Mountains
Fiddles and flatfoot, craft studios and mountain heritage museums.
- AshevilleCraft · Visual Arts · Theater
- BooneMusic · Theater · Museums
- BrevardMusic · Museums
- WilkesboroTheater · Museums · Music
North Carolina arts, mountains to coast
Explore North Carolina’s arts.
From mountain music to coastal film, find artists, events and places across the state. Search by art form and location, or choose a path below.
Each color is an art form. Tiles gather where that art form has the most listings.
We Track the Arts
Artists…
Organizations & businesses…
Events…
NC economic impact$25B
The Ray Arts Foundation
More than a directory
We preserve the stories and traditions that give communities joy and meaning, then share what we learn through education and outreach.
Our missionSide one
Preserve
We keep the stories, traditions and creative work people value, so they can be remembered, learned from and carried forward.
Explore our preservation workSide two
Promote
We connect people with artists and arts organizations, helping creative work reach new audiences, support livelihoods and strengthen local communities.
See our other workEight art forms
Eight ways in.
Each art form has its own room, with its own places, people and events. Step through a door.
Browse every listing- No. 1 Music Stages, festivals, bands and the stations on your dial. Enter Music
- No. 2 Theater & Performance Playhouses, outdoor dramas, comedy and companies. Enter Theater
- No. 3 Dance Classes and companies, from ballet to clogging and contra. Enter Dance
- No. 4 Visual Arts Galleries, studios, murals and opening nights. Enter Visual Arts
- No. 5 Craft & Traditional Arts Potters, weavers, makers and craft schools. Enter Craft
- No. 6 Literary Arts Bookstores, readings, presses and writers. Enter Literary
- No. 7 Film & Media Cinemas, film festivals, crews and studios. Enter Film & Media
- No. 8 Museums & Heritage Museums, historic sites and the people who keep them. Enter Museums
Coming up, every art form
What’s on this month
Concerts, openings, readings, screenings and tours across North Carolina.
See all events Join a feedPlaces across the state
Worth the drive
Old theaters, craft guilds, cinemas and historic towns. One for every kind of day out.
Find places near youExplore by region and town
Mountains, Piedmont, Coast
Three regions, a few hundred miles apart, each with its own sound and its own makers. Pick a town to see everything on there.
All townsPiedmont
The big stages and college towns, galleries and history museums.
- CharlotteVisual Arts · Film · Dance
- DurhamLiterary · Theater · Visual Arts
- RaleighMuseums · Dance · Theater
- GreensboroDance · Visual Arts · Literary
- Winston-SalemCraft · Film · Museums
- Chapel HillLiterary · Film · Museums
Coastal Plain
River towns, historic districts, film crews and summer festivals.
- WilmingtonFilm · Theater · Dance
- New BernMuseums · Visual Arts · Theater
- FayettevilleLiterary · Museums · Theater
- GreenvilleMusic · Museums · Theater
- Rocky MountMusic · Museums
Each town shows the art forms that stand out there, compared with the rest of the state.
For artists, makers & keepers
Make it, show it, teach it.
Rooms to play, walls to hang on, calls to answer and classes to teach. Every art form keeps its own list.
- For musiciansRooms to play · Studios & pressing · Camps
- For theater makersAuditions · Rehearsal space · Tech crews
- For dancersAuditions · Studio rentals · Teaching jobs
- For visual artistsCalls for entry · Residencies · Studio space
- For makersClasses · Studio space · Fairs to apply to
- For writersWorkshops · Residencies · Open mics
- For filmmakersCrews · Equipment · Funding
- For keepers of historyVolunteering · Archives · Preservation
Why we’re here
In memory of Eddie Ray
The Ray Arts Foundation is co-founded by and in memory of Eddie Ray (1926–2026), a pioneering music executive from Franklin, North Carolina, and the first executive director of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.
He believed learning should be open to everyone and people should be free to express themselves and build a living through their art. The Foundation carries that belief forward by preserving North Carolina’s arts history and promoting its artists today.
Free for venues, groups and artists
Is this your listing? Help us get it right.
Find your listing to suggest a correction, or add your arts organization, business, event or place to the directory.