North Carolina Arts Council – Arts Matters – July 2024

PacJAM youth musicians performing at Tryon Fine Arts Center, photo by TFAC.

Cities and communities that prioritize the arts provide more opportunities for people to come together, share experiences, and connect with one another.

Sharing common ground fosters social cohesion and a greater sense of hometown pride, all of which can help attract more people to live and work in rural areas. Tryon Fine Arts Center, in Polk County, has been a driving force for the arts in the Foothills region of western North Carolina for more than 50 years and is a key reason the county was named to this list. Each year, the center hosts dozens of musical and theater productions, concerts, art exhibits, and workshops that draw thousands of visitors to the region. Notably, it has a robust arts education program. For example, the Pacolet Junior Appalachian Musicians (PacJAM) program brings youth and adults together to learn a love and appreciation of the traditional music of the Southern Appalachian region.

“I love learning about the songs. I love learning about some of the backstories behind them. I love the band members. They’re some of my best friends and I love going out and performing with them, it’s so much fun,” Meredith, a teen member of the program’s house bands, The Clover Pickers told “The Country Life” in 2023. 

Kim Oliver, an adult student, said “PacJAM really introduced me to this type of music. I’m not from this area originally. Another thing is I get to play with other people; that’s really the best part. It’s a very welcoming environment. “

Students in a kinetic sculpture class at Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft in July 2024, photo by PASFC.

The arts have the power to stimulate economic growth in a region.

In Fall 2023, Americans for the Arts released Arts & Economic Prosperity 6, a report measuring the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture sector across the country. North Carolina’s nonprofit arts and culture sector generated $2.23 billion in economic activity, an increase from the previous study in 2015. Our state was a bright spot compared to the nation as a whole, which saw a decline. 

Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft in Columbia, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Pocosin Arts is a stellar example of an arts organization driving region-wide economic impact. Each year, the school hosts dozens of hands-on craft workshops in woodworking, ceramics, and metal-working, as well as week-long summer resident camps. These workshops, along with the school’s fine arts gallery, bring thousands of visitors and guest artists to Tyrell County to support not just the school but also restaurants and other businesses. 

Marlene True, executive director of Pocosin Arts, recently led a transformative fundraising effort of $1.8 million to renovate and expand the school’s campus, spurring significant growth in programs and employment of full-time staff and guest artists. “Marlene has been a steadfast leader and advocate for the arts in eastern North Carolina,” says Leigh Ann WIlder, creative economies director of the N.C. Arts Council. “With her guidance, Pocosin Arts has become a vibrant hub for craft that attracts students and practicing artists from across the nation to take classes, participate in residencies, and expand the reputation of the arts in North Carolina.”

Seventy-eight percent of North Carolina’s counties are classified as rural (source: N.C. Rural Center), and supporting the arts in all parts of our state is central to our agency’s work. Our mission, Arts for All, is to make the arts something that all North Carolinians can participate in and benefit from, whether that’s making art or engaging with it. 

The heart of North Carolina beats with art, and it’s clear to see in thriving, arts-vibrant communities like Tyrell and Polk Counties.

Iyaila Edwards is a senior at Winston-Salem State University, majoring in business administration with a concentration in general economics. Her focus is on understanding the why behind the ways that consumers and businesses operate in different market economies. When she’s not at the N.C. Arts Council or at school, Iyaila listens to music, scrapbooks, and plays with her three dogs.

As our 2024 Historically Black Colleges/Universities & Minority Institutions of Higher Education intern, Iyaila has been working on an anthology documenting the powerful statewide impact that Jaki Shelton Green has had during her appointment as North Carolina poet laureate. The anthology also includes a history of the N.C. Poet Laureate program and its impact on our literary and educational sectors.

Rebecca Bhuiyan is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in music with a minor in arts administration and, later, a post-baccalaureate certificate in ethnomusicology. A sarod and fiddle player, Rebecca participated in the Indian Ensemble, the Middle Eastern Ensemble, and the Old-Time Ensemble at her alma mater. She volunteers for events in Greensboro’s Bengali community and participates in jam sessions with the Piedmont Old Time Society. 

As our 2024 folklife and arts administration intern, Rebecca has supported folklife grant panels, the Appalachian Folklife Apprenticeship program, and the North Carolina Heritage Awards. She is interested in event planning, project management, archival work, and data management and plans to work in the nonprofit arts sector in North Carolina.

The New York Times this month profiled Gene Medler, who founded the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble in 1983. Gene’s students include the nationally-acclaimed dancer Michelle Dorrance, several members of her dance company, and Jared Grimes, who recently earned a 2022 Tony Award nomination for his turn in Broadway’s “Funny Girl”. Read The New York TImes’ article about the “Yoda-Like Mentor Behind the Masters of Dance”.

JazzArts Charlotte alumnus Luther Allison was also recently featured in The New York Times. In 2011, Luther was sharing the stage with his fellow musicians in Charlotte. These days, “he’s rubbing shoulders with the best of them at the Grammys, including breakout jazz artist Samara Joy,” according to JazzArts Charlotte. Read about Luther’s journey on the JazzArts website.

When Bryant Terrell Griffin was a 17-year-old student at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, he won an art competition at the school. His 9-foot-tall, 9-foot-wide sculpture still graces the school’s Durham campus. Thirty years later, Bryant, now an Emmy Award-nominated filmmaker, is premiering his movie “Young King” at the prestigious American Black Film Festival. He shot the film at his grandparents’ and other homes in Charlotte and Gastonia. Bryant calls it his “love letter to North Carolina”.