TRYON – The non-profit organization Unity in the Community is sponsoring a Taste of Arts event at the Tryon Fine Arts Center (TFAC).

The event will be held on April 1 and, according to Unity in the Community’s president, David Staley, it consists of three hours of workshops followed by a performance including spoken word, ballet dancers and jazz music.

The workshops begin at 2 p.m. and include arts and crafts coordinated by Tryon Arts and Crafts School’s executive director, Cathy Fischer; creative dance done by Sonya Monts; and a collage workshop by Charlotte, N.C. based artist Eric McRay.

Marianne Carruth, executive director of TFAC, said she is “thrilled” Staley received a grant from the Polk County Community Foundation to put together the workshops incorporated in the Taste of Arts event.

“He’s excited about bringing it here and pulling the community together,” Carruth said. “One of the workshops, done by Eric McRay, will tie into our unity project where we’re having the community create panels based on what they believe unity means. It’s their view of what a unified community would look like here.”

Artists Christine Mariotti and David Zacharias are doing workshops during the event, according to Fischer. Mariotti will be teaching participants printing techniques and how to use alcohol-based inks at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Zacharias, a hand-building pottery instructor at TACS, will be doing a wheel throwing pottery demonstration at 4 p.m.

Ballet dancers, Charlotte jazz band Zeb Harrison and the Sounds of Praise and The Spoken Word are going to be highlighted performances from 5 to 7 p.m. following the workshops.

Staley recounted wanting to bring different forms of art together in one place for people throughout the community when he presented the idea to Carruth last year.

“What we want to do is give people the chance to experience different forms of art,” Staley explained. “People don’t have a lot of exposure to ballet. People are stuck in their own preference, but we wanted to bring these different forms of art to one place. The workshops will give people a hands-on experience and it will bring people together throughout the community and then they will see performances following the workshops.”

These workshops and performances gives people in different areas of the county like Green Creek a chance to travel to Tryon, something Staley explained does not happen often.

“There’s something for everybody and, when people get there, they may come for one thing but then they get exposure to something different,” Staley said. “All of these different types of art will be in one building in one day. A lot of people who are in Green Creek may not travel to Tryon a lot, so we’re just hoping this will, when you have this variety of art, bring more people together.”