RFAS celebrates diversity of thought, experience, and culture.
About Us
About Us
Our History
SINCE 1964
The Raleigh Fine Arts Society (RFAS) had its beginning in 1964 when a small number of volunteers staged an exhibition of local art at the Olivia Raney Library in Raleigh, North Carolina. The following year the Raleigh Fine Arts Society, Inc. was formed.
The role today of The Raleigh Fine Arts Society remains as it was in 1965: To cultivate, promote, and engage in the arts. That means identifying, supporting and recognizing creative people and helping assure their work is seen, heard and appreciated.
This organization has established and nurtured the essential links among those who support these pursuits, those who enjoy them and those whose hands, hearts and minds create them. Since the 1970s The Raleigh Fine Arts Society has been actively involved in a variety of projects in support of the arts.
NC ARTISTS EXHIBITION, CHORAL CELEBRATION, LITERARY CONTEST
Their work includes an annual juried exhibition for multimedia visual art featuring established and emerging artists across North Carolina. Artists representing more that 60 counties have entered, and the general public has a chance to view their work.
In 1999 The Raleigh Fine Arts Society began a new tradition: an annual Choral Celebration for elementary schools in Wake County. On two consecutive spring evenings each year choral groups and their teachers perform before a packed house at the Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall, home of the North Carolina Symphony.
RFAS launched the Literary Contest in 1978 to encourage creative writing and recognize outstanding young writers. The Literary Contest was founded as a short-story writing contest and through most of its history has been open to all students enrolled in grades 10, 11 and 12 in all public, charter, or private high schools in Wake County. For more than 40 years, the RFAS Literary Contest has recognized hundreds of high school students for their writing talents as well as teachers and schools for their participation. However, during and after the Covid shutdowns, participation declined, and teachers began to suggest modifications.
In 2022-2023, a special committee was created to evaluate the contest fully and determine how to adjust the competition so it is more relevant to today’s high school curriculum. The reimagined 2023 Literary Contest will be conducted in partnership with United Arts Council in Wake County and Arts Councils in Durham and Orange Counties as a Spoken Word competition for high school students in those counties. The contest will be a part of the Piedmont Laureate program coordinated by area Arts Councils which celebrates writing in several genres including fiction, non-fiction, playwriting, children’s literature, and poetry. This new program will include providing performances at four historically under-resourced high schools in Wake County and providing teachers in all three counties with resources to utilize in the classroom. High School students Triangle-wide will have the opportunity to write and perform a poem. They will submit videos of their poetry performances for review by a jury panel of professionals. Submissions and the judging of entries will be administered by United Arts. RFAS will host an awards ceremony with cash awards for the winning students whose videos were selected by the judges.
Our History
SINCE 1964
The Raleigh Fine Arts Society (RFAS) had its beginning in 1964 when a small number of volunteers staged an exhibition of local art at the Olivia Raney Library in Raleigh, North Carolina. The following year the Raleigh Fine Arts Society, Inc. was formed.
The role today of The Raleigh Fine Arts Society remains as it was in 1965: To cultivate, promote, and engage in the arts. That means identifying, supporting and recognizing creative people and helping assure their work is seen, heard and appreciated.
This organization has established and nurtured the essential links among those who support these pursuits, those who enjoy them and those whose hands, hearts and minds create them. Since the 1970s The Raleigh Fine Arts Society has been actively involved in a variety of projects in support of the arts.
NC ARTISTS EXHIBITION, CHORAL CELEBRATION, LITERARY CONTEST
Their work includes an annual juried exhibition for multimedia visual art featuring established and emerging artists across North Carolina. Artists representing more that 60 counties have entered, and the general public has a chance to view their work.
In 1999 The Raleigh Fine Arts Society began a new tradition: an annual Choral Celebration for elementary schools in Wake County. On two consecutive spring evenings each year choral groups and their teachers perform before a packed house at the Raleigh’s Meymandi Concert Hall, home of the North Carolina Symphony.
RFAS launched the Literary Contest in 1978 to encourage creative writing and recognize outstanding young writers. The Literary Contest was founded as a short-story writing contest and through most of its history has been open to all students enrolled in grades 10, 11 and 12 in all public, charter, or private high schools in Wake County. For more than 40 years, the RFAS Literary Contest has recognized hundreds of high school students for their writing talents as well as teachers and schools for their participation. However, during and after the Covid shutdowns, participation declined, and teachers began to suggest modifications.
In 2022-2023, a special committee was created to evaluate the contest fully and determine how to adjust the competition so it is more relevant to today’s high school curriculum. The reimagined 2023 Literary Contest will be conducted in partnership with United Arts Council in Wake County and Arts Councils in Durham and Orange Counties as a Spoken Word competition for high school students in those counties. The contest will be a part of the Piedmont Laureate program coordinated by area Arts Councils which celebrates writing in several genres including fiction, non-fiction, playwriting, children’s literature, and poetry. This new program will include providing performances at four historically under-resourced high schools in Wake County and providing teachers in all three counties with resources to utilize in the classroom. High School students Triangle-wide will have the opportunity to write and perform a poem. They will submit videos of their poetry performances for review by a jury panel of professionals. Submissions and the judging of entries will be administered by United Arts. RFAS will host an awards ceremony with cash awards for the winning students whose videos were selected by the judges.
Our Members
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Raleigh Fine Arts members serve as dedicated docents and volunteers to the NC Executive Mansion, the NC Museum of Art, NC Museum of History, the NC Symphony, Carolina Ballet, and the The Gregg Museum of Art & Design.
Raleigh Fine Arts Society assisted with the restoration of Pullen Park’s historic Denzel Carousel and has twice published a 100-page book entitled Raleigh: A Guide to North Carolina’s Capital.
OUR SERVICE
For its years of service in support of the arts, the organization has been awarded the prestigious City of Raleigh Medal of Arts and the Paladin Award sponsored by the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and United Arts of Raleigh and Wake County. In 1988 the Literary Contest won the Medal of Arts Award. And in 1994 The Raleigh Fine Arts was awarded the Medal of Arts Award for its outstanding contributions to the arts in Raleigh and Wake County. RFAS was inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame in October 2014.
Our Members
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Raleigh Fine Arts members serve as dedicated docents and volunteers to the NC Executive Mansion, the NC Museum of Art, NC Museum of History, the NC Symphony, Carolina Ballet, and the The Gregg Museum of Art & Design.
Raleigh Fine Arts Society assisted with the restoration of Pullen Park’s historic Denzel Carousel and has twice published a 100-page book entitled Raleigh: A Guide to North Carolina’s Capital.
OUR SERVICE
For its years of service in support of the arts, the organization has been awarded the prestigious City of Raleigh Medal of Arts and the Paladin Award sponsored by the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and United Arts of Raleigh and Wake County. In 1988 the Literary Contest won the Medal of Arts Award. And in 1994 The Raleigh Fine Arts was awarded the Medal of Arts Award for its outstanding contributions to the arts in Raleigh and Wake County. RFAS was inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame in October 2014.