About the Downtown Arts District Association
DADA Officers and Board of Directors:
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Marsha Heirl/ President
Kimberly Varnadoe/ Vice President
Suzann Rickey/ Secretary
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Board of Directors: Rick Jones, Ed Koos, Nancy Smith, Melanie Troutman Williams, Donell Williams, Allison Hutchins
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e-mail: dadawspresident@gmail.com
website: dadaws.net
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The Downtown Arts Association (DADA) is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization consisting of visual and performing artists, businesses and residents.
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The DADA “footprint” includes a variety of artist’s studios, galleries, shops, retail businesses, restaurants, bars and residences located in this eclectic area of Downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina located between 5th, 7th and Trade Streets.
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Begun in 1995 and an official non-profit in January 1998 DADA began to raise awareness of the arts community and the growing “Arts District”. Through it’s signature “DADA 1st Friday Gallery Hop” and co-sponsorship of various city events, DADA has infused the downtown with new life and energy, helping to build the arts district itself into a vibrant community.
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In the DADA mission statement is the goal of “alter conventional perceptions about downtown–just as the post-WWI abstract art movement of the same name set out to emancipate the imagination.”