Enjoy the season with TCC at the NEON Holiday Market

If you’re looking for a last-minute gift, stop by the TCC Perry Glass Wheel Arts Center on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Student-crafted glasswork will be on sale. The center, located at, 128 W. Olney Road, will be open 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

You can also enjoy two exhibits: “The TCC Revolving Art Faculty Exhibition” and “Barbara Kobylinska: Imaginary Creatures,” through December 31.

Light refreshments and a children’s activity will be offered between 1 – 3 p.m.

The larger NEON Holiday Market is a short walk away at The Plot at Granby Street and Olney Road. More than 30 creative vendors will participate. Live music and food trucks will be part of the afternoon festivities. For information, visit downtownnorfolk.org and neonnfk.com.

The new gallery is just one of the ways that TCC is expanding into the NEON District. The college plans to open the TCC Perry Center for Visual & Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management at the site of the former Greyhound station in the fall of 2021. The 47,000-square-foot building will allow TCC to expand its visual arts, culinary arts and hospitality management programs.

TCC Perry Glass Wheel Arts Center hours are Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. TCC will continue to host exhibitions at the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth.

For information, call Shelley Brooks at 757-822-1878.

TCC Perry Center honored with design award by commercial real estate group

Tidewater Community College’s culinary and visual arts center, planned for Norfolk’s NEON District, was recognized with an Excellence in Developmental Design Award by the Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate (HRACRE).

TCC’s Perry Center for Visual & Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management, which is scheduled to open in fall 2021, was honored with a Merit Award for Best Conceptual Project by the group.

Designed by Sanders and Crouse Architects, the center is to be built on land donated by the City of Norfolk on the site of the former Greyhound bus station.

“This project is made possible thanks to our partnership with the City of Norfolk and many community members and groups who are supporting our vision for a regional center to provide both educational and training opportunities for students and community members in Norfolk,” said Matt Baumgarten, executive director of TCC’s Real Estate Foundation.

The HRACRE Excellence in Development Design Awards program seeks to identify and encourage those who have invested and continue to invest the extra effort to bring quality design and development to the Hampton Roads real estate community. A panel of industry experts evaluated 39 submissions and presented the awards at the organization’s annual event earlier this month.

The Perry Center promises to energize the downtown area with expanded offerings in the college’s comprehensive culinary and visual arts programs by:

expanding TCC’s one-of-a-kind visual arts education program;
training the next generation of chefs with an expansion of TCC’s comprehensive Culinary Arts program;
creating opportunities for collaboration between culinary and visual arts programs;
making a test kitchen available to food entrepreneurs;
housing an expanded program in hospitality and restaurant management; and
providing dual-enrollment opportunities for Norfolk high school students and workforce education to residents.

The center will be funded by some TCC general funds but mostly by private donations raised through Go Further! TCC’s Campaign for a Competitive Workforce.

For more information about donating to the campaign, contact the college’s Educational Foundation at 757-822-1080 or visit advancement.tcc.edu.

TCC receives grant from TowneBank that will benefit visual, culinary, hospitality and automotive program expansion

The Tidewater Community College Educational Foundation is a recipient of a $500,000 grant from TowneBank. The funds will support the development of the TCC Perry Center for Visual & Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management and the expansion of the Regional Automotive Center (RAC).

The 47,000-square-foot TCC Perry Center will be located in the NEON District at the former site of the Greyhound bus station at Brambleton and Monticello avenues. It will expand TCC’s visual arts education program and train the next generation of chefs by expanding the college’s culinary arts program, including housing a program in restaurant management in Norfolk.

“For 20 years TowneBank has been a gold standard for what a true community leader should strive to be, investing in a wide range of organizations that have helped grow our region’s economy and enhance cultural opportunities,” said TCC President Gregory DeCinque. “We are honored by TowneBank’s incredibly generous gift to TCC and are humbled by their confidence as we work together to build the next generation in the workforce and educational training opportunities for our local community.”

TCC also recently received a grant of $500,000 over the next five years from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation in support of the new building slated to open in the fall of 2021.

The TowneBank grant will be used to provide challenge grant funds to encourage area automobile dealers to help build the expansion of the RAC, Hampton Roads’ lone high-tech education facility for the automotive, marine and diesel industries.

“Since 1968, Tidewater Community College has been a vital part of the Hampton Roads community. TowneBank is honored to support TCC in its ongoing efforts to provide quality education. We are excited to be a part of TCC’s bright future,” said Morgan Davis, TowneBank president and CEO.

The expansion of the TCC Perry Center and the RAC will largely be funded through private donations raised through Go Further! TCC’s Campaign for a Competitive Workforce. For information about donating, contact Steven Jones, executive director of the TCC Educational Foundation, at smjones@tcc.edu.

Grant from Hampton Roads Community Foundation to help TCC build new arts and hospitality center in Norfolk’s NEON District

Tidewater Community College will receive $500,000 over the next five years from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation to help build the TCC Perry Center for Visual & Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management in Norfolk’s NEON District.

TCC was one of seven recipients of grants from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, which focused on environmental stewardship and vibrant places in awarding funds.

“We’re appreciative of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation’s generosity, which shows its confidence in what promises to be a transformative facility for the City of Norfolk,” said TCC President Gregory T. DeCinque.

Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander unveiled plans to build the 47,000 square-foot facility during his State of the City address in March 2018. Plans call for it to energize the NEON District and nearby St. Paul’s area by:

expanding TCC’s one-of-a-kind visual arts education program;
training the next generation of chefs with an expansion of TCC’s comprehensive culinary arts program;
creating opportunities for collaboration between culinary and visual arts programs;
making a test kitchen available to food entrepreneurs;
housing an expanded program in hospitality and restaurant management; and
providing dual-enrollment opportunities for Norfolk high school students and workforce education to residents.

The project will be funded by some TCC general funds but mostly by private donations raised through Go Further! TCC’s Campaign for a Competitive Workforce. Norfolk’s Patricia and Douglas Perry are the lead donors in the initiative.

“We are hoping to begin construction in early 2020 with an opening date of Fall Semester 2021,” said Matthew Baumgarten, executive director of TCC’s Real Estate Foundation.

The City of Norfolk is donating the site of the former Greyhound bus station at the corner of Brambleton and Monticello avenues to the TCC Real Estate Foundation to make way for the new project.

For more information about donating to TCC’s Campaign for a Competitive Workforce, contact the college’s Educational Foundation at 757-822-1080 or visit advancement.tcc.edu.