ArtQuest: Renewing Creativity

08/31/2026

*** The Position Has Been Filled ***

We’re Hiring: Greeter & Guest Services Associate
**Waterworks Visual Arts Center is looking for a friendly, dependable, and organized person to join our team!**
This is a **permanent, part-time position** and a great opportunity for someone who enjoys working with people, the arts, and our community.
**Schedule:**
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:45 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
2nd & 4th Saturdays, 10:45 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Plus occasional evenings, weekends, receptions, lectures, and special events.
The Greeter & Guest Services Associate is often the first person visitors meet at Waterworks. We’re looking for someone who is welcoming, organized, comfortable multitasking, and enjoys helping create a positive experience for our visitors.
**Responsibilities include:**
• Greeting visitors and answering phones
• Sharing information about exhibitions, classes, and events
• Assisting with the Museum Store and class registration
• Coordinating tours, ARTstops, events, and docent schedules
• Supporting receptions, lectures, and special events
• Maintaining accurate records and providing general administrative support
• Helping keep visitor areas clean, organized, and welcoming
**Qualifications include:**
• 2+ years of administrative and/or customer service experience preferred
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Associate’s or bachelor’s degree preferred
• Valid North Carolina driver’s license required
• Must be available for occasional evening and weekend hours
If you’re friendly, dependable, resourceful, and enjoy being part of a creative community, **we’d love to hear from you!**
How to Apply:
Qualified candidates should email a resume and letter of interest to [email protected]
No walk-ins.
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08/12/2026

Before the First Mark
A brand-new box of Crayola crayons has always brought me an incredible sense of joy and peace.
Not just crayons but Crayola crayons boxes of eight or 24 but oh the 64 with sharpener. The Holy Grail of crayons.
There is a difference.
I love breaking the little cardboard tab on a new box. I love that unmistakable smell. I love looking at all those perfect, blunt ends lined up in rows, their paper wrappers still clean.
But I think my favorite part is knowing that no one has used them yet.
No one has broken one.
No one has peeled the paper.
No one has colored outside the lines with them.
In fact, no one has colored inside the lines with them either.
They haven’t been told what they’re supposed to become yet.
Every August, when the stores fill their aisles with school supplies, I usually buy myself a 24-count box. I don’t really color with crayons anymore. I have plenty of other art supplies.
I buy them because I still love opening a new box.
Sometimes afterward, I donate the crayons so a child can have the experience of opening a brand-new box of their own.
That matters to me.
I grew up without much money. Art supplies weren’t something I could simply ask for whenever inspiration struck. I learned very early to notice materials other people might overlook and imagine what they could become.
That experience never really left me.
Neither did something else.
I believe people are born artists.
Give a child a crayon and a piece of paper and they don’t usually begin by asking whether they can draw.
They just draw.
Purple dogs exist.
People have enormous heads and tiny legs.
The sun can occupy an entire corner of the paper.
Then, little by little, the questions begin.
What is that?
That’s not what a dog looks like.
Stay inside the lines.
And eventually, one of the saddest sentences enters the vocabulary:
I’m not an artist.
I don’t believe that sentence is born with us.
I think we learn it.
Maybe that’s another reason I love that unopened box so much.
Before the first mark, there are no mistakes.
There is no good artist or bad artist.
There is no comparison.
There isn’t even a picture yet.
There is only possibility.
Twenty-four little sticks of wax waiting for someone to decide what happens next.
And maybe that is part of what I am trying to create with ArtQuest.
Yes, ArtQuest is about creative reuse. It’s about taking art supplies and materials that might otherwise be discarded and putting them back into people’s hands. It’s about making creativity more accessible and affordable.
But underneath all of that is something much simpler.
I want people to have permission to make the first mark.
I want the person who hasn’t made anything in thirty years to pick something up and wonder, What if?
I want children to have materials they can call their own.
I want adults who have spent decades saying, I’m not creative,to discover that perhaps creativity wasn’t gone at all.
And I want things that someone else has finished with to become beginnings again.
That’s why, every August, somewhere between the notebooks, glue sticks, pencils and folders, you’ll probably find me standing in front of the crayons.
And I’ll reach for the Crayola box.
I’ll break the tab.
I’ll open the lid.
I’ll smell the wax.
I’ll look at those untouched points.
And for just a moment, everything is still possible.

04/25/2025

Artists! Ready to show your work in one of Charlotte’s most exciting art events?

Pop Up Artists Market Sunday, September 28th, 20251:00 pm to 5:00 pmMint Museum RANDOLPH 2730 Randolph Rd, Charlotte, NCThis event will be held under a giant tent. Rain or shine. This event is Curated, with a maximum selection of fifty guild members. Each selected artist will be designated a 10...

04/23/2025

In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, we often overlook the beauty surrounding us in the simplest moments. "A Slice of Life: The Art of Everyday"

04/08/2025

All the arts we practice are apprenticeships. The big art is life. — M.C. Richards
Her words remind me that creativity isn’t limited to a canvas or a studio. It’s found in how we speak, parent, cook, dream, and move through the world. Every moment is a chance to shape something meaningful.
Here’s to living artfully.

04/08/2025

Calling All Rowan County Poets! 📖

April is National Poetry Month, and we’re celebrating with a brand new project! The Sidewalk Poetry Contest is bringing local poetry to the streets—literally! Selected poems will be showcased on sidewalks in downtown Salisbury.

Want to see your poetry become public art?
✔ Open to all Rowan County poets (no experience needed!)
✔ FREE to enter + $125 stipend for selected poets
✔ Entries due Monday, April 28, 2025

Let’s turn Salisbury’s sidewalks into a masterpiece of words! Submit your poem at salisburync.gov/poetry.

04/08/2025

We're looking for Artists!

The Salisbury Police Department and Public Arts Commission are teaming up to bring color and creativity to the West End. We’re inviting local artists of all ages to design and paint vibrant crosswalks at Lloyd & Horah Streets, celebrating the history, culture, and spirit of the neighborhood.

💰 $500 stipend for chosen artists
🎨 Materials provided
📅 Deadline: Friday, April 11, 2025

Get the details and apply today at salisburync.gov/PaintThePavement

04/08/2025

🎨 Calling All Artists! 🌈
Salisbury Pride and Art & Soul Rowan are seeking artists for our 2025 Art Show! This is your chance to showcase your work in celebration of this year’s Salisbury Pride theme: Community 🏳️‍🌈✨

📅 Exhibit Opening: May 17, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
📩 Submission Deadline: April 30
📧 Contact: [email protected]

We’re looking for art that reflects the power of unity, diversity, and belonging. Let’s create something beautiful together! 🎭🎶🎨

04/06/2025

Another Art Opportunity

For students k-12

03/19/2025

The Joy of Making Art, Not Perfecting It

“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.” – Edgar Degas

Perfection is a tempting goal, but it can be a trap. There’s a French proverb that says, “Perfect is the enemy of done.” How often do we get stuck in the pursuit of perfection and forget the joy of simply creating?

Art isn’t about flawless execution—it’s about expression, exploration, and sometimes, happy accidents. When we let go of rigid expectations, we open ourselves to discovery, growth, and unexpected beauty.

So, let’s embrace the mess, the uncertainty, and the process itself. Because in that space—where we stop worrying about perfection—something truly magical happens.