Arts Across NC

Find out what is happening across North Carolina in the arts. Art Matters is the monthly newsletter featuring news about the arts, happenings at the Arts Council and more! Listen to the podcast to get a quick peek into the content of this month's newsletter. Check out this month's issue: Behind the scenes: NC Arts Council grants: https://www.ncarts.org/blog/2026/03/17/behind-scenes-nc-arts-council...

Find out what is happening across North Carolina in the arts. Art Matters is the monthly newsletter featuring news about the arts, happenings at the Arts Council and more! Listen to the podcast to get a quick peek into the content of this month's newsletter. Check out this month's issue: https://mailchi.mp/dncr/ncac-art-matters-feb-2026?e=0c44c20f18 African American Cultural Celebration marks 25 y...

Find out what is happening across North Carolina in the arts. Art Matters is the monthly newsletter featuring news about the arts, happenings at the Arts Council and more! Listen to the podcast to get a quick peek into the content of this month's newsletter. Check out this month's issue: https://mailchi.mp/dncr/ncac-art-matters-oct-2025 Madison County: Ballad Swaps and Resilient Roots: https://www...

Since 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Awards have honored artists statewide for their contributions to the cultural lives of their communities. The Folklife program of the North Carolina Arts Council is pleased to spotlight the five artists/groups who will be presented with the 2025 awards on June 7, at a public ceremony in Raleigh. In this episode, we take a trip to Pitt County to spend time wi...

Since 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Awards have honored artists statewide for their contributions to the cultural lives of their communities. The Folklife program of the North Carolina Arts Council is pleased to spotlight the five artists/groups who will be presented with the 2025 awards on June 7, at a public ceremony in Raleigh. In this episode, we head to the far western end of North Caroli...

Since 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Awards have honored artists statewide for their contributions to the cultural lives of their communities. The Folklife program of the North Carolina Arts Council is pleased to spotlight the five artists/groups who will be presented with the 2025 awards on June 7, at a public ceremony in Raleigh. In this episode, we visit Robeson County, where the culture kee...

Since 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Awards have honored artists statewide for their contributions to the cultural lives of their communities. The Folklife program of the North Carolina Arts Council is pleased to spotlight the five artists/groups who will be presented with the 2025 awards on June 7, at a public ceremony in Raleigh. In this episode, we visit Winston-Salem to meet Gaurang Doshi,...

Since 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Awards have honored artists statewide for their contributions to the cultural lives of their communities. The Folklife program of the North Carolina Arts Council is pleased to spotlight the five artists/groups who will be presented with the 2025 awards on June 7, at a public ceremony in Raleigh. In this episode, we head to the Round Peak community of Surry C...

Since 1989, the North Carolina Heritage Awards have honored artists statewide for their contributions to the cultural lives of their communities. The Folklife program of the North Carolina Arts Council is pleased to announce the five artists/groups who will be presented with the 2025 awards on June 7, at a public ceremony in Raleigh. The honorees for 2025 are: Round Peak Guitarist, Chester McMilli...

In preparation for this year’s Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disabilities (LEAD) Conference, we spoke with Jamie Katz Court, the Arts Council’s accessibility coordinator, and Eileen Bagnall, the executive director of Arts Access Inc, about what this year’s LEAD cohort can expect from the conference, what accessibility in the arts means, and why it’s so important in achieving our agency’s goal of...

**This episode is presented in both Spanish and English, as spoken directly by Cornelio Campos** In our final episode before the North Carolina Heritage Award ceremony, we speak with painter and muralist Cornelio Campos. Born in Cheran, in the highlands of Michoacan, Mexico, Cornelio grew up surrounded by the traditions of his indigenous Purépecha heritage. After years of migrant labor in the Unit...

**This episode is presented with translated voiceovers** In our final episode before the North Carolina Heritage Award ceremony, we speak with painter and muralist Cornelio Campos. Born in Cheran, in the highlands of Michoacan, Mexico, Cornelio grew up surrounded by the traditions of his indigenous Purépecha heritage. After years of migrant labor in the United States, Cornelio settled in Durham an...

Born in Ararat, Virginia, and residing in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Richard Bowman has lived his life on both sides of the state line. Richard was inspired to teach himself the fiddle the first time he heard Tommy Jarrell playing on the Merry Go Round, a long-running old-time music program on Mount Airy’s famed radio station, WPAQ. Fifty years later, he is one of the region’s most beloved fiddle...

In this episode, we head West to the Qualla Boundary, the land of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, where Luther “Butch” Goings and Lydia Louise Goings share a life of dedication to craft and culture. Butch was a student of the renowned carver Amanda Crowe, who received the North Carolina Heritage Award in the year 2000. Louise was taught by her mother, the white oak basketmaker Emma Taylor, w...

This week we go to Bakersville, up in Mitchell County, where Rhonda Gouge has been teaching music since the 1970s. Steeped in the faith and traditions of the Toe River Valley, Rhonda’s life’s work has been to give the gift of music back to her community, her congregation, and the students who come from miles around to learn from her. Get more information about the May 31 award ceremony here: https...

In this episode, we head to Wendell, NC, just east of Raleigh, where Neal Thomas has been making white oak baskets for more than half a century. Neal and his brothers learned to make traditional white oak baskets from a man in Johnston County named Herman Holder, but today he is one of very few basket makers left who still harvests his own wood from trees and prepares each splint by hand. Get more...

In episode one of this mini-series, Folklife Director Zoe Van Buren speaks with two former folklife directors for the North Carolina Arts Council, Wayne Martin and Sally Peterson, about the history of the Heritage Awards and why it’s so important to celebrate the culture that comes from the people of North Carolina. Get more information about the May 31 award ceremony here: https://pinecone.org/ev...

As we wrap up this season, we introduce you to Piedmont Opera and Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center--- two arts organizations that had contrasting experiences during the pandemic. One was forced to shut down almost completely because of its location and the vulnerable aging population it serves, while the other was the only opera company in NC to produce during the state-mandated lockdown. Fast...

What do ArtsTogether in Raleigh and DREAMs center for arts education in Wilmington have in common? Besides being amazing safe spaces where young people can thrive, the two arts organizations are committed to serving disadvantaged communities. In this episode, we speak with Nikki Turner, dance instructor and preschool teacher at Arts Together, and Liz Wells, program director at DREAMs center for ar...

Beyond the material struggles artists and arts organizations have faced over the last two years, there was also an ever-present and less explored existential struggle. Being an artist, specifically a teaching artist, isn’t just a career. It’s an identity. And when you can’t do the job that makes you who you are anymore, well, who are you? In this episode of Arts Across NC we talked with two teachi...

In 2019, Laura Way became the president and CEO of ArtsGreensboro, one of our state’s local arts councils, and immediately began implementing changes. North Carolina has one of the most highly developed networks of local arts councils in the country. For over half a century, we have provided funding and technical assistance to encourage arts organizations to deliver multiple ways to broaden, deepe...

Hailing from New Orleans, the birthplace of Jazz, husband and wife duo Lonnie and Ocie Davis relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina after the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina dislocated them. With no intentions of starting an arts non-profit, when they arrived in Charlotte, the two Jazz musicians saw an opportunity to curate a thriving Jazz community, thus, in 2010, JazzArts Charlotte was b...

During the pandemic, performance venues and organizations were stuck on hold, hoping for a sign of normalcy that would allow for live audiences and actors on stage once again. In March of 2020, like many theaters across the United States, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte (CTC) was forced to stop all production. Due to social distancing requirements and closure of venues, curtailing not only public...

Did you know that on average, a dancer's performance career tends to end around the age of 35? Dancers' retirement comes for a multitude of reasons: physical injuries, a slowing down of the body, the decision to have children, or just a desire to try something new in their 20s or 30s after the intense dedication given since early childhood--and a pandemic. The pandemic has put many of our social a...

Arts Across NC Podcast is back with a new season! Join us as we look back on the pandemic and its impact on North Carolina’s arts sector over the last two years. With the help of artists, arts organizations, and arts leaders from all across North Carolina, we are telling the stories of mental struggles, canceled performances, and difficult decisions. The past two years also include stories about i...