RALEIGH, NC.- A lively evening of street-festival activities, an official ribbon-cutting ceremony, and a weekend of free admission and special programs mark the grand opening of CAM Raleigh, a museum for contemporary art and design in Raleigh’s historic Warehouse District. Elysia Borowy-Reeder, who begins as Executive Director on May 16, will lead the museum’s dedication to exploring what’s now and nearing within an always-changing museum experience. Its inaugural exhibitions feature artists Dan Steinhilber (Washington DC) in the main gallery and New York-based Naoki Ito, the first artist in the Independent Weekly Gallery’s Emerging Artists Series. CAM Raleigh is a partnership between the community and North Carolina State University‘s (NC State) College of Design.

“I am thrilled to celebrate new ideas in art and design in a home commensurate with both the College of Design’s program and the ambitions of the many artists that we showcase,” said NC State’s College of Design Dean Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA. “Elysia Borowy-Reeder will contribute the same intrepid energy, excitement, and willingness to experiment that brought us to this extraordinary milestone.”

“I’m excited by the breaking of boundaries between different art forms, connecting audiences with artists and designers who use street art, design, performance, craft, architecture, and other disciplines and mediums to create a message that has to do with human condition,” says Borowy-Reeder. “I am thrilled and honored to be selected by the CAM Raleigh Board and Dean Malecha to guide the Museum at this exciting period in its history.”

CAM Raleigh Board members, staff, and NC State officials will preside over a grand ribbon cutting ceremony at CAM Raleigh on April 30 at 11:30 a.m. There will be a grand opening celebration on April 29 providing the community a first look inside the Museum. Visit camraleigh.org to purchase tickets to the event. Honorary Chairs for the grand opening are Dr. and Mrs. James Goodnight.

CAM Raleigh’s new home is an early twentieth-century structure that is located in the Depot National Register Historic District. The downtown warehouse was designed and renovated by the architectural team of Clearscapes and Brooks + Scarpa. Clearscapes, based in Raleigh, is a multi-disciplinary design firm that focuses on cultural facilities, higher education, urban mixed use, and large scale public art. Brooks + Scarpa is the successor architecture firm formerly known as Pugh + Scarpa, founded in Santa Monica, California in 1991. The firm was recently chose to receive the prestigious 2010 AIA Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture firm and recognizes a practice that consistently has produced distinguished architecture for at least 10 years.