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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

UNCW Partnering with Art for the Masses

In the Cultural Arts building at UNCW, Chancellor Gary Miller announced that the university will now be housing the Wilmington event Art for the Masses.
In the Cultural Arts building at UNCW, Chancellor Gary Miller announced that the university will now be housing the Wilmington event Art for the Masses.

UNCW will be the permanent home for a Wilmington tradition called Art for the Masses.

Michelle Bliss reports that at the annual event, artists can sell their work, earning 100 percent of the profit, while art lovers can buy local masterpieces for $250 or less.

Professional artist Harry Davis is a UNCW alumnus who paints impressionistic images of the rural South and Africa. He’s had a booth at Art for the Masses four times now.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to move some inventory. I’m actually running out of space in my studio, and it’s a good opportunity for me to move a lot of my less expensive pieces.”

This year’s tenth anniversary event will be in November. Art for the Masses has grown over the years from a few dozen artists to more than 200.

In the past, the showcase has been held in various locations around the port city, sometimes without air conditioning or proper lighting. This partnership will provide a permanent space for the event.

Jenni Harris is UNCW’s assistant to the chancellor for community partnerships. She says the change will not cost the university a dime.

“The artists pay a $50 fee to participate. That is the working budget, and that’s what all of the marketing materials came out of, all the advertising, all the rental of tables—anything that we had—supplies, everything.”

Harris says the partnership will spur student involvement in the local arts community and help the tradition grow by accommodating more artists and more buyers.  

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After growing up in Woodbridge, Virginia, Michelle attended Virginia Tech before moving to Wilmington to complete her Master in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. Her reporting and nonfiction writing have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, within the pages of Wrightsville Beach Magazine, and in literary journals like River Teeth and Ninth Letter. Before moving to Wilmington, Michelle served as the general manager for WUVT, a community radio station in Blacksburg, Virginia. She lives with her husband Scott and their pups, Katie, Cooper, and Mosey.