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Raleigh Arts Partner organizations create all kinds of programs and events for Raleigh residents and guests to enjoy. From citywide festivals like First Night Raleigh to exhibitions, concerts, and theatre productions, from classes for all ages to amateur theatre-making, music-making, and choral singing, these organizations make sure there is something for everyone to see and do.
Recognizing how much community members benefit from these creative opportunities, the City of Raleigh Arts Commission supports the work of the 35 nonprofit organizations below.
The African American Cultural Festival promotes, preserves, and celebrates African American culture and heritage through its annual festival in downtown Raleigh, featuring music, visual art, dance, a marketplace, and activities for children.
Learn more about the African American Cultural Festival
Arts Access serves as a bridge between arts organizations and disability communities, providing resources and services to improve the engagement of people with disabilities in the arts, both as audiences and artmakers, in Raleigh and across the state.
Learn more about Arts Access
Established in 1983 as a community school for the arts, Arts Together cultivates individual creative strengths in preschoolers to adults in a diverse, inclusive, collaborative, and nurturing environment through visual arts, dance, drama, and more.
Learn more about Arts Together
Artspace inspires positive community impact through art with its free exhibits featuring national and local artists and open studios that support 35+ creatives. A space for creativity and social practice, it offers classes, community conversations, and events.
Learn more about Artspace
Known for its vibrant namesake festival, Artsplosure makes creative art and cultural experiences accessible to all through the diverse, inclusive and free events and festivals it produces annually in Raleigh, like the City’s New Year’s Eve celebration.
Learn more about Artsplosure
Burning Coal Theatre produces professional theatre focused on issues of global concern. Known for supporting NC actors and directors and showcasing new work, it offers performance and rehearsal space to other groups and theatre classes for all ages.
Learn more about Burning Coal Theatre Company
CAM Raleigh is a non-collecting contemporary art museum that provides an environment for community gathering and transformation through educational programs, creative experiences, and bold, non-traditional exhibitions by living artists.
Learn more about CAM Raleigh
Carolina Ballet creates community by presenting diverse seasons of ballets that showcase both great classics and new works by talented choreographers and composers. Its ballet school provides training to develop young and emerging dancers.
Learn more about Carolina Ballet
Chamber Music Raleigh connects the greater Raleigh community to NC, national, and international music groups through its intimate and accessible chamber music concert seasons. The artists also regularly support local music students through master classes and residencies.
Learn more about Chamber Music Raleigh
Community Music School offers high-quality music education to children from families who might not otherwise afford it. It serves over 275 students each year through $1 weekly lessons,
CVNC publishes an online arts journal covering artists, arts groups, and events across the state. It provides professional-quality reviews, feature stories, and an arts calendar showcasing North Carolina’s evolving cultural landscape.
Learn more about CVNC
Over 12,000 people turn out every Memorial Day Weekend for Animazement, this organization’s anime and Japanese cultural arts celebration. In addition to professional anime artists’ panels, the event includes sessions on traditional dance, tea ceremony, and more.
Learn more about Educational Growth Across Oceans
El Pueblo’s annual fall event La Fiesta del Pueblo is Raleigh’s largest and most diverse celebration of Latin American culture and arts, featuring live music, dance, art, and folk-life exhibits, educational booths, and activities for the whole family.
Learn more about El Pueblo
Known for its focus on social justice issues, The Justice Theater Project is a professional theatre that produces compelling theater experiences to create dialogue, give voice to social concerns, and foster collaboration with community groups.
Learn more about The Justice Theater Project
Little Raleigh Radio is an online radio station that connects the Raleigh community with broadcasts of music, art, theater, and news. The LRR Jazz Festival is a free two-day concert series showcasing students and Triangle-based professional jazz musicians.
Learn more about Little Raleigh Radio
The North Carolina Chamber Music Institute trains young musicians as performers and community leaders through its uniquely structured small ensemble program. Mentored by instructors, students explore classical masterworks and then perform for the Raleigh community.
Learn more about the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute
North Carolina Master Chorale reaches over 15,000 annually through its many concerts and performance partnerships. Boasting a 170-voice Symphonic Chorus, Chamber Choir, and Youth Choir, it provides avocational singers vocal coaching through choral masterworks.
Learn more about North Carolina Master Chorale
The Triangle’s only professional opera company, North Carolina Opera has a reputation for high-quality, three-production seasons. Known for pairing nationally recognized singers with regional artists, it tackles both well-known classics and contemporary fare.
Learn more about the North Carolina Opera
In addition to its popular mainstage series, NC State LIVE showcases North Carolina’s wide-ranging music scene with its free outdoor concert series, LIVE@Lake Raleigh. Picnickers enjoy a mix of NC-based musicians from Latin big band, bluegrass, and indie pop groups to Americana and global fusion.
Learn more about NC State LIVE
NC State University’s TheatreFEST is Raleigh’s hub for summer theatre, connecting local theatre companies, artists, and audiences for a one-month celebration of live theatre every June. Events include full-scale productions, playreadings, and peeks behind the scenes.
Learn more about NC State University Theatre
North Carolina’s state orchestra calls Raleigh home for its concert seasons and educational programs. The symphony showcases some of the world’s greatest talents and embraces local musicians from classical to bluegrass, creating distinctive live music experiences.
Learn more about the North Carolina Symphony
Award-winning and dynamic, this community theatre’s eight-show season highlights diverse community voices in its intimate space. The theatre provides a creative outlet for all, welcoming participation onstage, backstage, in classes, and as audience.
Learn more about North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theatre
India is a blend of highly diverse regions, home to over two dozen languages. Nuv Yug’s India Fest celebrates the rich cultural traditions of regional, dance, music, and cuisines. This free “homecoming” event attracts nearly 10,000 people yearly.
Learn more about Nuv Yug Cultural Organization
Dedicated to the music of NC’s Piedmont, PineCone is the state’s largest bluegrass and roots music presenter. From jam sessions to its Down Home Concert Series and new Raleigh Wide Open festival, PineCone also engages people with old time, blues, and gospel music.
Learn more about PineCone
Pure Life Theatre is a diverse artist collective serving the community through exceptional theatre experiences that explore and nourish truth, hope, redemption, and love. Founded in 2019, its three-show season explores different social issues yearly.
Learn more about Pure Life Theatre Company
Unique in the area for its performance of contemporary works of classical music, Raleigh Civic Symphony Association consists of professional, avocational, and college musicians and regularly commissions and performs new pieces by American composers.
Learn more about the Raleigh Civic Symphony Association
One of the oldest community theatres in the country, Raleigh Little Theatre exists to create and teach theatre that serves the community, offers a welcoming and inclusive place, and embraces diverse stories, artists, and students in powerful ways.
Learn more about Raleigh Little Theatre
Guided by a belief in the power of social change through music education, Raleigh Music Collective offers classes in the violin, viola, and cello to approximately 150 students (3rd-12th grade) in Raleigh annually with the aim to positively impact and transform students’ lives.
Learn more about Raleigh Music Collective
Nationally recognized leaders in the field of handbell ringing, The Raleigh Ringers are known for their exceptional concerts; the group has commissioned over 150 works to provide audiences with unique interpretations of sacred, secular, and popular music.
Learn more about The Raleigh Ringers
Raleigh Youth Choir provides an inclusive and supportive environment for all youth who love to sing. Students learn the art and joy of singing through beginner to advanced choirs that offer weekly rehearsals, performances, and summer camps.
Learn more about Raleigh Youth Choir
As the only metalworking workspace in Raleigh, ShopSpace serves a unique community role. This makerspace focuses on teaching and providing an open workshop for hands-on learning in metalwork such as forging, jewelry making, and welding; woodworking instruction is a recent addition.
Learn more about ShopSpace
Theatre in the Park involves the community in the creation of live theatre to nurture appreciation for the arts. Through its five-show seasons and its beloved A Christmas Carol, the theatre engages diverse audiences in quality theatre experiences.
Learn more about Theatre In The Park
Theatre Raleigh enriches the community through innovative, intimate theatrical experiences and theatre education for youth in North Raleigh. This professional theatre mixes Broadway veterans with local artists to create high-quality theatre experiences that resonate with audiences.
Learn more about Theatre Raleigh
TheGifted Arts provides an environment designed to transform the lives of youth through culturally responsive artistic experiences. With classes, camps, and performances, K-12th graders can explore their identity, discover their greatness, and cultivate skills that allow them to flourish.
Learn more about TheGifted Arts
With a mission of educating the next generation in great classical and jazz music through ensemble performance, Triangle Youth Music provides professional training to over 550 students annually through its orchestra and jazz ensemble programs.
Learn more about Triangle Youth Music
