Header image: Teachers at the 2025 A+ Schools of North Carolina summer conference at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Photo by Peter Shanahan
Topics Related to Arts Across NC
This past spring and early summer, the North Carolina Arts Council partnered with Triangle ArtWorks to present a new professional development program, ArtsCore. Over the past five years, senior leadership in arts organizations has turned over because of retirements and the pressures of COVID. Consequently, younger and new leaders are stepping into these roles and seeking guidance, mentorship, and an understanding of the state's arts landscape.
Header image: Ken Sedberry working on rabbit sculpture in the studio (L) and Galen Sedberry in front a wood kiln (R). Photos by Galen Sedberry
Header image: Secretary Pamela Cashwell (L) with Al Strong (R), a Grammy-nominated trumpet player, composer, recording artist, and educator. Secretary Cashwell wears a t-shirt from Come Hear NC, a Department of Natural and Cultural Resources initiative celebrating music in North Carolina. Photo by Holly Nelson
At the upcoming LEAD Conference (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disabilities), two Arts Council staff members—Jamie Katz Court, the music and dance director and accessibility coordinator, and Erin Rembert, the military and veterans arts coordinator—will present Considerations for Military, Veterans, and Acquired Disabilities.
Header image: Judson Guérard (L) and Sally Morgan Guérard (R). Photo courtesy of the artist
In 1995, the Kenan Institute for the Arts, in Winston-Salem, launched a program to integrate the arts in every aspect of instruction in 25 urban, suburban, and rural pre-kindergarten through twelfth-grade schools. Immediately, the results were profoundly positive. Over the following three decades, A+ Schools of North Carolina has revolutionized education through the arts, helping educators create dynamic, engaging learning environments.
Header image: Freeman Vines. Photo by Tim Duffy, courtesy of Music Maker Foundation.One of our state’s greatest treasures is our legacy of folk, traditional, and blues music. The Music Maker Foundation works to preserve and foster the “roots of American music by supporting senior traditional musicians and educating the public.” Based in Hillsborough, the foundation supports senior traditional musicians, forming “long-term partnerships with them to raise their standards of living and levels of expertise,” according to the website.
Header image: Sarah Jones Decker. Photo credit: Lauren Rutton, courtesy of Sarah Jones Decker.
Header image: North Carolina Arts Council staff at the 2025 ARTS Day conference. Photo by Andie Freeman.