Support the Arts in the High Country!
Your support helps WAC advocate for, educate, support, and inspire our community through accessible arts programs, resources, and opportunities.
Become a friend of the Arts
The arts don’t just happen; friends like you make them possible!
As a nonprofit, WAC relies on community support to create opportunities for artists, expand arts education, and bring people together through the arts.
Only 14% of our annual operating budget is funded through grants. The rest is made possible through a combination of individual giving, sponsorships, earned revenue, and other community support.
Your gift is an important part of that mix, giving us the flexibility to sustain the programs you know and love, respond to new opportunities and community needs, and invest where support can make the greatest impact.
Your Impact
600+ Artists
Supports Creatives
Your support helps artists grow in their creative practice and as entrepreneurs. In 2024 alone, through Artist Support Grants, exhibitions, First Friday Art Crawl, Buskers Fest, Boonerang, and other programs, we provided opportunities for more than 600+ artists to access funding, exhibit their work, and connect with audiences and buyers.
300+ Students
Expands Arts Education
WAC provides quality arts education and experiences to all populations, and thanks to community support, more than 300+ students engaged in creative learning over the past year. Your support also enables us to open our doors to hundreds of people each week for creative social groups, open studio, nonprofit, and medium-focused meetings.
$120k+ in Critical Funding
Strengthens the Creative Economy
Your support enables WAC to advocate for creative nonprofits, businesses, and individual creatives, nurturing the health of the creative sector in Watauga County and the High Country region. We helped secure $120k in critical funding to sustain our local arts community when it mattered most after Hurricane Helene.
$500k+ Invested
Preserves Culture and Celebrates Community
With more than $500,000 invested in public art since 2022, your support has helped us work alongside local leaders to address community needs through creative solutions. Through Art in the Outdoors, we’re expanding access to public art that everyone can experience for free, while strengthening community pride and creating opportunities to connect with the history, culture, and natural landscapes that shape our region.
See more of what your support makes possible
The Bigger Picture
The arts play an important role in Watauga County’s economy, identity, and quality of life. Explore the data behind our region’s creative economy and see why investing in the arts matters.
Designate Your Gift
Want to support a specific area of WAC’s work? Designate your gift to one of our funds or initiatives!
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The arts need a home.
Help us build toward a permanent home for creativity in Watauga County. The Center for the Arts & Innovation is WAC’s long-term vision for a space designed to expand access to the arts, provide greater resources and opportunities for artists, and strengthen arts education and creative programming for our community.
Gifts to the Center for the Arts & Innovation Fund support WAC’s work toward making that vision a reality, including the planning and development necessary to create a sustainable future home for the arts.
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Made possible through a partnership between Boonerang Music & Arts Festival and the Watauga Arts Council, this restricted fund supports arts education in Watauga County Schools.
Gifts made to this fund are designated specifically for arts supplies, student materials, professional development, and educational programming in local schools.
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Help keep traditional Appalachian music alive and accessible for the next generation! Boone JAM, based at the Jones House, provides affordable music instruction for young musicians while connecting them with the musical traditions of our region.
WAC proudly serves as the fiscal agent for Boone JAM, and your designated gift directly supports the program and helps keep these opportunities accessible to local youth.
Other Ways to Give
Explore additional giving options to support WAC.
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WAC now accepts Donor Advised Funds (DAFs)!
Please consider directing funds from your Donor Advised Accounts such as Fidelity, NC Community Foundation, Charles Schwab, Vanguard, and more.
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Interested in supporting WAC through a gift of stock or other securities? Contact us for transfer instructions, and we’ll provide the information you or your financial advisor need to complete your gift.
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Prefer to give by check? Please make your check payable to Watauga Arts Council and mail it to:
Watauga Arts Council
377 Shadowline Drive
Boone, NC 28607If you’d like to designate your gift to a specific fund or initiative, simply include the fund name in the memo line of your check.
Our EIN: 58-1468962
Our Registered Name: Watauga County Arts Council, Inc.
Our Address: 377 Shadowline Drive, Boone NC, 28607
Questions: director@watauga-arts.org
Become a changemaker.
The arts don’t just happen; people like you make them possible! As a nonprofit, the Watauga Arts Council depends on community support to sustain and grow our programs. Every dollar you give helps us provide meaningful opportunities for artists, arts education for all ages, and vibrant events that bring our community together. Without your support, these moments of inspiration, learning, and connection wouldn’t be possible…