What's New In Raleigh
Spring 2006
Media Contact: Martin Armes; (9190 645-2654; marmes@visitraleigh.com
RALEIGH, N.C. (March 2006) --"What's New in Raleigh" is a quarterly release listing new venues, activities, exhibits and much more compiled by the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau. More information on all of the listings found in "What's New Spring 2006 " can be found at www.VisitRaleigh.com
New Festivals & Exhibits
"BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head"
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences takes a look inside this quintessential organic computer that is responsible for every thought, every motion and every response your body makes. BRAIN employs innovative special effects, 3-D reproductions, virtual reality, hands-on learning activities and interactive technology to delve into the inner workings of the brain, including its processes, potentials and mysteries. "BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head" is on display through May 7, 2006.
Common Ground: Discovering Community in 150 Years of Art
Common Ground brings together more than 100 works of art - primarily photography, but also painting, sculpture, mixed media and installations - that explore the universal human experiences of struggle, transcendence and salvation. Organized by the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington, D.C. and drawn from the collection of Julia Norrell, the exhibition illustrates the essential ties that unite people of all cultures, irrespective of politics, race or religion. On display at the N.C. Museum of Art May 7 through July 16, 2006.
Raleigh World Beer Festival
After two sold-out years in Durham, All About Beer Magazine brings the World Beer Festival to Downtown Raleigh. Raleigh's World Beer Festival will be held in Moore Square with two sessions 12pm to 4pm and 6pm to 10pm. The World Beer Festival is the largest celebration of national and craft beers in the Southeast, featuring 300 beers from 130 world-class breweries. The festival will also feature a variety of music, entertainment, food, children's entertainment and beer memorabilia. The Raleigh World Beer Festival will be held April 29, 2006.
Sordid & Sacred: The Beggar's in Rembrandt's Etchings
To celebrate the 400th birthday of famed artist Rembrandt van Rijn, the North Carolina Museum of Art presents a group of etchings by the Dutch master. The exhibition includes prints made from copper plate etchings, which date between 1629 and 1654, and thus correspond with the years when Rembrandt was most actively involved with the medium. With 35 works on display, viewers will have the opportunity to see how Rembrandt experimented with inks, paper, and the reworking of the copper plates to enhance the visual impact of the imagery. Sordid & Sacred is on display March 5 through April 30, 2006.
Stitched from the Soul: The Farmer James Collection of African American Quilts
As home to one of North Carolina's most popular and free museums, the North Carolina Museum of History showcases Stitched from the Soul: The Farmer James Collection of African American Quilts, a powerful exhibit providing the chance to see 61 quilts stitched by African Americans. Each quilt was crafted using a variety of different cloths, giving each quilt a different shape, texture and meaning. This exhibit lets you feel the passion for Southern folk art that was created from the Civil War to World War II. The exhibit is on display through August 2, 2006.
What the World Eats
This traveling exhibition from COPIA: The Center for Food, Wine and the Arts presents a unique portrait of the world's people through stunning photographs which feature each family with a week's worth of food. From Ecuador to Greenland, Chad to China, Egypt to Mongolia, visitors will discover the impact of globalization on the world's diets. For the first time in the history of our planet, there are more people who are overfed than underfed. And it has changed mealtime around the world. Whether it's rising affluence that causes a shift from grains to meat (and pizza) or the influence of travelers, immigrants, and refugees who bring their own foods to foreign lands, new culinary tastes, and consumption patterns are the hallmarks of change in how and what the world eats . . .right down to our own dinner tables. What the World Eats is on display at Exploris March 4, 2006 through June 4, 2006.
CULINARY NEWS
Vivace
In March 2006, the seasoned restaurateurs of Frazier's and Porter's City Tavern join the Raleigh Renaissance taking shape at The Lassiter at North Hills with the grand opening of Raleigh's newest Tuscan-inspired restaurant, Vivace. Taking its' name and cue from the Italian word meaning "lively," Vivace opened at The Alexan, North Hills' first condominium project. A seasonally focused trattoria menu-unique to Raleigh will focus on house-cured meats, hand-cut cheeses and classic antipasti, as well as the global wine list, emphasizing Italian and American selections, will complement the experience. In addition, an Italian-focused beverage program, showcasing Vivace's own Limoncello, will quench the Triangle's thirst for creative cocktails.
Zely & Ritz wins Organic Farming Award
Organic Style Magazine has named Zely & Ritz as one of the 20 Best Organic Restaurants in America. Organic Style Magazine awarded this honor to restaurants which promote foods that are hormone, pesticide and herbicide free. Zely & Ritz is known for its fresh, organic, locally grown dishes served in tapas style small plates using Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spices used in unexpected ways. Whenever possible all food comes from the owner's own Coon Rock Farm.
Angus Barn Chef, Walter Royal, Appears on "Iron Chef America"
Walter Royal, executive chef of the award-winning Angus Barn restaurant, has been named one of 23 nationally acclaimed chefs invited to display their culinary expertise, creativity and competitiveness on Food Network's "Iron Chef America." Chef Royal is one of only two chefs from the South, and the only one in the Carolinas selected to participate in the 2006 season.
Angus Barn a Southern Living Reader's Choice
In the February issue of "Southern Living," the magazine announced its 2005 Readers' Choice Awards. The "Best of the South" honorees included the Angus Barn as of the "close picks" in the Splurge Restaurant category.
TRAVEL BUZZ
Raleigh to Los Angeles Non-Stop
Beginning June 8, 2006, Delta Air Lines' customers will be able to jet nonstop to the West Coast to take care of business or to take in the sun and surf of Southern California. Delta will begin the only non-stop service between Raleigh/Durham International Airport (RDU) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), with one roundtrip flight operated with the 150-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
SPRING SAVINGS & PACKAGES
New TGIF Special Offers
Enjoy your visit even more by taking advantage of Greater Raleigh's TGIF hotel special offers. Mention TGIF and receive the guaranteed lowest available weekend rate at 25 participating hotels, a $10 shopping card, a Sprint Calling Card, lowest available golf rates at four area courses and a Visitors Rewards Card that offers special discounts for local attractions, restaurants, golf courses and more!
American Express Offers Cardmembers Discounts in Raleigh
The Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau has partnered with American Express to offer special rates on dining, lodging and events for American Express cardholders. These great offers were developed just for American Express Cardmembers visiting or residing in North Carolina's Capital City area. Take advantage of these offers from Wake County merchants to enjoy the best of City Life, served Carolina Style. To find out more about these special offers visit www.visitraleigh.com.
THEATRE PACKAGES
The Oakwood Inn Bed & Breakfast Dinner/Theatre Packages
The Economy or Deluxe Package both feature one night's accommodation at The Oakwood Inn, a dinner at one of the selected restaurants and tickets to a theatrical performance. The package includes one room night for two people at the Oakwood Inn with all the usual amenities including evening cordials and sweets, a coupon for dinner at a downtown restaurant which will cover the cost of two typical meals and taxes, gratuity is additional, and two tickets to the show of your choice.
NEW ON THE ARTS SCENE
N.C. Museum of Art to House Only Major Rodin Collection in the South
The North Carolina Museum of Art announced it has received an unprecedented gift of Auguste Rodin works from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation. The gift of 23 works of art, including 22 bronze sculptures by Rodin, makes the Museum one of the world's top Rodin repositories and the only cultural institution in the South with a major Rodin collection. Among the Rodin works that the Museum will receive are casts of the celebrated sculptures The Kiss and The Thinker, as well as Cybele, Monumental Torso of the Walking Man, The Three Shades, Monumental Head of Pierre de Wiessant, and Jean de Fiennes, Vetu. The gift also includes Camille Claudel's Bust of Rodin and a demonstration piece explaining the lost-wax casting process of Rodin's Sorrow.
Artist Juame Plensa Unveils Design for Fayetteville Street Art Project
Internationally acclaimed artist Juame Plensa, known for his outdoor exhibits in Chicago's Millennium Park and New Orleans, unveiled his designs for the Grand Plaza of Fayetteville Street. The designs call for grassy plaza standing three feet above streets and sidewalks made of black granite. Other recognizable features include a strong spotlight to shine above the city as a geographical center to the city as well as a wall of water falling from a lattice like canopy and LED lights displaying letters, numbers and colors. The project was inspired by a silicon chip, representing Raleigh's position in the hi-tech marketplace.
NEW ADDITIONS
Space & Earth Observation Wing Expansion Underway
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Downtown Raleigh received a big boost to its plans for a Space & Earth Observation wing in the Nature Research Center when a federal earmark worth $500,000 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was approved. In alignment with NASA's mission "to inspire the next generation of explorers," the mission of the Museum's planned 95,000-square-foot expansion is to engage the public in understanding the scientific research that affects their daily lives. The NRC, which is slated for completion in December 2008, will educate visitors using a combination of innovative exhibits, informative programs, hands-on labs, and live encounters with scientists active in current environmental research.
N.C. Museum of Art to Get New Home
The North Carolina Museum of Art is planning a major expansion initiative, scheduled to begin in the fall of 2006 and to be completed in 2008. The project will include a new Museum building, built in direct relationship to the environment. The architect for the expansion project is Thomas Phifer and Partners of New York. The project will include a new Museum building that will increase gallery space by 35–40% and house the Museum's permanent collection. The new building will include galleries and gardens dedicated to the collection of 22 Rodin sculptures donated to the Museum by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation. The existing Museum building will be transformed into an education and temporary exhibition center, and will also house administrative offices, art service, and storage.
USEFUL TOOLS
OUTriangle.com Debuts
OUTriangle.com, is the Triangle area's first major GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered) website and the first comprehensive regional site that is focused on providing information like this in one up-to-date place. On the site one can search a database of GLBT owned or GLBT friendly businesses including physicians, real estate agents, dentists and insurance agencies. There is a daily calendar of events targeting and welcoming to the GLBT community. There is a searchable directory of community resources such as affirming churches and synagogues, student groups, health organizations or a place to volunteer.
ACCOLADES
A View from Space
The new Raleigh Convention Center - now just a construction site - has already joined a pantheon that includes the Eiffel Tower, the Great Pyramids and the beaches of Bora Bora. They're all ranked among the world's best webcams on the seventh annual list as selected by EarthCam.com. Using a live robotic webcam coupled with a high-definition megapixel camera, viewers across the globe can watch as the centerpiece of downtown Raleigh's renaissance takes shape.
10 Best Walking Cities in the U.S.
The Raleigh area has just been added to the list of '10 Best Walking Cities in the United States' by Prevention Magazine. To qualify, a city must be among the country's 100 most populous. It must also have a high percentage of people who regularly walk—for fitness and health, or to get to and from work. Finally, walker-friendly attributes, such as low crime rates, mild year-round temps and the number of cultural attractions were weighed, as well as participation in recreational sports and pet ownership.
Raleigh Area Rates No. 3 on Hotwire's Travel Value Index
Raleigh recently ranked third on the Hotwire Travel Value Index of Top U.S. Places for Bargains for its discounts offered to travelers, low published-rate prices and presence of affordable entertainment and outdoor attractions. With more than 20 free attractions, affordable airfare with most of the major carriers represented at RDU and many price points among 123 current hotel properties tallying some 13,500 rooms, Greater Raleigh indeed offers traveling Americans the best value for their money. Denver and Greenville-Spartanburg topped with the list with Knoxville, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, Orlando-Daytona Beach, Reno, Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles rounding out the Top 10.
The Greater Raleigh CVB is a non-profit agency to enhance the economic growth and development of Raleigh and Wake County by increasing visitor and convention business. For a free visitors guide or more promotional information, call toll-free (800) 849-8499 visit www.visitraleigh.com, or e-mail visit@visitraleigh.com. That's "City Life, Carolina Style."
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