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Dare Arts will celebrate 50 years of encouraging the arts in Dare County through advocacy, enrichment and opportunity in 2025.

As the nonprofit commemorates this important milestone, a common theme of “celebrating our past, present, and future” will be woven into programming, events and exhibits next year.

“In 2025 we will honor our founders, educate the community on the organization’s rich history, elevate and amplify our longstanding programs and events, curate intriguing exhibitions, and create new art experiences for the community, while also ensuring the future of the arts on the Outer Banks is bright,” said Dare Arts president Richard Phillips.

In February, Dare Arts will host the 47th Annual Frank Stick Memorial Art Show, which is the longest running visual arts exhibition in Dare County that honors the life of legendary artist, outdoorsman and conservationist Frank Stick.

Dare Arts will also host a new retrospective exhibit in February of 2025, which will open at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 7 in conjunction with the Frank Stick Memorial Art Show.

“People that visit Fifty Years of Dare Arts, A Retrospective will be able to learn about the history of Dare Arts, including notable local icons Mollie Fearing and Frank Stick,” said Dare Arts vice president Rebecca Watkins. “The exhibit also highlights the many art events hosted in the community like Artrageous and Outer Banks Veterans Week, as well as programs like the Power of Art. Each panel is filled with photographs and interactive links where visitors might get a chance to see their favorite familiar faces from Dare Arts events over the past fifty years. Finally, guests will also learn about exciting new art experiences that Dare Arts is bringing to the community in 2025 including our first plein air, live painting event, Fresh from the Outer Banks, and our Women’s Writing Workshop with North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, just to name a few.”

N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green will facilitate a women’s writing workshop titled What We Keep Keeps Us: Exploring Our Human Museums from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 22 at Dare Arts.

“I believe that we are all human museums archiving the richness of our family history, ancestral memory, and the many artifacts that we keep,” said Green. “As curators of our human museums, we are constantly using the wealth of primary sources in our museums to inform our creativity and how we show up in the world. In this creativity salon, we will become archaeologists unearthing data, memories, and stories that are available to our creative making.”

Registration for the writing workshop is open now online at DareArts.org/workshops. The workshop is open to women ages 18 and up.

“We are honored to be kicking off 2025 with our traveling retrospective exhibition and our women’s writing workshop with Jaki Shelton Green,” said Dare Arts executive director Jessica Sands. “Special events like these, combined with a compelling exhibit schedule, and new collaborative projects help to show that the impact of the arts in our community goes beyond the walls of our gallery in Manteo. We are also thrilled to announce the launch of our $50 for 50 years campaign, which is a wonderful way to support this important milestone for Dare Arts.”

For all of 2025, Dare Arts will be holding its $50 for 50 years fundraiser, which seeks 500 art lovers to each give $50 toward the organization’s special projects and building updates.

To donate, visit DareArts.org/support, call 252-473-5558, stop by the Dare Arts Gallery, or mail a donation to PO Box 2300, Manteo, NC 27954.

Dare Arts’ 50th anniversary is supported by the Outer Banks Community Foundation, the Don & Catharine Bryan Cultural Series and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. It is sponsored by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

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