Introduction

United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, based in Raleigh, NC, was incorporated in 1990. Our vision is one of a community that values the arts, and we work toward building better communities through support and advocacy of the arts. The United Arts Council is a united arts fund, offering grants in support of arts programming to organizations, schools, communities and individual artists. United Arts also provides services to the community such as advocacy, resource development, professional/leadership development and special projects. The grants, programs and services of United Arts reach over 1.5 million people annually in Raleigh, Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Morrisville, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell and Zebulon, NC. Of these, 39% are youth; 21%, seniors; 64%, white; 16%, African-American; 9%, Asian/Pacific; 9%, Latino; and 2%, other.
 
United Arts provides grants in support of arts programming presented in the NC Museum of Art, NC Museum of History, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Marbles Kids Museum, Visual Art Exchange, Artspace, K-12 school auditoriums, WakeMed, City of Raleigh Arts Commission (National Art Exhibition), major venues such as the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, smaller venues such as the Garner Historic Auditorium, Holly Springs Cultural Center, Raleigh Little Theatre, Meredith College and Peace College auditoriums, Cary’s Bond Park Amphitheatre and Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park, other municipal parks and senior centers.
 
Types of art represented among grant recipients include: vocal and choral music, orchestral, symphonic and chamber music, bluegrass and traditional music, theatre and youth theatre, opera, modern dance, festivals, visual art, mime, puppetry, jazz music, ballet, quilting, storytelling, street painting, murals, origami, cultural/ethnic dance and music, writing, public art, printmaking, bookmaking, pottery, wire art, video sculpture, photography, film, and computer-generated art. Additionally, United Arts supports the work of Arts Access and Triangle Reading Radio Service that brings the arts closer to those with disabilities.