Asides: Events and news about NC arts
Pottery gala
The annual auction and gala to benefit the North Carolina Pottery Center is 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at CAM Raleigh, 409 W. Martin St., Raleigh.
In addition to the chance to bid on and possibly win some of North Carolina’s finest pottery, there will be libations from the Haw River Wine man and Crank Arm Brewing, hors d’oeuvres from PoshNosh and music by Seagrove potters (no word on whether they will feature a jug band).
Tickets for the event are $250 for a couple, $125 if you’re going solo. N.C. Pottery Center members get a discount. You can also bid online; the bidding has already started for the silent auction. There also will be a live auction the night of the event.
Monies raised go to the N.C. Pottery Center in Seagrove, which is not only a tourist destination but also advocates for potters across the state.
The auction itemswere donated by area potters and range from the sculptural to the utilitarian. In addition, there’s a chance to bid on a day at Johnston & Gentithes Studios in Seagrove, where you can throw a pot or decorate a bowl; or on a firing with renowned potter Mark Hewitt. The winner of that one gets to stoke Hewitt’s wood-burning kiln at 2,400 degrees Farenheit and later unload the kiln.
To find out more go to ncpotterycenter.org. To see the items or bid on the silent auction, go to myab.co/events/Oj/.
NCSU wants your stories
If you have never published a book but want to, N.C. State University has an opportunity for you.
The university is seeking entries for a fiction contest that’s open to all North Carolina residents who have not already published a book.
Contestants may enter one story in each of two categories: The James Hurst Prize for Fiction for a story of no more than 5,000 words and the Shorter Fiction Prize for a story of no more than 1,200 words. First place is $500 for the Hurst prize and $250 for the Shorter prize.
Previous winners and tenure-track professors in the University of North Carolina system are not eligible.
Entries must be postmarked by Oct. 12 (emailed entries will not be accepted). Send your works to N.C. State Fiction Contest, Campus Box 8105, English Department, N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8105. For more information, go to www.ncsu.edu/creativewriting and click on “story contest.”
Onion founder brings humor to Duke
Scott Dikkers, a founding editor of The Onion, speaks at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Duke University’s Page Auditorium.
Dikkers’ talk is free and open to the public, but tickets, available at the Page Auditorium box office, are needed. There is a limit of two per person.
Dikkers helped start the print version of the satirical Onion, which features headlines like Google Engineers Invent New Body Part To Strap Gadgets Onto,” and the website, and has been the editor-in-chief, on and off, for much of the last quarter century. In addition, he hosts a weekly podcast, “The Comedy Insider,” a discussion with comedy-industry professionals about their comedy journeys, philosophies and processes.
For the birds
“Celebrating Birds,” an exhibit by Ben Galata and Bryant Holsenbeck, is on display through Oct. 2 at the Upfront Gallery in Durham.
Galata of Raleigh makes birdbaths of steel and concrete while Holsenbeck of Durham makes bird sculptures. The gallery, at 401-B Foster St., Durham, is open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 9 a.m.-noon most Saturdays. For more details go to www.bullcityarts.org or www.bryantholsenbeck.com/.
Myers’ big week
Timothy Myers, the Raleigh-based N.C. Opera’s artistic and music director, adds another world premiere to his growing list when he conducts “O Columbia” this week at Houston Grand Opera. The work, by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Royce Vavrek, examines the spirit of exploration and includes Sir Walter Raleigh as a character. N.C Opera is considering it for a future season.
Between engagements at Washington National Opera and Opera Philadelphia this season, Myers conducts N.C. Opera’s “Madame Butterfly (Oct. 30 and Nov. 1), “Eugene Onegin (Jan. 24, in concert) and “The Barber of Seville” (Apr. 1 and 3).
Call for artists
The Village Art Circle in Cary has extended the deadline for its juried art show, “Carolina on My Mind.” Artists are invited to submit two-dimensional work for the show, interpreting the title in any way, from representational art to abstract art, and in any medium.
The juror for the show will be Roger Manley, director of the Gregg Museum of Art and Design in Raleigh. Prizes will be awarded.
The new deadline is Sept. 28. The show will be on exhibit in November at the Village Art Circle, Ashworth Village, 200 S. Academy St., Suite 130, Cary.
For more details and to download the prospectus, go to www.villageartcircle.com.
Money for the arts
The John William Pope Foundation is stepping outside the Triangle to award two $100,000 grants to nonprofits based anywhere in the state.
The Joy Pope Memorial Grant in the Arts and the Joy Pope Memorial Grant in Human Services will be one-time gifts for projects that will be completed in 2016. The grants are named for the wife of the late businessman and philanthropist John William Pope and the mother of Art Pope, former state budget director and head of Variety Wholesalers.
“My mother’s legacy provides a wonderful guiding example for our arts and humanitarian grants, so we thought it was appropriate to name the award in her honor,” Art Pope said in a statement announcing the awards.
The deadline to apply is Oct. 30. Applicants need to be IRS compliant nonprofits, based in North Carolina.
Traditionally the foundation has given to arts-related nonprofits based in the Triangle, and those grants also are continuing. For more information on the grants and to download an application, go to jwpf.org/grants/joy-pope-memorial-grants/.
This story was originally published September 20, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Asides: Events and news about NC arts."