Town of Cary Cultural Arts programs/Cary Arts Center

In a new Maggy category this year, readers resoundingly declared their No. 1 pick for children’s art programming. We reached out to Lyman Collins, cultural arts manager for the Town of Cary, to find out what makes Cary’s offerings so special.  

Ages:
Preschool, youth and teens

Fastest growing dance program:
Hip-hop

Most popular:
Drawing Discoveries classes; Theater Performance, from auditions to set designs, costuming, technical elements and public performance; and Photographer’s Way.

Most unusual:
“Our bluegrass camps provide opportunities for young musicians to learn about bluegrass music and instruments, and even include a song-writing component, so someday we may hear bluegrass songs written right here in Cary!”

This bluegrass program was recently recognized with the N.C. Recreation & Parks Association’s Arts & Humanities Award.

Big numbers:
6,245 children took part in youth arts programs in Cary’s most recent fiscal year.

Jennifer Westlake gets the giggles in Art Engagement track-out camp, where kids ages 6 to 10 create in various media in a sampling of the arts led by teacher Nejla Abdullah. Behind Jennifer is classmate Chase Vandersea.

Clay is serious business for Liliana Blell as she works on her latest Arts Engagement project. It’s glazing time tomorrow, before projects are fired by teacher Abdullah.

Noted program alum:
Selena Beckman-Harned, cast as the Goose in the very first Applause! Cary Youth Theatre production of Charlotte’s Web in 1999, returned to Cary after college as arts program assistant for town festivals, and today works as a graphic artist performing client contract work in Cary.