Where to Find Art in Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem has carried the nickname "City of Arts and Innovation" for good reason. Between its museums, performance halls, and working studios, the city supports a level of arts access that few towns its size can match. For residents of Arbor Acres, that access sits just minutes from campus.

Museums and Galleries

• NCMA Winston-Salem: NCMA Winston-Salem is currently operating out of a new downtown space on Fourth Street, presenting contemporary exhibitions and programs while its main campus is under renovation.
• Reynolda House Museum of American Art: Set inside the 1917 Reynolda estate, this museum pairs a substantial collection of American art spanning the colonial period through the twentieth century with the historic character of the house itself.
• Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA): MESDA's period rooms and object galleries trace the craftsmanship of the early South room by room, from furniture to silver to textiles.
• Old Salem Museums and Gardens: Costumed interpreters and restored eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings bring the original Moravian settlement of Salem back to life, with craft demonstrations that show visitors how residents actually built, baked, and worked.
• Kaleideum: A hands-on children's and science museum, Kaleideum's interactive exhibits blend science, discovery, and environmental themes for visitors of every age.

Performing Arts

• Winston-Salem Symphony: The symphony's season moves between classical programming and pops concerts, performed at venues across the city rather than a single home stage.
• Stevens Center for Performing Arts: A restored historic theater that hosts UNCSA student productions alongside touring concerts and performances throughout the year.
• UNC School of the Arts (UNCSA): One of the country's premier conservatories, UNCSA keeps a packed public calendar of dance, music, theater, and film events, many performed by students who go on to build careers well beyond Winston-Salem.
• Little Theatre of Winston-Salem: Founded in 1935, the Little Theatre is the oldest performing arts organization in the city, staging a full season of musicals, dramas, and comedies alongside acting classes for the community.
• Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance: Since 1982, Theatre Alliance has built its reputation on unconventional, boundary-pushing productions, now staged from its permanent home in the downtown arts district.
• Camel City Playhouse: Winston-Salem's only true black box theater, Camel City Playhouse focuses on contemporary work and social-issue plays, including an annual One-Act Play Festival that showcases scripts from local playwrights.

Arts Education and Studios

• Sawtooth School for Visual Art: Sawtooth's class schedule runs from beginner workshops to advanced studio work across painting, ceramics, printmaking, and more, and its on-site Davis Gallery presents rotating exhibitions from local, regional, and national artists, free and open to the public.
• Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts: This shared arts complex houses studio space, galleries, and a black box theater under one roof, serving as a home base for several of the city's arts organizations at once.

Art at Arbor Acres

That same arts identity carries onto the Arbor Acres campus, where creativity is part of daily life rather than reserved for special occasions. Residents can experience the arts through an on-site art studio and classes in painting, sewing, and woodturning.

The community's private art collection is one of the largest in Forsyth County, much of it created by residents themselves and displayed throughout campus.

The Sharps & Flats Show Choir and a full calendar of original theater productions and musical revues give residents their own stage, while guided outings connect them to the symphony, ballet, opera, and UNCSA performances around Winston-Salem.

That commitment shows up even in the language used at Arbor Acres, where every employee is known as an Artist, a title meant to recognize the creativity each person brings to their work.

To learn more about the Art of Living, contact Arbor Acres or fill out the form at the bottom of this page.