In 2024, while celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County announced the future opening of their “arts accelerator” space. Different from just a typical space for lease, ArtsXL—as it was dubbed—would provide intensive resources and a dedicated physical location for arts organizations to help with the development of a specific project or fill a crucial need in their operations. A flex-space: serving as a rehearsal or small performance venue, an office or operations space, an all-purpose address to expand the general capacities of local orgs and artists—all with one goal, shared with the arts orgs that already call the city their home: to foster local arts, and bring in local cultural tourism.
Just last month, after two years of planning, ArtsXL opened.
That doesn’t mean the space wasn’t occupied until then. Before even opening, the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and Cumberland Choral Arts signed on to be some of ArtsXL’s first use-cases.
Cumberland Choral Arts (CCA) had a simple ask: storage space. Before ArtsXL, the program kept all of their sheet music in the garage of one of the organization’s leaders. As anyone who’s stored papers in a garage will tell you, that’s no ideal setup. Sandy Cage, president of Cumberland Choral Arts, said that despite 30 years of operation, “Cumberland Choral Arts (formerly Cumberland Oratorio Singers) [had] never had a space of [their] own. Files, music, and other items have been in various members’ attics and garages.” Now, they make use of ArtsXL to keep their sheet music and other items in safer, better-suited environs. As of writing, they’ve also begun to use it as a daily office space. “The concession area is a bonus, and the industrial design of the building is pretty cool,” Sandy added.
The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, however, had more complex needs.
Established and respected, the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (FSO) had “been scattered across Fayetteville for a long time, holding Youth Orchestra and community band rehearsals at schools, storing equipment in a storage unit, and holding office space away from where we perform,” recounts Thomas Hill, the marketing and office manager of the FSO. They needed something to “reduce the friction,” Hill says, “in delivering programs to our patrons,” and a place to “move all of our programs under the same roof,” he added. A general office and operations space, sure, but beyond that: a small venue which could “host concerts in multiple configurations depending on what serves the music best.”
In late November of 2025, before the official launch of ArtsXL, the symphony proved the space’s worth with an atmospheric, small-scale chamber concert featuring Bach’s “Coffee Cantata”, a comedic piece of musical storytelling, alongside the composer’s Orchestral Suite No. 2.
The close, personal nature of the space lended immersion and friendly humor to Bach’s timeless story of a girl obsessed with coffee, and her father’s efforts to cure her of it. FSO Music Director Stefan Sanders perhaps put it best: “Bach’s Coffee Cantata reminds us that even the greatest composers knew how to have fun. It’s a story about family, love, and the little indulgences that make life sweet, just like coffee itself,” he told Up & Coming Weekly. Well, so long as you take it with sugar, that is.
Attendees were welcome to pastries and, perhaps ironically, coffee themselves, counter to the usual experience of quick (if slightly panicked) intermission drink-orders.
The intimate show stood in contrast to the feeling of distance between the entertainer and the entertained. It was at once a perfect introduction to the symphony orchestra for folks otherwise turned-off by that perceived alienation between the stage and the audience, and a welcome shake-up for those veteran listeners that had become so used to more typical orchestral performances—with nothing to say for the three decorated soloists who lended their talent to the show: soprano Anna Flynn, tenor and Fayetteville resident Dr. Jaeyoon Kim, and Fayetteville native Ramelle Brooks as bass.
This all was not only made possible, but was elevated thanks to the nature of the space in which it was set. That’s largely because ArtsXL was created with exactly these needs in mind.
In founding ArtsXL, the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County assessed the gaps and pain-points of local arts organizations, and found that the biggest need was for versatile spaces. Places that at once could serve as a performance venue, but also host office or storage space that was set aside yet accessible. Someplace that organizations could use to their benefit, and to the benefit of Fayetteville’s burgeoning cultural tourism.
“ArtsXL exists because we listened closely to what our local arts organizations were telling us,” said Kennon Jackson, Chief of Staff and incoming President/CEO of the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. “So many groups were doing incredible artistic work but lacked the flexible, affordable infrastructure needed to rehearse, collaborate, store materials, or experiment with new ideas. ArtsXL removes those barriers. It’s an investment in creative capacity—one that strengthens our arts ecosystem, supports working artists, and helps Fayetteville grow as a destination for authentic cultural experiences.” When asked about the venue and how it worked for the purposes of the performance, Hill of the FSO praised the space, speaking of it as “a natural fit into our list of chamber concert venues.”
It’s a bonus that the space is good-looking. It possesses its own rich history, like much of Fayetteville. Built in 1936, the seemingly ever-trendy exposed brick interior was formerly host to a drill hall for the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry. Now, you’ll find a reception area, an open space for events and concerts (though the Arts Council is quick to note that they don’t intend to rent the space out as any old venue, for weddings or the like. ArtsXL is a dedicated arts space, if the name wasn’t a dead giveaway), a conference space, and office rooms.
ArtsXL also offers an added boon: unexpected collaboration between the organizations hosted there. Hill expressed surprise at the value of “several insightful conversations,” with Cumberland Choral Arts President Sandy Cage “that have helped both of us as we plan for the seasons ahead.” Perhaps without meaning to, the Arts Council had created a space for dialogue between organizations that might normally silo themselves in daily operations.
“A symphony and a choral group in the same office space? A perfect match,” Cage elaborated. “In the short time we’ve occupied the space together, there have been so many good conversations and discussions. I see great musical collaborations in the future!”
If you, like Bach, are a fan of the “little indulgences that make life sweet,” you might keep an eye on the promising ArtsXL space for whatever’s brewing next—if you’ll excuse the continued coffee references. Or, perhaps, you’ll share the news with an organization of which you’re a patron. Of course, you can always patronize the space itself beyond just engaging with the programs to come by donating to the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County.
ArtsXL has hit the ground running, and the Arts Council is making it easy for arts enjoyers and organizations alike to match their pace. As Hill put it: “The Arts Council has big ambitions for ArtsXL, and we feel very proud to be included in those plans as a primary user of this place.”
Cage of Cumberland Choral Arts echoed Hill’s enthusiasm: “The moment that stands out the most was the day I parked my car and walked up to the Arts XL door to see ‘Cumberland Choral Arts’ on the window. I had to stop and take a picture to share with our 100-plus choir members,” she said. “It felt like ‘We have finally made it,’ and I know our founder, Alan Porter, would be so proud.”
For now, there’s only speculation on the impact it’ll have on cultural tourism and local enrichment. But it’s a safe bet to assume that ArtsXL will only increase—and has already—the capacity of local organizations, and make it easier for you to enjoy their good works.
