Goodnight Raleigh | a look at the art, architecture, history, and people of the city at night

An Unknown Sculpture

Image taken in 2004

The same sculpture in 2008

The subject of these photos is an art piece that I know nothing about. When I originally photographed it in ’04, it was located on Fayetteville Street Mall, before it was reopened to auto traffic. It is now located across from Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. There is no information accompanying it that states the title or who created it.

Do you know anything about this sculpture?

Artspace

by John Morris
1 Comment

Artspace is a non-profit visual art center dedicated to presenting quality exhibitions and educational programs within an open-studio environment. Since 1986, Artspace has been inspiring creative energy by bringing artists and the public together to experience the creative process in a very real and personal way

The Artspace building, located at 201 East Davie Street, has always been a center of activity and a community focal point. The 30,000 square foot building was built in 1911 as Raleighâ€™s city livery. At that time Raleigh businesses were located around Capitol Square. Fayetteville Street was the main street of commerce and the City Market area focused on bringing county residents into town to sell produce and goods for markets around the city.

The next owner of the building was the Sanders Ford Car Dealership, which at the time was one of the largest dealerships in North Carolina. In 1969, urban sprawl forced the Sanders Ford Dealership to move from the downtown area, leaving the building empty for several years.

Raleigh began to refocus its efforts on downtown revitalization, and with that mission in mind, Artspace was the perfect solution to enhance and rejuvenate the City Market and Moore Square Areas.

Artspace officially opened its doors and invited the public to experience the art making process in November of 1986. At that time, the City Market area suffered from problems relating to urban decay and was in need of revitalization. In many ways Artspace and its founders were pioneers in downtown Raleigh, convincing arts organizations and artists to join them in creating this new visual art center and bringing visitors to a then blighted area.

Artspace Visual Art Center

201 E Davie St
Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 821-2787
Get directions

What Is This Place?

by John Morris
2 Comments

I’ve never noticed this place until last night. There are no signs indicating what type of business or gallery this is. The address is 400 East Martin Street, and searches yield nothing.