Program areas at The Durham Arts Council
Support and development of Arts organizations and artists dac provides grants & technical assistance to artists and Arts organizations. In fy23, dac provided exhibition, performance, teaching, training, grants & art exhibit/sales opportunities to 1,717 individual artists; dac grants supported 107 Arts organizations & 70 individual artists. 534 arts/cultural organizations were served across all dac programs. Dac provided sector-wide Arts advocacy & economic support of $2,065,582, including $367,000 in Arts facility grants; $455,194 in cash grants and dac provided $1,243,389 in Arts teaching jobs, performance jobs, & Arts management jobs. This is The highest level of Arts sector support provided by dac in its 70-year history.
Arts program and facility support services dac manages & programs The historic dac building as a premier venue for artists, Arts organizations, & community groups in downtown Durham. Dac programs its galleries, theatres, rehearsal spaces, studios & classrooms for The Arts community & public 7 days a week. Dac is The 4th most visited facility in downtown Durham and has The largest attendance among comparable regional Arts centers. Pre-pandemic fy2019, dac building and events attracted attendance of 413,234; hosted 5,028 events & programs & managed 26,127 hours of facility use. Post pandemic, in fy2023, attendance rebounded to 364,978 with 4,377 events and programs and 26,094 hours of managed facility use.
Arts education programs dac's Arts center school provided 382 classes for 4,074 youth & adults in visual, performing & literary Arts & 10 weeks of youth Arts camps. Enrollment increased 310% vs. fy21 due to continued post-covid recovery. The dac creative Arts in schools program (caps) provided 174 programs to 23,440 students at 80 sites in Durham, orange, granville, chatham and person counties. Caps provides curriculum-based Arts residencies, performances & workshops to strengthen academic outcomes. Dac school & caps programs provided 556 contract jobs that paid $338,334 to teaching artists in fy23.