Our mission is to support and enhance a strong, vibrant community through the development, promotion and coordination of arts and cultural activities.
Upcoming/Ongoing Events: our Six Sundays in Spring concert series is ongoing, and we’ve added a 7th concert this year, on June 9! Click here for the schedule and other information. Please check our Calendar for the latest news.
On June 8th at 7:00pm come laugh with local stand-up comedian Andy Forrester! Director Lyman Collins will present “A Blooming of Ivy” by Garry Williams. Actors Gilly Conklin and Jeffery Nugent will be performing in this one act play. Finally, listen to the tale of Stephan Platzer in his book “Bringing E Home”, a sailing voyage on the historic schooner Ernestina in 1982.
The performance will be held upstairs at The Wake Forest Coffee Company. Wine and beer are available. A $5 per person donation is suggested to support these great artists and their work. Cash only. Seating is limited.
The Neck of the Woods Performance Series is a variety art show featuring the work of local performing artists. For two years this unique event has provided a stage for local musicians, writers, dancers, actors and comedians. Come out and enjoy performance art in your neck of the woods! Visit our facebook page here!
Andy Forrester’s brand of off the wall humor has made him one of the fastest rising comedians in the Southeast. His high energy and animated comedy has landed him spots working with some of the biggest names in comedy like Kevin Pollak, Greg Giraldo, Tom Arnold, Marc Maron and many more. It’s his original and appetizing humor that always leaves audiences begging for more. His likeable, self-deprecating, fun and easy going style is friendly to everyone as he walks you through the mind and life of the man many call BiG”A”. Family, movies, his love for food and living with his two little girls is a treat for everyone to hear about the funny life of this family man. In 2008 Andy won the title of Ultimate Comic at the Idiot Box in Greensboro, NC and in April of 2013 won the Louisville, KY satellite of the World Series of Comedy in hopes to take it all in Vegas in September.
Gilly Conklin has been acting in shows since 1969. Having performed primarily in the Virginia/DC/Maryland area, she and her family moved to North Carolina in 2007 and she has performed with Theatre in the Park, Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy, Temple Theatre, Cary Players and Towne Players in Garner. Favorite roles include Mame Dennis in “Mame”, Dolly Levy in “Hello Dolly”, Miss Mona in “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and Agnes in “I Do, I Do!” She just finished playing a 72 year old woman in Cary Player’s production of “Mornings at Seven”. She is very excited to be bringing “Ivy” back to the stage.
Jeffrey A. Nugent : Jeff has been active in the Triangle theater scene, both onstage and in the shadows, since 2001. He has ‘played’ with the Towne Players of Garner, Cary Players, Neuse Little Theater, Theatre In The Park, and, most recently, OwlTree Theater for the People. Jeff Is delighted to perform with Gilly and Lyman again in this heartwarming show. Special ‘THANKS’ to each of you for supporting the arts.
Lyman Collins: Since 1999 Lyman has served as the Cultural Arts Manager for the Town of Cary. From 2006 until 2011 he directed Cary Players’ Love Bits & Bites when he first helped Ivy bloom. It is a pleasure to be revisiting this delightful work for a third time, and he is privileged to work again with Gilly & Jeff. Thanks to his at-home-bloomers, Don, Sheba & Echo for indulging him in this bit of gardening.
We’ve got another afternoon and evening of great music lined up for this Sunday, May 26. the concert will open with String Theory, a string quartet featuring musicians from Wake Forest-Rolesville High School. They play everything from Bach to Beatles, Greenday to One Republic. Don’t miss them from 3-4:30 pm.
We also have some great (some would say perfect) weather lined up, unlike some of the previous Sundays of this year’s series!
Our main act for this Sunday is Ghezzi. Read more about the concert on our Six Sundays page, and don’t miss this concert!
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Brooklyn presents MISSIONARY
IN MANHATTAN: THE DIRTY SOUTH TOUR, a musical comedy about the
fundamentals of big hair, blind faith, and just how plural a marriage can get on Friday June 7, 2013 onstage at Cirque de Vol Studios.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Brooklyn penned MISSIONARY IN MANHATTAN, the story of three polygamist-pop stars on the hunt for their brother husband in the dirty south. Charles Gregory Howard has gone missing and was last seen doing missionary work at Legends Nightclub (with his vocal coach named Gerard). Ukuleles in tow, Gretchen, Fanny, and Bunny Catherine will turn pop songs into “God songs,” lament, and stop at nothing to track down the father of their seven children. Missionary in Manhattan: The Dirty South Tour intimately and hysterically lampoons the institution of marriage as the audience helps the sister wives accept their husband for who he truly is. The show runs at a super swift 45 minutes and will be performed at Cirque de Vol Studios, 300 W. Hargett St.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Brooklyn, a NYC based theatre company composed of UNCG Alumni, are taking their Manhattan based original play on the road with MISSIONARY IN MANHATTAN: THE DIRTY SOUTH TOUR. After successful runs in New York and Philadelphia, the members of the UOGB are coming home. The founding members of UOGB are southern natives and alumni of UNCG. The cast of MISSIONARY IN MANHATTAN: THE DIRTY SOUTH TOUR features Caitlin Davis, Kaleigh Malloy, Elizabeth May, and Dave May. Caitlin is a Wake Forest native, and an alum of WFR and UNCG.
MISSIONARY IN MANHATTAN: THE DIRTY SOUTH TOUR is on 6/7/13 at 8pm and is unsuitable for children under the age of 13. Tickets are $15, with under 30 tickets $10, and are available for purchase at the door or online at www.greatuke.com.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Brooklyn provides a theatrical home for southerners in the north and an invitation to those untouched by southern charm to “party til the cows come home.” The founding members of UOGB challenge a generation criticized for its apathy, detachment, and reliance on technology by demanding audience engagement through outrageous comedy, musical celebrations, and honest storytelling.
Last year I started a mission of painting NC fallen heroes’ portraits pro bono. The portraits are for the parents. The purpose of my paintings is to render respect, validation and tribute to their son or daughter. The portrait is in oils, size 20″ x 16″. So far I have completed 7 portraits, that can be seen in my website. I feel very honored for the opportunity of painting their son/daughter.
This Friday, May 24, at 7:30pm, UNCTV will air a visit to Wake Forest and my studio. This information and process is disclosed so parents of fallen heroes can contact me. Mary Benejam (919) 623-5253
CALL for SUBMISSIONS – Eye of the Artist Juried Show
The Yadkin Arts Council announces that submissions are now open for the 3rd Annual Juried Show – Eye of the Artist. The award total has been increased this year to $3,000. Winners will be announced at the opening reception the evening of Friday, July 12, 2013 at 6:00 pm. The show is open to all North Carolina artists over the age of 18. The submission deadline is June 10. Both 2D and 3D works may be submitted. The show will be judged in entirety.
Page Laughlin, a Professor of Art at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem will be judging the exhibition. Ms. Laughlin has exhibited in numerous galleries throughout the US from New York to San Francisco and was awarded a North Carolina Arts Council fellowship in 2007. She was also a nominee for the USA Artist Fellowship. Her paintings have been shown in 39 solo and group competitions.
Details and application forms for the juried show are available on the website: www.yadkinarts.org.
Due to the unfortunate cancellations because of weather, Wake Forest ARTS is adding another concert on June 9. From 5 until 7 p.m. Suzanna Neeley Bridges, who grew up in Wake Forest, will perform with Andy Jobe in their band Walking For Pennies. The pair have a theater background, but compose and perform their own songs. They have an album Forget About Wonderland, which they have written with songs about what it’s like to find their way and keep doing what they love on a limited budget. From 3 to 5 p.m., Michele Riganese will perform. She is a back-up singer for Walking for Pennies and also sings and plays guitar. Complete information on the concert series is on our Six Sundays page.
The Graffiti Monkeys, a Wake Forest local band, will be opening our May 12 Six Sundays in Spring concert at 3 pm in E. Carroll Joyner Park.
The Graffiti Monkeys started back in 2007 when the friends who all happened to play instruments got together and started playing while in school. Together now for over 6 years, the band writes and performs their own music, performing at various events throughout the Triangle Area, playing primarily alternative rock.
They are very excited to be performing in their “hometown” for the Six Sundays event this year and look forward to entertaining the crowd with a mix of both covers and originals on Mother’s Day!
The Neck of the Woods Performance Series announces an evening not to missed! Join us on Saturday May 11th at 7:00pm and enjoy the music of accomplished singer/songwriter Nick Driver, listen to the written work of local poet, editor, and teacher Alice Osborn, and experience the beautiful voice of singer/songwriter Crystal Dawn Baker.
The performance will be held upstairs at The Wake Forest Coffee Company. Wine and beer are available. A $5 per/person donation is suggested to support these great artists and their work. Cash only. Seating is limited.
The Neck of the Woods Performance Series is a variety art show featuring the work of local performing artists. For two years this unique event has provided a stage for local musicians, writers, dancers, actors and comedians. Come out and enjoy performance art in your neck of the woods!
Visit us at facebook.com/WakeForestNeckOfTheWoods
Nick Driver: For fans of: Butch Walker, Jack Johnson, & Donavon Frankenreiter. Nick Driver is a singer-songwriter from Zebulon, North Carolina. Driver relocated to Raleigh, N.C during college at NC State University and played in numerous post hardcore bands being featured on Vans Warped Tour in 2007 and 2009, respectively. After a decade of playing and touring behind heavier styles of music, Driver picked up his acoustic and toured extensively behind his debut record Warm Is Your Color which featured a top ten hit song titled Let’s Stay Together on Sirius XM’s the Coffeehouse, one of Driver’s compositions.
After releasing a total of 3 studio albums and 1 B-Sides disc in a matter of 3 and a half years, Driver has managed to tour successfully throughout the East Coast and West Coast along with landing multiple licensing spots on shows such as Bad Girls Club Atlanta on Oxygen Network, Kim and Kourt Take Miami on E! Network, and The Real World St. Thomas Episodes as well as The Real World Portland. Driver was also the featured performer at Apple’s Annual Celebration at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2011 and a Coca Cola featured act at college events.
Driver has sold a total of over 75,000+ songs since the release of his debut album and moved thousands of albums at live shows and was a Finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Award for Folk in 2011 with his song Spare Me Some Change.
Driver’s album catalog consists of: Warm Is Your Color LP, A Kinda Love This World Could Never Burn LP, Coffeehouse Hero:Live & Rare Besides EP & Poet’s Corner:Volume One LP.
Alice Osborn: Born in Washington, D.C., the winter after Watergate to a Masterpiece Theater-obsessed mother and Archie Bunker-obsessed father, Alice’s past educational and work experience is unusually varied, and it now feeds her work as a poet, as well as an editor, coach and marketing consultant for writers. After the Steaming Stops is her most recent collection of poetry; previous collections are Right Lane Ends and Unfinished Projects. Alice is also the editor of the short fiction anthology, Tattoos (Main Street Rag, 2012). A Pushcart Prize nominee, she has taught classes and writing workshops to hundreds of aspiring authors of nearly all ages (from 9 to 90), both in person and online. Her work has appeared in the News and Observer, The Broad River Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Soundings Review and in numerous journals and anthologies. Alice lives in Raleigh with her husband, two children and now two parakeets: Woodbird and Perry. Birdstein wants you to know he exchanged this world for a better one. Visit Alice’s website at www.aliceosborn.com.
Crystal Dawn Baker: Singer-songwriter, vocalist, and producer Crystal Dawn Baker is a quickly emerging Raleigh, NC based artist. With a multitude of influences, her vocal style is unique and can easily range from pop, blues, folk, jazz, rock, soul, and country. Crystal has a deeply passionate and beautiful voice. Her songs captivate with striking soul. Crystal is currently recording a new solo album, “Phoenix”.
Everyone dreams of moving to the beach and becoming a writer. For one weekend in June, you can.
UNCW’s nationally recognized Department of Creative writing announces its inaugural summer writers conference, June 28 – 30.
In partnership with Randall Library and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the Department of Creative Writing presents three days of workshops, discussions and readings, highlighted by a keynote address by noted author and UNCW faculty member Clyde Edgerton and workshops and classes with faculty members Lavonne J. Adams (poetry), Wendy Brenner (fiction), Nina de Gramont (fiction and young adult), James Fitzgerald (publishing), Virginia Holman (creative nonfiction), Emily Louise Smith (publishing), and Beth Staples (publishing). Registration costs range from $35 to $599. Register now by clicking here.
Mad Hatter’s Tea and Garden Party, Saturday, May 11; activities from 10:00am-4:00pm at the Wake Forest Historical Museum, 414 N. Main St., Wake Forest, NC
Join the Mad Hatter’s of the Wake Forest Garden Club on Saturday, May 11 for a celebration of spring at the Wake Forest Historical Museum. Enjoy tea (with ongoing service from 11am to 2pm), garden seminars (11:30am & 1:30pm), an Art & Garden Market (10am-4pm), a Vintage Car Show (10am-4pm) and win great prizes in the Mad Hatter’s raffle (drawing at 4pm).
Tea will be served in the Museum Annex. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children (12 & under) and include admission to the seminars. Donate $1 for a raffle ticket or $5 for 6 tickets. Wear a “Mad Hat” to the tea and get a free raffle ticket. Prizes include a night at the Lions Gate Inn, jewelry and garden art. Visit www.WFGardenClub.org or email wfgardenclub@gmail.com or call 919-961-7778 for tea and raffle ticket information.
On the Historical Museum grounds, without entry charge, enjoy an Art & Garden Market and a Vintage Car Show. The market will feature creations by area artists, locally-grown plants and free gardening advice. The car show will include a dozen examples of classics through the decades, from a 1916 Buick to a 1979 MG.
Proceeds benefit community projects.
