OUR HISTORY

The CAMEO Art House Theatre building was home to one of Fayetteville’s first motion picture theatres, the New Dixie. Veteran moving picture man S.A. Lambert first acquired the original Dixie in 1908. In 1914, he moved across the street to the south side of Hay Street and renamed it the New Dixie. At its opening, Mr. Lambert screened 36 moving pictures a week, and the New Dixie boasted 336 fine opera chairs, ten electrical wall lights, and—with the exception of a theatre in High Point—the only mirror screen in North Carolina. Originally a scored stucco building with a large archway facing Hay Street, it was later given its current brick façade when the adjoining alley was enclosed to make room for Brady’s Newsstand. The popularity of the New Dixie led to the construction of the Broadway and Miracle Theaters, which replaced it as Fayetteville’s state-of-the-art motion picture houses. The present CAMEO Theatre building subsequently housed several local businesses, most notably Dixie Billiards and Eddie’s Music.

Chris and Nasim Kuenzel, along with Eric Lindstrom, acquired the former Dixie Theatre building in 1998. Sharing an interest in art films, architecture, and downtown revitalization, the three owners worked nights and weekends to create what is now known as the CAMEO. The theatre features 125 velvet-covered cast-iron opera-style chairs, Dolby Digital sound and projection, four film screening formats, and a lobby lounge where patrons can enjoy a glass of wine, imported beer, coffee, or cappuccino. The CAMEO Art House Theatre opened in October 2000 with a Hollywood-style gala benefiting the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, complete with searchlights, a red carpet, and limousines. In March 2003, the CAMEO added a second screen, the Loge, an intimate screening room on the second floor featuring 38 stadium-style seats. The building is a mixed-use space, incorporating a loft that overlooks the CAMEO marquee on Hay Street. The mixed-use rehabilitation of the CAMEO has been recognized by Preservation North Carolina and in local media as the “Coolest Place Downtown,” the “Best Movie Theater in Fayetteville,” and the “Best Place to Take a Date,” and was featured in the 2002 Sundance Film Festival Program.

In 2026, the CAMEO entered a new chapter with the formation of Cameo Collective, a nonprofit organization created to steward the theatre into its next era. Following more than two decades of independent ownership, the transition to nonprofit status ensures that the CAMEO will remain a community-centered art house cinema, dedicated to film exhibition, education, and cultural preservation in downtown Fayetteville.

Under the Cameo Collective, the theatre continues its longstanding commitment to art, independent, foreign, and repertory cinema while expanding its mission to include deeper community partnerships, filmmaker engagement, special events, and accessible programming for future generations. The Collective model allows the CAMEO to operate not just as a movie theatre, but as a shared cultural space—one shaped by its audience, artists, and supporters.

While the organization has evolved, the spirit of the CAMEO remains the same: a locally rooted, independently programmed theatre dedicated to meaningful cinematic experiences and the vitality of downtown Fayetteville.