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2024 Events In The Courtyard 

The Courtyard is a beautiful outdoor art space, located in downtown Manteo. Join us for one of our upcoming events, listed below.

First Friday, October 4: Live music by The Jazzmen in The Courtyard from 6pm to 8pm.

Fall 2024 Installation: Giant Jellies are sculptures by artist Carol Willett. The installation will be on display in The Courtyard September 6 through mid-November. More info on this installation below.

All of The Courtyard events are free, family-friendly and open to the public.

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Fall 2024 Courtyard Installation

Giant Jellies are sculptures by artist Carol Willett. The installation will be on display in The Courtyard September 6 through mid-November. 

About the Art: There is something exquisite about the simplicity of jellies. Their color, shape and size are mesmerizing. This trio of Giant Jellies were created to spark curiosity about these magical creatures. The bells were sculpted over exercise balls, then drilled, sanded, painted and sealed. The colorful tentacles are made from deconstructed bath sponges and recycled beads. The reefs and their creatures are built out of expanding foam and wet sand, plus polymer clay and upcycled plastic bottles. Electrical conduit, bicycle wheels and plywood make up the armatures.

Artist Bio: After 35 years in public service and several circumnavigations of the globe, Carol retired to the Outer Banks. Since then, she has been repurposing seashells and other beach finds along with plastic containers, cardboard, wire and cloth to create a wide range of improbable but whimsical and hilarious creatures. As a self-taught artist, Carol doesn’t realize what can’t be done, and therefore goes ahead and does it. The Giant Jellies are her first public art installation. Some artists reinterpret what is, Carol imagines what might be.

About The Courtyard 

The Courtyard Project’s Groundbreaking Ceremony was hosted on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. 

The project transformed the yard behind the 1904 Courthouse building into a multi-functional courtyard that enabled Dare Arts to expand its programming, serve additional segments of the community and showcase a broader range of creative endeavors including outdoor artwork, workshops and artist demonstrations.

To learn how to participate in the Courtyard, please email Jessica Sands at DareArtsInfo@gmail.com.

The Courtyard was designed by Ben Cahoon of Cahoon + Kasten Architects.

Courtyard Project Supporters

A special thank you to the Percy W. & Elizabeth G. Meekins Charitable Trust, Dare County Tourism BoardOuter Banks Community Foundation, The Cannon Foundation, The Camp-Younts Foundation, Dominion EnergySouthern Bank FoundationLowe’s, Walmart Giving, Ace Hardware, The McLaughlin Family Charitable Fund and generous community donors for supporting this project.

This project is funded in part by the Dare County Tourism Board.

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