The Artspace Artists Association hosts its first Open Studio Tour on Oct. 5 and 6. It offers visitors the chance to experience the works of more than 46 Artspace artists by visiting their studios both at Artspace, in downtown Raleigh, and around the Triangle. The association has 120 members with 31 maintaining a studio space at Artspace.

 

Centerfest Arts Festival, which took place last month in downtown Durham, attracted more than 17,000 people. The Durham Art Guild's executive director, Sherry DeVries, and its board president presented awards to several visual artists, including basketweaver Jean Yao and painter Andria Linn.

 

Sally Resnik Rockriver's exhibit "Unfound: the Glass Rains of Planet Azure" is on display at Gallery C, in downtown Raleigh, from Oct. 4 through Nov. 8. The opening reception with the artist takes place on First Friday, Oct. 6.

 

Nationally acclaimed painter Beverly McIver returns to Craven Allen Gallery, in Durham, with "New York Stories," featuring new work painted in the city where she has been living the past year - a time of intense personal growth. The large-scale oils highlight the dynamism of urban life, with subjects including street musicians, subway riders, the dancer Bill T. Jones and her signature self-portraits. The public is invited to the opening celebration with the artist on Sat., Oct. 12.

 

Meg Smith, a Raleigh artist, has launched a business selling her original, hand-dyed silk scarves and batiks as well as paper paintings/collages, acrylics and oils.

 

Sherry Nicholson and Sarah Sheffield are the featured artists at Cary Gallery of Artists through Oct. 22.

 

Michelle Kohn is the new vice president of visual arts at the Apex Arts Council. An artist and former professional photographer, Kohn now takes on the responsibility of producing the council's art shows and displays as well as coordinating its visual arts programs for painting, sculpture, photography and related disciplines.

 

"Autumn Embrace" runs through Nov. 30 at The Qi Garden, in Hillsborough. Visitors are invited to take a walk through the sights and smells of autumn through acrylics, oils and energy art by local artists Jackie Tiryakian, Lily Langer and Renata McConnell.

 

 

 

 

Leadership Raleigh, the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce's leadership development program, announced its 2013/14 participants, including: Jennifer Bosser, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce; Rebecca Brophy, Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan; Trudi Brown, Campbell Law School; Sarah Crawford, Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities; Amy Daniels, Rex Healthcare; Liz Hedrick, Williams Mullen; Kimberly Johnson, Wake County Medical Society - Community Health Foundation; and Lisa Mischley, Alexander Family YMCA. Other participants in the nine-month program include: Sharon Moe, North State Bank; Janice Pearce, North State Medical Transport; Ashley Perkinson, Perkinson Law Firm; Anita Blomme Pinther, AP Connect; Stephanie Gaston Poley, Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog; Cassie Proper, United Way of the Greater Triangle; Blair Reynolds, WakeMed Foundation; Julie Ricciardi, William Peace University; LaTricia W. Townsend, N.C. State University; Pat Wilkins, Junior League of Raleigh; Alison Winans, Girl Scouts - N.C. Coastal Pines.

 

 

 

William Peace University, a private four-year university in downtown Raleigh, announced:

• Elizabeth Kusko, MA, DA, was named visiting assistant professor in the political science department.
• Cindy Gnadinger, Ed.D., was named vice president for academic affairs.
• Michelle Hemmer was promoted to assistant director of financial aid.

Raleigh's Shaw University, the first historically black university in the South, announced:

• Stacey D. Sowell was appointed associate dean of students.
• Reverend April R. Rhinehardt was appointed university chaplain.

 

 

Durham's Tracy Bissette co-founded Weejee Learning, an e-learning solutions company that seeks to make learning more effective by making it fun. She has created enterprise-wide learning solutions for Fortune 500 companies, including DaVita, Cisco and Abbott Labs. Tracy speaks regularly at industry conferences on topics of best practices and effective instructional design techniques and shares her ideas in industry magazines and journals. 

 

Martha J. Mason, a collaborative family law attorney in Raleigh, received the designation of Certified Divorce Financial Analyst from the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts. Mason is one of only 50 people in North Carolina to achieve this milestone.

 

Dr. Nannette Stangle-Castor, the president and founder of InnoVector Tech, recently met with a delegation of Egyptian businesswomen visiting North Carolina as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program.

 

Katie McClintock joined the staff of Posh The Salon in Durham.

 

 

 

Many women in Eastern NC are thriving, yet there are still areas for improvement, according to the N.C. Council for Women, a division of the N.C. Department of Administration, which released a briefing paper on the Status of Women in Eastern North Carolina. The paper was written by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, a nonprofit based in Washington, DC. The paper identifies key areas for improvement in the lives of women: an existing wage gap; more access to affordable child care; and increased focus on educational attainment. "Identifying the status of women in Eastern N.C. is crucial to improving their lives and the lives of their children," said Gale Wilkins, director of the council. "We want this briefing paper to serve as a starting point to help address many of these issues."

 

The Durham Police Department is sponsoring a Women in Law Enforcement Open House on Sat., Oct. 26, from 9 a.m. to noon. Topics presented at the open house will be of particular interest to women interested in a law enforcement career.

 

Sharon Decker, secretary of the N.C. Department of Commerce, announced that Dr. Patricia Mitchell will become the assistant secretary for rural economic development.

 

Ruth Revels was sworn in as the chairwoman of the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs. Revels, an enrolled member of the Lumbee Indian tribe, has been a member of the commission since 2003.

 

Officials from Durham, including Rosetta Radtke and Annette Smith of Durham Parks and Recreation, were among an elite group of representatives from across the country selected to participate in the nation's first Playful City USA Leaders' Summit, which took place last month.

 

 

 

Angela Bendorf Jamison, president/owner of Communicopia Marketing Services, in Wake Forest, received the Rising Star Award from the National Association of Women Business Owners of Greater Raleigh.

 

Christina Motley LLC, a strategic marketing and communications firm, was launched in the Triangle.

 

Jenni Hart joined MMI Public Relations, in Raleigh, as a staff writer.

 

Chelsey Hennemuth joined The Special Event Company, in Research Triangle Park, as program and marketing coordinator.

 

 

 

Celebrating its 30th year of service this year, Triangle Land Conservancy announced the recent hire of new directors, including Lisa Rainwater, director of communications and external affairs, and Sandy Sweitzer, director of development.

 

Debbi Fox-Davis was appointed director of development and major gifts at Children's Home Society of N.C. Fox-Davis will be based in the Raleigh office, which serves 51 eastern N.C. counties.

 

A new chapter of International Association of Administrative Professionals is forming in the Triangle, says Sarah Battle, the chapter's president. The local group invites administrative professionals to join a team that provides an encouraging, energetic and unified platform for positive leadership and educational opportunities.

 

Dr. June S. Atkinson, superintendent of public instruction, delivers the keynote address when Junior Achievement of Eastern N.C. holds its fourth annual Awareness Breakfast on Oct. 4.

 

Sherrilyn Ifill, the seventh president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, spoke on the current state of civil rights in America at Durham's N.C. Central University School of Law last month.

 

 

Carolina Harmony Chorus, an award-winning women's a cappella chorus, is staging "Rockin' Ever After," in which a lively troupe of repressed princesses follow their dream to become rock stars. The performance takes place Sat., Oct. 19, at Burning Coal Theatre, Murphey School Auditorium, in Raleigh.

 

Suzanne Rousso, artistic director of the Mallarmé Chamber Players, announced its upcoming concerts: "Pinocchio" on Sat. Oct. 5 and "String Jam" on Sat., Oct. 12, both in Durham.

 

Band Together, the nonprofit that raises millions for local organizations, announced its leadership for the 2014 event, including Brenda Berg, Shannon Tucker and Amanda Cheney.

 

Singer-songwriter and actress Katie Garfield, a native of Cary, signed with The Jonas Group, which works in artist management as well as TV and movie development.

 

R+M, a Cary-based, woman-owned branding agency that welcomes dogs at work, was featured in the latest issue of Woof! Magazine, an online publication dubbed the "mag with a wag."

 

Patricia Reid, a longtime Raleigh resident, launched Precious Ones Pet Care. A member of the Professional United Pet Sitters, Reid offers many pet care services in the privacy of a client's home while she is away or at work.

 

 

 

Linda Craft & Team, REALTORS announced:

• Sales awards for the second quarter of 2013, including: Muriel Bijeau – most homes under contract, most closed transactions 2nd quarter and most homes under contract, year to date; and Kim Crump & Pamela Mansueti – most closed transactions, year to date (tie);
• Erin Gaynor joined the team as a buyer and relocation specialist.

 

 

 

A new multidisciplinary clinical research center at UNC-Chapel Hill, funded by a $5.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, seeks better ways to address the costly public health issue of osteoarthritis (OA). "With this grant, we plan to create a true multidisciplinary hub for OA and musculoskeletal research here at UNC – one that leverages our research, clinical, education and training strengths across disciplines to better understand and treat this chronic and often debilitating disease," said Dr. Joanne Jordan, principal investigator for the grant and director of UNC's Thurston Arthritis Research Center.

 

In honor of the October observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Apricot Lane is donating 10 percent of sales from all purchases at its Triangle stores on Sat., Oct. 19, to the Susan G. Komen North Carolina Triangle to the Coast Affiliate. Apricot Lane features celebrity-inspired, affordable fashions. Area locations are North Hills shopping center in Raleigh, Cary Towne Center Mall in Cary and Streets at Southpoint in Durham.

 

Sheree Mann, chief operating officer of The Right Plan, was named to the board of directors of the American Heart Association Mid-Atlantic Affiliate for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

 

Li Qian, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine, in Chapel Hill, received a 2013 New Scholar in Aging Award from the Ellison Medical Foundation. Qian's research focuses on developing innovative approaches to regenerate or repair an injured heart. Her lab plans to investigate the fundamental events underlying the progression of various cardiovascular diseases as well as to discover the basic mechanisms of cell reprogramming.

 

 

 

The N.C. Writers' Network announced the following member events:

• Sun., Oct. 6, at 3 p.m., at Quail Ridge Books, in Raleigh: Sara Claytor and others read as part of the newly revived Poetry Reading Series.
• Tues., Oct. 8, from 7:30-9 p.m. at UnVine'd Wine Bar & Tapas, in Cary. Alice Osborn and Harry Calhoun read with lots of good wine and good poetry.
• Sun., Oct. 20, from 2-5 p.m. at Hoganvillea Farm, in Moncure. The book-launch party for Judy Hogan's "Beaver Soul" and "Farm Fresh and Fatal." She's also appearing on Oct. 24 at Pittsboro Farmer's Market and Fairgrounds and Oct. 26 at Flyleaf Books, in Chapel Hill.

 

"Walking With Moonshine" the newest book by Raleigh's Lucy Daniels, launches this month. In 1989, Daniels, a writer and clinical psychologist, founded the Lucy Daniels Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering emotional and creative freedom through psychoanalytic treatment and research, education and outreach. She also established the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood, which uses psychoanalytic principles to promote the emotional development of young children and their parents.

 

Durham's Diana N. Graham, MPA, wrote "Duly Noted," a self-help book about accessing where one is in life and moving forward. The title was released early this year and can be purchased through online retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Amazon and www.dianangraham.com.