Topics Related to Arts Across NC
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!
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.
On Tuesday May 28th, Mandolin Orange played a special set at the North Carolina Executive Mansion in Raleigh to help usher in a partnership between Come Hear North Carolina and the Americana Music Association (AMA). Governor Roy Cooper and First Lady Kristin Cooper hosted musicians, AMA members, and press to celebrate all that North Carolina has given to the world of music, and Mandolin Orange provided the perfect soundtrack to the occasion.
Photo Credit: Allison Lee Isley/Winston Salem JournalWinston-Salem native Margaret Vardell Sandresky, now 97, continues to play and compose music, following in the footsteps of her grandmother Linda Rumple Vardell, who founded the Conservatory of Music at Flora MacDonald College in Robeson County.
Activism and music go hand and hand for Laila Nur, a founding member of The Muslims, a black/brown/queer punk band from Durham, North Carolina. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Laila Nur moved south after her family was priced out of the big city. Discrimination and gentrification are realities Laila understands as a queer, black, Muslim woman with working class roots. In the tradition of punk music, Laila and The Muslims channel anger, joy, and hope through the music they make about the place and time in which they live.
Alice Gerrard | Photo by Irene Young.Alice Gerrard is a living legend. A musician, writer, and traditional music advocate, Alice is known for her work with Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens and has appeared on recordings with the likes of Tommy Jarrell and Matokie Slaughter. She performed a song written by her grandson at the 2018 kick-off of the Oxford American's North Carolina Music Issue.