Who We Are

New City Arts Initiative is a collaborative community that supports artists and facilitates cultural participation in Charlottesville. We are committed to cultivating new audiences for the arts, specifically among local churches. We value our common humanity and the good of our city, embracing a diverse community of faith and vocation and advancing the arts in dynamic partnership with other local organizations and institutions.

Why We're Here

We believe creative community is integral to a vibrant civic life. The arts revitalize cities by bringing people together, energizing private and public spaces, strengthening social ties, and enhancing the beauty of daily life. A thriving city is enriched by the manifold contributions of visual artists, musicians, designers, architects, performing artists, and creative of all kinds.

Believing in the life-giving and community-building work of the arts, the New City Arts Initiative exists to encourage the vocation of the artist locally by resourcing artists with the connections they need to sustain a living in Charlottesville. Our ecumenical community stimulates and nurtures a more diverse set of stakeholders in the arts in order to integrate arts participants, enthusiasts, advocates, and patrons from across various traditions and local communities.

What We Do

EDUCATION | We curate a range of educational forums for artists as well as arts enthusiasts and advocates. Our programming includes discussion groups, artist talks, conferences, lectures, workshops, and salons with the goal of offering new audiences an increased access to the arts and various kinds of creative practice.

VOCATION | We provide physical, financial, institutional, and relational resources to help artists learn, work, and make a living. We provide gallery, studio, and event space, partnering with a variety of local venues to connect artists with performance and exhibit opportunities according to their specific needs.

COMMUNITY | We serve as a supportive network for artists and community members by building bridges among different audiences including university professors and students, service providers and non-profits, churches, businesses, potential patrons, and other local arts organizations.

How We Do It

COLLABORATION | All of our work is indebted to rich collaborative relationships with a host of community partners. Understanding that artists are key contributors to the health and vitality of our city, we are committed to facilitating creative cross-sector working relationships between artists and the broader community.

CURATION | We thoughtfully curate content and events so that diverse audiences can engage a selection of creative material and programming that is artistically excellent and challenging yet accessible and inviting.

PATRONAGE | Promoting the value of local patronage, we help connect artists with seasoned patrons as well as new collectors. We are particularly interested in growing nascent audiences for the arts through two primary constituencies: novice patrons and local faith communities.

How We Do It (Continued)

ECUMENISM | Led by an ecumenical board, we believe that local churches can be thriving cultural institutions that work collaboratively across diverse traditions to better participate in and promote the endeavors of artists and other creatives in our city.

INITIATIVE | As an “initiative,” we are committed to being tactically responsive to the evolving terrain of the arts in Charlottesville. We aspire to remain flexible and resourceful in our programming in order to accommodate the requirements and assets of our partners and participants.

HOSPITALITY | We recognize that galleries and other arts venues can be intimidating places for many, unintentionally excluding newcomers. With the goal of minimizing potential barriers to creative programs and practices, we embrace a spirit of hospitality and attempt to generate spaces and events that are welcoming for a variety of demographics and audiences.

How We Work With Others

New City Arts welcomes inquires from local businesses, institutions, congregations, networks and other groups about arts programming. If our capacity limits our ability to formally partner, we are happy to provide consultations to help others use their space, initiatives, and programming to serve local artists.

We are an independent non-profit charitable arts organization and are not affiliated with any other New City organizations. Given that our work is contextualized to our city's unique needs and opportunities, New City Arts does not replicate its model in other cities. However, New City Arts regularly advises artists, individuals, congregations, community leaders, and groups outside of Charlottesville who are curious how their city's congregations can serve and support their community's artists.

“New City Arts is an important part of our arts landscape in Charlottesville, bringing together community and artists in meaningful and innovative ways.  In a richly varied portfolio of activities they keep two values front and center:  love of art and care for others.” - Russell Willis Taylor, New City Arts Champion and Community Partner