Topics Related to Arts Across NC

After a career defined by visionary leadership in the craft community, Marlene True will retire as Executive Director of Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft in December 2024. Marlene is Pocosin’s second Executive Director, serving in this position for the past 12 years. Her retirement coincides with Pocosin Arts’ 30th Anniversary year.

ince 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Award has honored our state’s most eminent traditional artists and practitioners. Recipients of the Heritage Awards range from internationally acclaimed musicians to folks who quietly practice their art in family and community settings. Awardees receive a cash award and are honored in a ceremony that draws large and enthusiastic audiences. Several North Carolinians have gone on to receive the National Heritage Fellowship Awards presented by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Header photo credit: Walter MagazineLet’s catch up with a few of the N.C. writers making a splash on the literary scene this summer and continuing our state’s rich literary tradition: Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, spoken word artist Dasan Ahanu, award-winning writers lifting the veil on disability experiences, and some page-turner summer reads.

(Last updated on June 24, 2024)On June 21, thousands of North Carolinians took part in our state’s first Make Music Day, the world’s largest annual music event. 150+ communities across the United States also participated in this global event. The N.C. Arts Council, as part of our mission of “Arts for All,” was proud to sponsor events that local arts councils and arts partners organized in 13 cities and counties across the state.

Jaki Shelton Green is the first African American and third woman poet to be appointed as North Carolina Poet Laureate. As Jaki closes out her final year as our state’s poet-in-chief, we are celebrating a few of the highlights of her tenure.

For the third year, the N.C. Arts Council is inviting arts administrators to apply for our LEAD Scholarship Grant (due May 1, 2024). The grant provides professional development to those working in the field of accessibility in the arts.

Photo by Sandra Davidson.Today Governor Roy Cooper will officially induct Jaki Shelton Green as North Carolina’s Poet Laureate. In November of last year, Jaki added the music of her poetry to the Oxford American’s North Carolina Song Circle at Fletcher Music Hall in downtown Raleigh. We are happy to share that moment in honor of her special day!

All Photos Courtesy of the Ocean City Jazz Festival

To celebrate Arts in Our Schools Month, we’re shining a spotlight on A+ Schools of North Carolina. Established in 1995 by the Kenan Institute for the Arts, A+ Schools is the longest-running arts-based whole-school transformation model in the nation. It all started with 25 schools training together to better understand how the arts could be central to teaching and learning in all subjects. The network of schools has expanded across the state and today serves more than 25,000 students annually.

Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten will be posthumously inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame on October 17, 2019.