The Dare County Arts Council offers a community centric art experience in the heart of downtown Manteo. The rotating artwork and free admission will keep us coming back each time we walk through the area. The novel Art-o-mat is the best way to get some art and support these local artists too.
But Where in Dare?
The Dare County Art Council building is located in downtown Manteo in an old city building. Located off of Queen Elizabeth Avenue, you are one block from the water. It is a very convenient location near Poor Richard’s Sandwich shop, the Manteo lighthouse and the Elizabeth II replica. We found ourselves wandering in here after lunch at Poor Richard’s and exploring the Phoenix shops next door.
Parking is not easy to come by here. We came before the lunch rush on a cold day so parking was not too bad. Nonetheless there is not many good parking areas in downtown Manteo. Here is a link to the most up to date parking info for Manteo.
Dare To Be Creative
The Dare County Arts Council is an art gallery with rotating exhibits for new and established artists. Their larger intent is to further proliferate the arts throughout the outer banks. I find the re-vitalized building itself to be very beautiful and drew us in off the street not knowing what we were getting into.
Admission is free (my favorite price). When you walk in from either the front or the back you will enter the main 1st floor hallway. Each room off of the hallway has an exhibit area the is furnished by a select local artist. As we mentioned, these exhibits are on a rotating basis. Each month they have a new exhibit that is unveiled. This keeps this fresh and interesting. That being said there are some long standing artists and features.
These new exhibits are unveiled on the first Friday of each month with a lively reception. The event occurs between 6 and 8pm. We were not aware of these festivities when we came but it looks like a great time. Other events appear to be the norm for the Dare County Arts Council. Other fun events we saw advertise were several “Kids Art Parties” where a local artist has a few hours to walk through how to paint some simple pictures.
Vending Machines: The Preferred Way to Experience Art
Jokes aside, the “Art-o-mat” is an invention of their own design. It is a retro vending machine that dispense small original pieces of art. A really neat way to get people involved and help artists get their name out there. Little Suzy cannot afford a 500$ master piece but probably would love to have something to take home to remind her about the trip. This is a great way to do that. Plus it is just neat seeing old things made new.
Each room is connected to the next via a series of doorways. This serves well to separate the art exhibits while allowing you to flow seamlessly between them. We easily moved through the rooms and got to see some amazing local art. There are even some jewelry made by these artists too. The variety of art available here is quite impressive.
Overall
The Dare County Arts Council is a fun mix of local history with local art in the heart of Manteo. We enjoyed the community atmosphere and found it well suited to attract anyone strolling around downtown. Grab a little original art piece from the Art-o-mat when you stop in and chat up some of the artists.
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