About the Ray Arts Foundation
Preserve the story. Promote the art.
The Ray Arts Foundation is co-founded by and in memory of Eddie Ray. Our work has two sides. We preserve the record of North Carolina’s artists, carefully researched and verified. And we promote the arts today, so people can find them and artists can make a living. This directory is one part of that work.
Our mission
One mission, two sides
Everything the Foundation does serves one of two jobs: keeping the record of North Carolina’s arts, and helping the arts thrive today. Both rest on the same habit: check the facts and name the source.
All programs-
Side A Keeping the record
Preserve
North Carolina’s artists deserve a record that lasts, and that people can trust. We are building one: a library of researched, vetted and verified information about the state’s artists and their work.
- In development
A research library and archive for North Carolina’s artists: biographies, recordings, photographs, papers and public records such as census entries. We plan to work with artists’ families and estates, and with universities, so that every record is vetted, verified and certified to an academic standard.
About the Eddie Ray Library of Creative Excellence - Under way
The first collection is Eddie Ray’s own: his life and career in music, his memoir, and his family’s photographs and papers.
His life and career - In development
Classroom resources on North Carolina’s arts and music history, aligned to the state’s Standard Course of Study.
About education
Where the idea comes from. Researching North Carolina’s artists with universities, and keeping a record that is vetted and verified, was Eddie Ray’s idea. The Foundation is carrying it forward.
- In development
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Side B Helping the arts thrive
Promote
Art needs an audience, and artists need a living. We help people find North Carolina’s arts, and help the people who make them be found.
The arts are an economy. They mean jobs, visitors who spend money in town, and income for artists and the businesses around them. We plan to measure it every year, statewide and place by place. The economic impact report
- Open now
A free guide to every art form in every region: places, people and events. Free to use, and free to be listed.
Explore the directory - Planned
Events presented by the Foundation that bring North Carolina’s artists and audiences together.
About live events - Pilot
A clear, evidence-based picture of each town’s cultural life, starting with music.
About the Index - Founding cohort forming
Free recognition for towns that commit to their music and culture and back it with verified, public information.
Express interest - In development
A statewide newsletter, a shared events calendar, and help sending news and invitations, so a small group can have the tools a large one has.
See the services
- Open now
Why we exist
In memory of Eddie Ray
Eddie Ray was born in Franklin, North Carolina, and spent more than sixty years in the music business, one of the first African American executives at a major record label. He came home to serve as the first executive director of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. He believed learning should be open to everyone, that people should be free to express themselves, and that art can be a living. The Foundation puts those beliefs to work: by keeping the record of the state’s artists, and by helping the arts be found.
How we work
Held to an academic standard
We want to be a source people can cite. These are the rules we hold ourselves to, in the library, in the directory and in our research.
- Listings start from public records and open data, and each one says where its facts came from.
- Library records will be researched, vetted against primary sources and verified before we mark them certified.
- Our reports and the Ray Arts Index publish their methods, so anyone can check the work.
- Anyone can report a mistake, and owners can claim a listing to fix it directly.
- Planned work is labeled planned. Until places post their own events, any example date is marked “Sample event — illustrative date”. Hours and dates change, so check before you go.
- We only show photos that owners supply or that are licensed for use, and we credit them. Family and estate materials are shared only with permission.
The Foundation
Find your way around
Programs, research, news, and the story behind it all.
- What we doProgramsCertification, the Eddie Ray Library of Creative Excellence, the directory, events and services, each with where it stands today.
- ResearchReportsThe State of the Arts in North Carolina 2026, now in preparation, and how the Ray Arts Index works.
- MediaPress roomAbout the Foundation, media requests and news.
- Why we existOur storyWhat Eddie Ray believed, and where it lives on this site.
- In memoryEddie RayHis life and career, year by year, with sources.
- Get in touchContactQuestions, corrections, and a place to list.
Leadership
The people behind it
Board members, staff and advisors will be introduced here once they are confirmed.
Name to come
Board of directors
Name to come
Board of directors
Name to come
Staff
Name to come
Advisors
Work with us
Help us keep the record, and share it
We are looking for people and organizations to build this with. We will be proud to feature the ones we work with here, with their permission.
Contact us- Families & estates
Share an artist’s story
If you look after an artist’s papers, recordings or photographs, talk to us about the Eddie Ray Library of Creative Excellence.
Talk to us about the library - Universities & researchers
Research with us
Help research, vet and verify the record of North Carolina’s artists.
Talk to us about research - Towns & counties
Get certified
Join the founding cohort of Ray Certified Arts Communities. It is free.
Express interest - Arts organizations
Get listed, get help
Claim your free listing, and see the services we are building for arts groups.
Services for organizations
Free for venues, groups and artists
Is this your place? Add your tile to the map.
Your listing may already be here, built from public records. Claim it free to fix the details, add photos you own and post your events.