Topics Related to Arts for All

Michelle Burrows has played a pivotal role in A+ Schools of North Carolina since its inception, providing steadfast leadership as its director for more than 15 years. She launched her teaching career in Oakland, California, where she embraced interdisciplinary instruction as part of her educational foundation. After relocating to Raleigh in late 1994, she applied for a fourth-grade teaching position at Charles R. Bugg Elementary.

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: 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

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For more than 40 years, a singular mis

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.  

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.

In the summer of 2023, the North Carolina Arts Council awarded grants to ten arts organizations to attend the annual Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disabilities (LEAD) Conference and to be part of an arts accessibility learning community that would meet regularly to discuss accessibility in the arts. 

The North Carolina Arts Council recognizes and honors the work of African American artists and arts organizations that shape our state’s culture. With Black History Month and the 2023–2024 grant application season coinciding, we celebrate some of the Black-led organizations that have received a grant from us recently. If you have a story you’d like us to share, please reach out to us.

Hayti Heritage Center/St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation (SJHF)