Announcing: Nick Neptune and Janet Cowell of Dix Park Convservancy, as Honorary Chairs of First Night Raleigh!
We are pleased to announce two of Raleigh’s leading advocates for the arts, community, and culture – Nick Neptune and Janet Cowell of the Dix Park Conservancy – are joining Artsplosure as this year’s Honorary Chairs of WRAL’s First Night Raleigh!
This year – in advance of major public projects being delivered at Dix Park in 2024-25 – the Dix Park Conservancy has partnered with Artsplosure, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, Raleigh Parks, Raleigh Arts, local artists, and many, many volunteers in the creation of Raleigh’s smallest park (at the corner of West Street and Hillsborough Street) in June 2023, and a brand-new wayfinding mural along the Rocky Branch Greenway Tunnel in August 2023.
Looking ahead, our Honorary Chairs of First Night Raleigh are thrilled to join us as they prepare to celebrate over $2.5 million of private investment in public art, talks and workshops, and creative infrastructure at Dix Park in 2024 – creating memorable experiences for all in Raleigh (and beyond!) to enjoy, as reflected in Dix Park’s Master Plan. (Learn more at https://www.dixparkconservancy.org/.)
“Arts and culture bring communities together. Parks and greenways strengthen our social health and wellbeing. As we close out 2023 at First Night, we celebrate the public-private investments and community dedication that have made Dix Park, our city and events like First Night so vibrant. And we look forward to an even brighter 2024.” – Janet Cowell, CEO, Dix Park Conservancy
“For over 30 years, WRAL’s First Night Raleigh has proven to be a premier opportunity to gather thousands of friends and families from across North Carolina in celebration of our arts, culture, and community, and the promise and potential that a New Year brings – and we could not be more delighted and grateful to embrace our roles as Honorary Chairs of this beloved community event.” – Nick Neptune, Director of Community Engagement, Dix Park Conservancy
The Artsplosure team is excited to welcome the time and talent of our Honorary Chairs as we prepare to ring in the “promise and potential” of the New Year along with thousands of North Carolina’s friends and families at this year’s WRAL First Night Raleigh!
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Janet Cowell is the President and CEO of the Dix Park Conservancy, a corporate director, and previously served as the North Carolina State Treasurer from 2009-2016.
The Dix Park Conservancy is a non-profit that works in partnership with the City of Raleigh to create Dorothea Dix Park, a 308-acre site with a dramatic landscape and complex historical legacy one mile from Downtown Raleigh. The Conservancy has raised ~$40 million during her tenure and ~$70 million since inception.
Cowell serves as Lead Independent Director for New Republic Partners, Chair of IFM’s Global Infrastructure Fund Investor Advisory Committee, Chair of Wharton’s Executive Education Board, and Chair of the NC Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation. She helped to found OnBoardNC, a non-profit organization promoting women on boards.
Cowell held publicly elected office in North Carolina for fifteen years, including eight as State Treasurer. The first woman elected Treasurer, she managed over $100 billion in assets, and health and retirement benefits, for over 900,000 members.
Cowell is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and earned her MBA and MA in International Studies from the Wharton School of Business and the Lauder Institute.
Nick Neptune is the Director of Outreach and Community Engagement for the Dix Park Conservancy and has been deeply engaged in Raleigh’s civic and cultural life for over a decade.
Neptune serves as the Chair of the City of Raleigh’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, and as a board member with Artsplosure, Diversify Architecture, the Wake Tech Community College Foundation, and the YMCA of the Triangle’s Young Professionals Advisory Board. From 2021-23, Neptune served as the President and Board Chair of Oaks and Spokes, Raleigh’s leading advocacy non-profit advancing safer, all-ages and all-abilities cycling infrastructure in the city.
Neptune is a 2023 recipient of the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Business and Community Leadership Award and the 2022 WakeUP Wake County Stan Norwalk Award for Community Engagement. He was recognized in 2020 for his commitment to public service by Raleigh Magazine’s “30 in their 30s” feature as one who is working “hard for positive change … to make life better for everyone in the city.”
A native of North Carolina, Neptune is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with advanced study completed in Social Innovation and Design with the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design and School of Social Policy and Practice.
