Asheville, North Carolina's New Creative Technology & Arts Center Opens With a Fundraiser Art Project & Concert

Asheville, NC - The new multi-disciplinary community art center, located in historic Asheville, NC, has built its foundation and is hosting the first event in a series of programs on October 2, 2010. The event “Make Your Mark!” starts with three workshops and culminates in a concert by local Asheville favorites Kat Williams, Billy Cardine, Chris Rosser and River Guerguerian.

Hosted by the Odyssey Community School, the Creative Technology & Arts Center (CTAC) is a new community space dedicated to stimulating and encouraging creative minds in every way possible.

“CTAC offers more avant-garde artists a good venue to collaborate and share their creativity.” says John Lloyd, Events Director for CTAC. “Make Your Mark is simply the first in what we expect to be a long line of exciting and unusual events.”

The center began retrofitting the 4500-square foot facility after a successful fundraising event earlier this spring. “The last fundraising concert was a mega-event with over a dozen great artists and 300 people in attendance,” says River Guerguerian, head of the new music department at Odyssey School. “While we didn’t quite reach the fundraising goal of $35,000, it allowed us to complete construction on the recording studio, the multi-media lab and classroom, the performance stage, and also the first phase of developing the fine art, sculpture and movement spaces.”

With the “barn-raising” stage implemented, the center now wants to showcase what has been done and what is to come.

Make Your Mark offers a sampling of what the future of the center holds. Starting at 4:00 River Guerguerian, CTAC Music Director, will teach a rhythm workshop, followed by a multi-media workshop presented by Gene Felice, Director of the Art & Technology programs, and a vocal workshop led by Kat Williams.

At 7:00 Laurey Masterton, the guest speaker and a passionate new beekeeper, will make a presentation on both locally and non-locally produced honey and foods that would not exist without honey bees. Laurey is the proprietor of Laurey's Catering on Biltmore Avenue, and has been both speaking and teaching about bees and honey for a number of years, most recently at TEDxAsheville. Laurey is the spokesperson for The National Honey Board and is actively involved locally with Michelle Obama's initiative, "Chefs Move to Schools."
The concert begins at 7:30, bringing together some of Asheville’s favorite artists including Kat Williams, Billy Cardine (formally of the Biscuit Burners), Chris Rosser, Zach Page and River Guerguerian. Tim Arem, a former Ronald McDonald, will MC the event.

“Make Your Mark!” is part art project, and also part fundraiser,” says Gene Felice. “We need your help to take CTAC to the next level of development. We’re asking the community to literally make their mark by sponsoring a student-made ceramic tile with their thumbprint screen-printed onto its surface. The tiles will be arranged into a large, ceramic wall mural in the main entrance of CTAC, dedicated to the people and spirit that made it happen.”
The event will also include a silent auction with opportunities to bid on massages, dinners and other great items from local artists.

The Creative Technology & Arts Center (CTAC) is a community hub for innovation. It welcomes artists, technologists and designers as they pursue projects that inspire and ignite transformative action. It will host a diverse visiting artists program, community afterschool classes, adult evening classes, lecture series, special events, and more for Montford and the greater Asheville, NC area.

Who: Creative Technology & Arts Center
What: “Make Your Mark!” Fundraiser Art Project
When: Saturday, October 2
4:00 – Rhythm Workshop
4:45 – Technology Workshop
5:30 – Vocal Workshop
6:30 – Reception
7:00 – Guest Speaker: Laurey Masterton
7:30 – Concert
Where: Odyssey Community School, 90 Zillicoa Street, Asheville, NC
Why: To celebrate the creation of a new creative arts center for Asheville and to raise money for the next phase of the project.

For more information on CTAC please visit: www.ctacenter.org

For more information about Odyssey Community School: www.odysseycommunity.org or call (828) 259-3653

For more information on River go to: www.ShareTheDrum.com

Contact: Jackie Dobrinska, PH: 828-337-2373

Press Inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, glassonyonpr@cs.com

Glass Onyon PR is a full-line music and entertainment publicity company based in Asheville, NC.

Glass Onyon PR
William James
P.O. Box 18254
Asheville, NC 28814

This release was published on openPR.