area for the arts? Winston-Salem is often mentioned when this topic is brought up, rarely have I heard anyone mention Raleigh.
Goolsby, can you be more specific about what kind of arts scene you're looking for?
I really don't think Winston-Salem or Durham have more "arts per capita" than Chapel Hill/Carrboro. I certainly do think they have thriving arts scenes, but I think "arts per capita" was maybe not quite the way to phrase that because CH/C has so much to offer and they are much, much smaller towns than W-S or Durham so per person, I'd say CH/C wins. I'd actually stack them up against W-S any day of the week per person or not.
These listings are for Chapel Hill and Carrboro (and one Orange County) only. If you include Durham and Raleigh, the Triangle has a wealth of offerings. Of course, from Chapel Hill the Triad is only 1-1.5 hrs away so easily doable for a special show.
There certainly is art in Raleigh, too, but because there's more suburban sprawl in Raleigh the scene "per capita" is more dilute. You can't turn around in Chapel Hill and Carrboro w/o bumping into an artist/musician/performer or gallery/venue.
You might be interested in perusing the listings in the local alternative weekly paper for the Triangle, Independent Weekly , to get an idea of what's on offer here.
Yes, you are right as far as strong Arts in Chapel Hill/Carrboro--I was mostly thinking of the larger cities. Naturally anywhere with a good university will have easy access to all of the school's music/theatre/art offerings.
As someone else asked, what kind of "arts" do you mean--Visual? Performing? Classical music? Rock music?
I mentioned Winston-Salem because NC School of the Arts is there and I was amazed at the "artiness" of the downtown area the last time I was there, compared to how I had always thought of W-S. They have a great independent theatre group and an opera company, that I've personally seen. But more specificity is bettr in your question.
Yes, you are right as far as strong Arts in Chapel Hill/Carrboro--I was mostly thinking of the larger cities. Naturally anywhere with a good university will have easy access to all of the school's music/theatre/art offerings.
As someone else asked, what kind of "arts" do you mean--Visual? Performing? Classical music? Rock music?
I mentioned Winston-Salem because NC School of the Arts is there and I was amazed at the "artiness" of the downtown area the last time I was there, compared to how I had always thought of W-S. They have a great independent theatre group and an opera company, that I've personally seen. But more specificity is bettr in your question.
Winston-Salem has a long history of support for the arts, establishing the first local arts council in the U.S.in the 1940s. I don't know that it's specifically any better than Chapel Hill or that the Triad is better than the Triangle, but someone looking for a great arts community in NC couldn't go wrong in Winston-Salem.
Last edited by JoeTarheel; 09-17-2012 at 05:49 PM..
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Winston-Salem has a long history of support for the arts, establishing the first local arts council in the U.S.in the 1940s. I don't know that it's specifically any better than Chapel Hill or that the Triad is better than the Triangle, but someone looking for a great arts community in NC couldn't go wrong in Winston-Salem.
