MYSTERY DATE
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
The United Arts Council plays matchmaker
by Katherine Poole
art courtesy United Arts Council
For three special evenings Nov. 2, – 4, hundreds of guests will gather in some of Raleigh’s most beautiful homes and event spaces to meet some of the state’s most talented artists, mingle with fellow patrons of the arts, and enjoy gourmet cuisine – all in support of arts education in Wake County.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is the signature event of the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, a community organization that supports arts education. Since its debut in 2005, the event has raised over $1 million for its Artists in Schools program, which brings professional artists into Wake County schools to instruct and inspire through the arts. To date, 142 Wake County K – 12 public, private, and charter schools have benefited from 147,000 annual hours of programming supported by the group, including 407 art programs, 65 writer-in-residence sponsorships, 100 artist residency workshops, and 242 performances.
Artists in residence
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner patrons can select from 15 different thematic dinners over the three-night period. Dinner parties vary in size from to 14 to 75 guests and are held in intimate spaces that include an art-filled residence in West Raleigh, a boutique hotel in Durham, an urban event space near downtown Raleigh, and even the Executive Mansion with first lady Kristin Cooper.
So, just who is coming to dinner? That’s the best part. It’s a mystery. What the Arts Council can reveal is that it will be any one or more of the 22 visual artists, musicians, musical groups, writers, actors, dancers, or poets that have agreed to be set up on this one-of-a-kind blind date (listed below). These are unforgettable evenings, and well worth buying tickets for as soon as possible.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
Blind-date artists
Paris Alexander, visual artist
Debra Austin, dancer
Bloomsbury Band, musicians
Jen Bereline, visual artist
Bloomsbury Band, musicians
Bob Chapman, opera singer
Georges Le Chavalier, visual artist
Jason Craighead, visual artist
Mimi Herman, poet
Kyle Highsmith, visual artist
Lauren Kennedy, actress
Joyce Watkins King, visual artist
Paul Loesel, musician
Emile Pandolfi, musician
Dwane Powell, visual artist
Yolanda Rabun, singer, actor
Chuck Ragsdale, actor
Bob Rankin, visual artist
Terry Rhodes, musician
Thomas Sayre, visual artist
Mary D. Williams, musician
Zoocrü, musicians
David Zucchino, writer
