The United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, Inc. (United Arts) announces their March 1 move to new offices at 110 S. Blount Street, located at the corner of Morgan and Blount streets in downtown Raleigh. “We think our new street front location meets our strategic goal of a higher profile in the community and gives us an opportunity to be part of a growing urban arts scene in downtown Raleigh,” says Alec Donaldson, Chair of United Arts’ Board of Directors. The move, slated for March 1, 2008, will see the eight employees of United Arts moving close to the office space United Arts occupied in the 1990s. United Arts has been located in the Wake County Office Building for more than 10 years, in space donated by the County of Wake. With the County pressed for office space, the non-departmental occupants were notified last fiscal year and told to identify other space by June 30, 2008. “The County has been good to us with a generous in-kind support of office space over these years,” says Eleanor Oakley, President/CEO of United Arts. “They continue to support United ArtsŐ work financially and remain a vital partner in the success of our organization.”
United Arts has worked with Rich Commercial Realty since July 2007 to locate alternative space. The new office space is just over 5,000 square feet and will be subleased in part to Arts North Carolina and the Philharmonic Association, who will occupy about 500-600 square feet of the total space.
The United Arts Council’s mission is to build better communities through support and advocacy of the arts. This year alone United Arts will write checks of over one million dollars to local arts organizations, schools and artists. This funding will support more than 900 performances and art exhibitions in Wake County, NC, as well as 140,000 hours of arts programming in 131 Wake schools, including 76 writer residencies, 74 artist residencies/workshops and 49 opera or chamber music performances.