Raleigh Arts Leaders Engage City Candidates
Special thanks to photographer Areon Mobasher and to Charles Phaneuf for their contributions to this article.
City and County government support is crucial for local cultural communities and creative economies to thrive. While it is important to engage in advocacy at the State and Federal Level, it is the relationships at the local level that can have the greatest impact, and engaging candidates before the ballots are cast can insure that the arts are part of the conversation from the very beginning. This was exemplified by a group of civic-minded arts leaders in Raleigh who hosted a meet and greet for mayoral and city council candidates just days before the recent October 8th election.
A group of six arts executives of Raleigh-based arts organizations realized that a change in local leadership was on the horizon. Mayor Nancy McFarlane and one current city councilor were not seeking reelection, meaning there would be a new Mayor of Raleigh and at least one new member of City Council. This created the possibility of a new direction for Raleigh’s future and these arts leaders wanted all the candidates to be aware of how crucial the City of Raleigh’s long-standing financial and structural support is to the creative arts sector. They also wanted to position the cultural community as an eager and effective partner as Raleigh works to address issues of growth, equity, and diversity.
“A Group of Cultural Arts Folks Who Got Together Around an Idea,” as they would come to call themselves later, began their collaboration with conversations over coffee as they charted out their intentions and focused their efforts. After speaking with City staff and members of the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, they realized that the last Friday before the election was already a First Friday, when many people would be coming to Raleigh to avail themselves of a variety of downtown cultural opportunities. They reached out to a contact at WakeUp Wake County, an advocacy organization that addresses local issues, who suggested a meet and greet format. This would serve as a great opportunity for people to speak directly with candidates in an informal setting, and also be more inviting and less complex than a formal candidate forum. Executive Director Mary Poole offered a gallery at Artspace, featuring the exhibit “Dirty South,” which explores aspects of contemporary Southern identity. This would serve as the perfect backdrop to reinforce the idea that the arts can be a unifying force in Raleigh during a time of transition.
Secure in their mission and their message, invitations were sent to every candidate who had filed to run for city office in the October 8th election. Including all candidates and being careful not to show favor is crucial when nonprofits host candidate events such as this. Invitations were also sent to constituents and stakeholders from the participating organizations, which included links to Wake County arts impact data.
On the evening of October 4th well over 50 artists, arts leaders, and art lovers connected with 9 candidates for City Council, 3 of whom won seats, as well as 6 mayoral candidates, including Mary Ann Baldwin, who was elected Mayor of Raleigh. Having the event in the midst of a thriving downtown already engaged in its monthly celebration of the cultural arts sector set the stage for many conversations about the role that nonprofit arts organizations, the creative economy, and arts education play in the future of Raleigh, and how City government and the arts sector can partner to guarantee its success.
We celebrate and applaud the leadership in Raleigh of “A Group of Cultural Arts Folks Who Got Together Around an Idea.” We need more local arts alliances to engage in local government and elections and Arts North Carolina is here to connect those communities to whatever training and resources they may need. To quote Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
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A Group of Cultural Arts Folks Who Got Together Around an Idea | ||
| Artspace | Mary Poole | President & CEO |
| Arts Together | Cherrelyn Napue | Executive Director |
| Carolina Ballet | Michele Weathers | Executive Director |
| North Carolina Theatre | Melanie Doerner | Director of Development |
| Raleigh Little Theatre | Charles Phaneuf | Executive Director |
| United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County | Eleanor Oakley | President & CEO |
| Candidate in Attendance | Race | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Mary-Ann Baldwin | Mayor | Elected |
| Zainab Baloch | Mayor | |
| George Knott | Mayor | |
| Carolina Sullivan | Mayor | |
| Representative for Justin Sutton | Mayor | |
| Nicole Stewart | At-Large | Re-Elected |
| Joshua Bradley | District A | |
| Corey Branch | District C | Re-Elected |
| Brittany Bryan | District D | |
| Saige Martin | District D | Elected |
| David Knight | District E | Elected |
| Stef Mendell | District E |