Art Bash 2026: Tomorrow, Imagined

Artspace is celebrating its 40th anniversary with Art Bash 2026: Tomorrow, Imagined, on Saturday, November 14, at 6 PM. It's the organization's annual fundraising gala, and this year's edition marks four decades of artistic risk-taking, community building, and cultural impact in downtown Raleigh.

The night centers on a Live Art Bid curated by the Art Bash Host Committee—Carly Jones-Barstow, Eric McRay, Andrea Nixon, Thomas Sayre, and Robert Zaytoun—and the biennial exhibition FRESH. Gourmet bites from HL Catering will be served alongside the art. After the main event, an After-Party kicks off at 9 PM with a DJ spinning from the '80s to today.

To understand why this anniversary carries some weight, it helps to know what Artspace is. The building itself is a piece of Raleigh history: built in 1911 as the city's livery stable and later the Sanders Ford dealership, it opened as an arts center in November 1986 with 23 studios occupied by 32 artists. It grew out of a 1980 vision by community leaders to bring the arts back downtown, among them the late Chief District Court Judge Russell 'Rusty' Sherrill. Today it houses more than 30 working artists, three exhibition spaces, education space, a gift shop, and offices.

Over the years, Artspace has left its mark on the city's cultural calendar. It launched the First Friday Gallery Walk and the Summer Arts Program in 1990, and its Emerging Artist in Residence program has featured artists like André Leon Gray in 2000 and Clarence Heyward in 2021. In 2024, it added Artspace on the Go, a mobile art van that takes the organization's work out into the community.

Tickets are $540+ for VIP and $175 for General Admission, with Artspace members getting 20% off. The After-Party starting at 9 PM is $25. The gala takes place at Artspace, 201 E. Davie St., downtown Raleigh.