The Asolare Fine Arts Academy was founded in 1997 as a center for the development of the arts and humanities. It is an academy in the context of the ancient academy, which was not primarily a place for instruction or research, but rather a center for inquiring, for dialogue, for the pursuit of intellectual pleasures. To this end Asolare offers residencies, instruction, exhibition, performances, and mentoring to selected artists as a not-for-profit community service arts organization incorporated in North Carolina. In 2003 The Asolare Fine Arts Foundation, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, was formed to help support the activities of the Asolare Fine Arts Academy.