Our story
Why the Ray Arts Foundation exists.
The Ray Arts Foundation is co-founded by and in memory of Eddie Ray (1926–2026), a record executive from Franklin, North Carolina. This directory is built on what he believed: that learning should be open to everyone, that people should be free to express themselves, and that art can be a living.
Four things he believed
What he believed, and where it lives on this site
The way this site is laid out follows from four things Eddie Ray cared about. Each one has a home here.
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IEducation
Learning, open to everyone
Eddie Ray grew up under segregation and was not allowed to go to school at home: Franklin had no school for Black children, so he had to leave home to attend high school. He valued education for the rest of his life, and in Memphis he started his own college, the Tennessee College of Recording Arts & Sciences, to teach both music and the music business: students could learn to play, record and perform, and learn how the industry works.
Sources: the Ray family (2026); NC Music Hall of Fame (the college)
Where you’ll find it here
- Learn: classes, camps and workshops in every art form
- A “For artists” block in each section: camps and lessons in Music, studios, residencies, rehearsal space
- Music and arts education listings, from summer camps to schools of the arts
- Classroom resources on North Carolina arts history in development
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IIExpression
Free to express yourself
He believed in the arts and in people’s freedom to express themselves, especially through art and design. He spent more than sixty years in the record business helping artists be heard.
Sources: the Ray family (2026); NC Music Hall of Fame
Where you’ll find it here
- Eight art sections, each with its own look, colors and voice, because each art form speaks in its own way:MusicTheaterDanceVisual ArtsCraftLiteraryFilm & MediaMuseums
- The rest of the site shares one calm look, so the art forms stand out
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IIIArt as a living
Art can feed a family
He believed art can be a living, a way to feed yourself and your family. His own career began with a stock boy’s job at a record distributor and grew into the executive offices of major labels.
Sources: the Ray family (2026); eddieraymusicman.com; NC Music Hall of Fame
Where you’ll find it here
- Free listings for artists, groups and arts businesses: list your place
- Rooms to play, walls to hang on, calls to answer and places to work, in every section
- Ray Certified Arts Community, recognition for towns that commit to their music and culture founding cohort forming
- Research on what the arts bring to North Carolina towns in preparation
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IVNorth Carolina roots
Home is North Carolina
He was born in Franklin, in the mountains of western North Carolina, and came home to serve as the first executive director of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 2009.
Sources: NC Music Hall of Fame; eddieraymusicman.com; Wikipedia
Where you’ll find it here
- Towns from the mountains to the coast, each with its own page
- The Ray Arts Index, which carries his name, on every town page
- The map on the home page: the whole state, every art form
- The Eddie Ray Library of Creative Excellence, a researched, verified record of North Carolina’s artists in development
His story, in full
Read more about Eddie Ray
This page keeps the biography short. His family’s site tells his story in full.
- The family’s siteeddieraymusicman.comHis life in five chapters, his music and his memoir, Against All Odds.
(opens in a new tab) - On this siteBiography and timelineHis career year by year, and every artist he worked with.
- WikipediaEdward Wiley RayThe encyclopedia article, with its sources.
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Preserve and promote
A record that lasts, and a map of who makes art today
The Foundation’s work has two sides. To preserve, we are building the Eddie Ray Library of Creative Excellence, a researched and verified record of North Carolina’s artists. To promote, we keep this directory: before anyone can take a class, book a stage, sell their work or plan a trip, they have to find each other. It is free to use, free to be listed, honest about its sources, and open to every art form in every town.
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