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OrganizationsDare County Arts Council Celebrating its 31st year in 2006, the Dare County Arts Council supplies the Outer Banks with a wide variety of creative opportunities with the help of countless volunteers, generous patrons and members, and some state and county support. This nonprofit group has a permanent office/gallery in downtown Manteo at the address above. The gallery, called Sea and Sounds Gallery, hosts visual arts shows, and visitors are encouraged to stop by to view these shows or to gather information on arts and cultural events in the area. Office hours are 10:00 A.M.to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday and occasional weekends when volunteer staff is available. The council is affiliated with the North Carolina Arts Council as the local distributing agency of the state's Grassroots funds. The DCAC also subsidizes other area arts organizations, such as Theatre of Dare, The Writers' Group, the Outer Banks Forum, and Icarus International, which hosts an art exhibition honoring humankind's first powered flight each December at two Nags Head galleries (see our Annual Events chapter). DCAC sponsors several cultural programs in the community and local schools every year. In 2004, for example, DCAC brought nationally known poet Glenis Redmond into the community to read her poems and run private poetry workshops with students. It also brought illustrator Michael White to demonstrate his craft and inspire Dare County students to write and illustrate. In addition, DCAC put on its annual Frank Stick Memorial Art Show, a photography competition, a watercolor competition, the Mollie Fearing Memorial Art Show, The Beach Book Cover Competition, eight visual arts exhibitions in its gallery, and the annual Artrageous Art Extravaganza weekend for kids and families. In addition, DCAC publishes its quarterly newsletter, Art Throb, full of events listings, feature articles, profiles of local artists, and poetry. The publication, distributed to members and at events, is a way for artists to voice concerns and share news as well as keep people up to date on the happenings in the arts community. DCAC's regularly updated Web site also offers a wealth of information on the arts. DCAC operates on funds from grants, fund-raisers, and annual memberships. Memberships generally range from $20 for students to $35 for artists to $100 for patrons. This is a great way to support the arts in the community.
Elizabeth R & Company Elizabeth R & Company sponsors scholarly research projects centered on North Carolina history and professional films, audio presentations, and performances that interpret history. Two of its most popular interpretive performances are staged on Roanoke Island every summer-Elizabeth R and Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen. Elizabeth R will celebrate its 15th anniversary in 2007. It stars Barbara Hird and portrays the life of Queen Elizabeth I. It is held in the Elizabethan Gardens on Tuesday at 2:30 P.M.from early June through mid-August. Elizabeth R tours internationally the rest of the year; it was part of the 1995 Edinburgh Festival and has been performed in London, New York City, and across the mid-Atlantic United States. Bloody Mary, also starring Barbara Hird and Marsha Warren, tells the story of Queen Elizabeth I and her half sister Mary Queen of Scots in a hilarious farce. It is performed mid-July through mid-August at the Pioneer Theatre in downtown Manteo on Wednesday at 3:30 P.M.For more information, see our Attractions chapter.
Outer Banks Forum for the Lively Arts The Outer Banks Forum organizes six lively arts performances a year, bringing world-class performers to this remote stretch of the world. Since 1983 the forum has scheduled these performances from October through April, making the offseason months brighter for many folks. The forum seasons are filled with interesting and varied selections, including bluegrass, opera, and folk tales. All performances are held in the First Flight High School auditorium. Starting times vary. Season subscriptions cost $85. If you arrive 45 minutes before each performance, you can attend an informative lecture series to enhance your appreciation of the performance.
Roanoke Island Festival Park Roanoke Island Festival Park blends art, history, and education in celebration of Roanoke Island's role as birthplace of English-speaking America. The state park is on its own small island across from the Manteo waterfront, also the home berth of the Elizabeth II. Completed in 1998, the park features a variety of cultural opportunities year-round. The park's Art Gallery is a beautiful space that holds monthlong art shows. At receptions for these shows on Sunday afternoons, arts-minded folk meet. The Film Theater's house film is The Legend of Two-Path, a 45-minute film depicting the English landing on Roanoke Island from the Native Americans' point of view; other top-notch cultural arts performances and films are also staged in the theater year-round. The outdoor pavilion, which seats up to 3,500 people on the lawn, is a marvelous place to watch cultural arts performances. North Carolina School of the Arts students perform here five nights a week at 8:00 P.M. in the "illuminations" Summer Performance Art Series in July. Visiting symphonies and musicians often perform here as well. Also on-site are an 8,500-square-foot Adventure Museum, which has 400 years of Outer Banks history, a museum store, and the Outer Banks History Center. For more information, see our Attractions chapter.
Roanoke Island Historical Association The dramatic arts have a unique outlet on the Outer Banks in The Lost Colony outdoor drama, staged throughout the summer in a waterside theater on Roanoke Island (see our Attractions chapter). Each year, The Lost Colony entices 125 actors and crew across the nation to answer the casting call for the symphonic drama that chronicles the fate of the first English settlement in America. Many of The Lost Colony thespians also try out for the Lost Colony's Children's Theater that wows junior audiences during the summer months with classics such as The Princess and the Pea. Others take on roles as time-warped sailors for hilarious and educational interpretive tours of the Elizabeth II. A full day of special events, including free children's theater selections, interpretive park tours, and special performances, takes place on Virginia Dare's birthday, August 18. Call the Lindsey Warren Visitor Center at Fort Raleigh (252-473-5772) for a schedule. If you're interested in joining the Roanoke Island Historical Association and supporting The Lost Colony, write to the address listed above (zip code 27954) or call. Contribution details vary. You may become a member and/or contribute to the annual fund or the endowment fund.
The Theatre of Dare Theatre of Dare is your community theatre for the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Founded in 1991, Theatre of Dare is a non-profit, volunteer group of local friends, family, neighbors & co-workers who share a love of theatre, and a dedication to volunteer and benefit our community. Its members bring quality live theater to the Outer Banks by taking part in all phases of production, such as directing, set design, and performing. TOD embodies the true spirit of community theater by welcoming amateur and professional thespians alike. Proceeds from our shows go to annual scholarships for Dare County students. We're so proud of the shows that we put on, and we've got a lot of great stuff coming up! Come out and join us, won't you?
Icarus International Icarus International was founded in 1993, purposely a decade before the centennial of flight in 2003, with the goal of celebrating flight through the arts. The organization has been widely successful in its efforts to raise the awareness of the history of flight. Each year, Icarus International holds an international visual arts competition and a literary competition based on a flight-related theme. Literary entries are published annually. Icarus International also sponsors an annual portrait commission for inductees into the First Flight Shrine at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. In 2003 the group completed the $1 million Icarus Monument, celebrating 100 years of flight. The monument is located at MP 1 in Kitty Hawk behind the Aycock Brown Welcome Center. Icarus International has also created a book called Pioneer Aviators of the World. It tells the story of the first pilots from 100 countries.
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Galleries
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Outer Banks Style Outer Banks Style offers a taste of local art, crafts, furniture, and home accessories in its Corolla shop. Owner Gary Springer has stocked the gallery with works by popular Outer Banks painter James Melvin and photographer Ray Matthews. Check out Troy Spencer's reproduction signs. Outer Banks Style acquired StoryPeople by Brian Andreas. This line of fanciful art includes prints, sculptures, books, and furniture decorated with short prose. The shop is open year-round. Hours vary, so call ahead.
Dolphin Watch Gallery Dolphin Watch Gallery features the works of owner/artist Mary Kaye Umberger. This artist creates hand-colored etchings on handmade paper drawn from scenes indigenous to the Corolla area, including wildlife, ducks and other waterfowl, seascapes, and lighthouses. Other art pieces here include pottery, stoneware, carvings of marine life, and wax sculptures (candles shaped by hand, with flower petals molded by the artist's fingertips). The gallery is open year-round; call for off-season hours.
Greenleaf Gallery Greenleaf Gallery offers a chance to experience exquisite fine crafts and paintings from nationally, regionally, and locally known American artists. Approximately 300 artists and artisans are represented at Greenleaf. Featured are one-of-a-kind handcrafted jewelry, ceramics, wood, glass, and furnishings, plus sculpture, acrylic and watercolor paintings, etchings, lithographs, and mixed-media pieces. Expect to find both the delightful and the serious at Greenleaf, anything from a huge, whimsical praying mantis to the works of some of the nation's finest glass artisans. One of the best things about visiting Greenleaf is seeing the sublime paintings of Outer Banks artist Rick Tupper, who owns the gallery with his wife. Call for a schedule of artists' exhibitions. The gallery is closed on Sunday and from January through mid-March.
The Wooden Feather The Wooden Feather presents award- winning handcarved decoys and shorebirds as well as driftwood sculptures. The gallery features an outstanding collection of antique decoys. It's open seven days a week from March through December, with longer hours during the summer season.
Nostalgia Gallery Norm Martinus specializes in paper memorabilia that deserves mention in any art chapter. He knows his stuff as the coauthor of Warmon's Paper, an encyclopedia of antiques and collectibles. You'll find oodles of advertising art at Nostalgia as well as the original art of Martinus's daughter, Lee. Revel in old prints of Max- field Parrish and Norman Rockwell. Martinus offers full-service custom framing and matting. Insiders know that he's one of the Outer Banks's finest framers. The shop is open year-round.
First Flight Shrine While the First Flight Shrine is not a commercial art gallery, it has a body of portraiture that deserves recognition in any Arts and Culture chapter. Every year for more than 30 years, the First Flight Society has inducted into the shrine one or more individuals who have accomplished an outstanding "first" that has enhanced the development of aviation. Hanging in the same room as a replica of Wilbur and Orville Wright's first flyer are more than 55 faces of great aviators, such as Amelia Earhart, Adm. Richard E. Byrd, Neil Armstrong, and Col. Edwin Aldrin. The portraits, which are donated by Icarus International, are produced annually and exhibited through a partnership with the National Park Service at the Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center (see our Attractions chapter for more about the Memorial).
KDH Cooperative Gallery and Studios This is an artist-operated cooperative, the dream and reality of artist and owner Julie Moye. It's a centralized place to see the work of 29 local artists. The juried members of this cooperative show their work and assist in running the gallery. Oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastels, pen and ink, ceramics, jewelry, fiber, furniture, candles, pottery, glass, and metal are featured in the three-room gallery. Each member serves on panels to hang and display art, jury, organize shows, and assist customers during daily business hours. Upstairs is the Artists Attic, a lively studio space and classrooms. Several artists have set up studios upstairs and often work during business hours. Visitors are welcome upstairs to talk with the artists and watch them work. The other half of the upstairs is classroom space, where a variety of classes are held year-round for children and adults. Pottery, drawing, photography, stained glass, mosaic, candle making, and basket making are some of the classes offered, or you can design your own class and pitch it to the staff. KDH Cooperative offers art classes for kids, including creative writing, drawing, and comic strip drawing, as well as summer art camps and classes on school holidays.
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