The Durham Artist Archive

Join us for the Durham Artist Archive Exhibition Friday April 17 6-8pm and Saturday April 18 12-3pm at 104 W Parrish St on Durham’s Black Wall Street. This episode feels like me catching up to my own thoughts. Yes, I invite you to the Durham Artist Archive exhibition. But I end with a reflection. I’ve been moving through the work, recording, planning, building, but this moment asks me to step back...

So here’s your invitation: Find your own Sugar Shack. Dance like your liberation depends on it. And when the lights come up, let the art of that moment live on; whether in a photo, a story, or the way your body still remembers the beat. Let it be sweet like sugar. -Alyssa Cuffie Onuoha Happy last day of 2025. This year I published more writing online than ever. And one of my most popular essays wa...

Authenticity is the most human part about you. Even your mistakes.— LaPrince Miller-Smith LaPrince-Miller Smith reminded me that authenticity is a practice you return to again and again. And in this episode, we talk about the long arc of her artistic life and what it has taken to keep choosing herself within it. From singing in the Durham Children’s Choir to studying jazz and science at NCCU, teac...

“I want to archive more because a lot of Black people in America have not been afforded the freedom of having history and being the ones who tell it.” — Atigré Farmer In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive , I sit with Atigré Farmer, a multitalented 3D artist, community advocate, and creative whose artwork explores the limits of technology. Her early interest in fashion and film have lead he...

“You can be an artist and you can monetize your art and you can be very successful at it. The question is: you have a strength in the artistry, are you willing to be trained on the things that you don’t know how to do?”— Coach Toci This week on the Durham Artist Archive , I sit with Coach Toci, a poet and business coach who treats structure as a creative tool for possibility. She’s building Mompre...

“Take the seeds you find in the Durham soil and go plant it where you are. That’s literally why we started—it was so that people could get rejuvenated and inspired by the beauty of Durham in the triangle.”— Khalisa Rae In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive , I sit with Khalisa Rae, an award-winning artist, writer, educator, and curator whose work moves with both rigor and tenderness. Khalis...

“Art doesn’t have to be pretty or quiet. In a world drowning us with noise, it’s important that some of us whisper, and some of us yell from the mountaintops.”— Wonder In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive , I connected with Wonder, a multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes graffiti writing, muralism, and community work. His passion for the art form is palpable. With his stories of...

“I would love to see more zero-commission art spaces downtown. There are so many artists that deserve the opportunity to be seen and to be paid for their work.”— Wutang McDougal In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive , I sit with Wutang McDougal, a queer Black visual artist, storyteller, and graphic designer who’s followed their intuition into a colorful arts career. We traversed their path...

“Grief and joy are like sisters or lovers or friends… I think shifting that perspective or regrounding myself in what I would like to build from here has been nourishing my practice a lot recently.” -Huiyin Zhou In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive , I sit with Huiyin Zhou, a Durham-based multimedia artist, cultural producer, photographer, and writer whose practice is fed by friendship, ca...

“Writing is like taking your medicine every day. [When] there’s something I don’t understand about the world or my own life, I’m just writing to make some sense out of it.” – Dr. Zelda Lockhart In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive , I sit down with Dr. Zelda Lockhart , an award-winning author, poet, educator, and Fulbright Specialist rooted in Durham. We talk about writing as a daily heali...

On July 4th, 2025 I had the honor of interviewing North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green. She is the first poet laureate of North Carolina and an amazing woman who’s dedicated her life to witnessing truth and documenting it in her poetry. When NorthStar Church of the Arts reached out for me to facilitate the conversation I was nervous to be in discussion with such an icon yet excited. I’v...

"That painting or song or performance is a tithe laid at the altar of community. It is a small piece of their talent that they're providing for our engagement and healing and pleasure." -Alyssa Cuffie Onuoha This is the last one. For like… two months-ish lol. I’m really proud of this gift that is the Durham Artist Archive. And I hope that you find this episode takes you on an audio journey. As ins...

“Art can only be done in isolation, but for so long. It is meant to be done in collaboration with others. That is how you prevail. That is how you really make the most of a project.” -Nori McDuffie In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive (DAA), I catch up with curator and photographer Nori McDuffie, a Durham native whose passion for archiving, storytelling, and community-building has helped s...

  “You can create art that is gonna make a difference in someone else's day that you don't even know. And 10 years from now, when someone else is walking down that hallway, they're gonna see your name, they're gonna see your art.” -Mayanthi Jayawardena on the power of murals What happens when art becomes both your therapy and your toolkit for social change? In this episode of Durham Artist Archive...

In this episode of Durham Artist Archive , I sit down with Majesty Royale-Jackson, also known as Glitter Boi Wonder, a Black Seminole artist whose work moves through dance, sound, digital media, and installation. We talk about how movement has always been central to their practice, shaping everything from choreography to immersive storytelling. We also dig into Soft Riot Radio , a dreamy, post-apo...

In this episode of Durham Artist Archive , I sat down with the one and only JoRose, an aerialist, burlesque dancer, and producer based right here in Durham, NC. We got into everything from growing up in Durham, traveling the world, to her mission of producing burlesque shows where artists are not just valued but actually paid what they deserve. We also broke down the difference between burlesque a...

In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive, I sat with C. Bay Milin, a Durham based photographer with a deep passion for storytelling through photos. C. Bay not only shared his own journey of migration from California to Durham, but also shared his parents migration stories and that prompted me to describe my own. We also dived into his approach to photography, starting with memories of his firs...

In this bonus episode of the Durham Artist Archive, hear behind the scenes of my post pod conversation with East Durhamite Dasean Burnette, designer and musician. He tells me an oral history of North Carolina and ties into why Durham looks the way it does today. For those new to North Carolina and Durham, this episode is especially important to understand how the city we love came to be. Listen on...

In this episode of the Durham Artist Archive (DAA), I caught up with Dasean Burnette, a talented designer and musician born and raised in Durham. We talked about his creative history starting with paintings in kindergarten to corporate graphic design roles, to today where he has his own design studio called OLED. We also touched on his clothing brand, Ultra Bad, and his dive into music that kicked...

In this episode of Durham Artist Archive (DAA) , I sat down with Akili Holder Cozart, a true Renaissance woman who’s doing it all as an actress, director, storyteller, and more. We jumped right into her work with Bump the Triangle, a nonprofit bringing music and arts education to Black and Brown kids in Durham, and her big dream of turning their theater program into a full-on community theater. Ak...

In this episode, I sit down with Alyssa Noble, a modern and contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and marketing consultant. Her story stretches from her first plié at age four in Schaumburg, Illinois, to her dynamic contributions to Durham, North Carolina’s dance scene today. Alyssa lets us into her creative world, where choreography becomes a blend of storytelling and abstraction, balancing t...

Welcome back to Season 2 of the Durham Artist Archive! This episode, I kick it off by reflecting on five key lessons learned from the first season. These include some topics we’ve discussed before in the related newsletter such as considering who counts as a collector and world building. And then I also highlight just a taste the wealth of local resources available to artists in Durham and how fol...

“A collaboration is the best way to create. Yes, you have your own thoughts. But when you combine your thoughts and somebody else's thoughts, the possibilities are endless.” -Marquette Cates As we round out the last episode of the year, I'm excited to share my conversation with Marquette “Uncle Kette” or just “Kette” Cates, a versatile artist based in Durham. Known for his work in photography, poe...

“People don't know that Durham has always been a Black Mecca… and people don't know about the gay and queer history that is also here in Durham.  Durham is overlooked because we are in the South and because people don't want to give the South credit.” -Stormie Daie This MIGHT be my favorite episode of the whole podcast so far… Do I say that every time? I’m not sure, but this time I’m for real lol....

This episode, I got to hang out with Eliza Redmann, a talented artist who brings her architectural background to her creative work. Eliza shared her journey of transitioning from her architecture career to becoming a passionate sculptural artist - a shift that was sparked by a life-changing car accident. In addition, she also serves on the public art committee for the city of Durham, where she is...