Create With Us
Stay inspired by participating in our art challenges. This page is a work in progress so please bare with us as we create. Visit this page often for opportunities to engage in fun art marking!
Seat at the Table
Chair Challenge
Scroll to see the chairs submitted so far!
What it is
Seat at the Table is a community-driven project that invites artists to repurpose chairs as a form of artistic expression.
This is an advocacy project to highlight the importance of including the arts in our public places, schools, community planning, events, and daily lives. This aligns with our mission to make the arts accessible to all.
By transforming this everyday object, artists spotlight the essential role of art in our daily lives: Proving that creativity belongs in every space, including the most ordinary.
The finished chairs will be exhibited in local downtown businesses for the beginning of September. While on display, chairs will each have their own sign, telling audiences about the project and the artists, and also giving passerby the opportunity to vote for their favorite chair! $1 will get you one vote, and money collected will be used to support the participating artists and WAC’s operations.
Then, chairs will then be pulled together for an exhibit and auction at Buskers Fest, happening in Downtown Boone on September 20th. Click here to learn more about the festival.
Proceeds from this project will support participating artists and programs that bring inclusive, community-centered art opportunities to people of all ages and backgrounds at the Watauga Arts Council.
Please join us in giving the arts a seat at the table.
How to Participate
Participation in Seat at the Table involves two main steps:
Fill out the Pre-Form to submit your contact info and let us know if you need a chair.
Complete the Final Submission Form after your chair is finished and documented.
Before registering, read through the following important information first:
Artists can select their own chairs for this project. WAC has a limited number of chairs available, so we are assigning them to specific artists to ensure we have a wide variety of themes and mediums presented. Not all chairs have been placed so let us know if you need one. If you're using your own chair, feel free to begin as soon as you’ve submitted the form – your creativity can take off right away!
We encourage participants to draw inspiration from WAC’s core principles: accessibility, connection, empowerment, and vitality. In the final submission form, you’ll be asked which of these themes, if any, most influenced your project.
All participants must document their process before, during, and after creating their chair. These photos or videos will be requested through the final submission form once your project is complete.
Chairs must be completed and dropped off at the Watauga Arts Council by the first week of August, 2025.
If that doesn’t work for your schedule, please contact Krista at admin@watauga-arts.org.Compensation: Artists will be given the opportunity to indicate if they would like a percentage of proceeds from their chair in the final submission form.
Past Project: Art Instrumental
The new Seat at the Table chair repurposing challenge was inspired by our original project titled Art Instrumental.
Art Instrumental was a collaboration with the Downtown Boone Development Association in 2021 where we asked artists to turn retired instruments into new works of art. Artists of all mediums participated and produced an impressive body of work. The finished instruments were installed in businesses in Downtown Boone. We created a scavenger hunt to encourage people to find them all. Instruments were collected for a final exhibit and silent auction.
We are collecting retired instruments, in all conditions, so we can do another Art Instrumental challenge in the future. Please contact Krista at admin@watauga-arts.org if you have an instrument you would like to donate for this project!
