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North Carolina Arts Council staff
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Our belief that the arts are essential to North Carolina’s emergence from the pandemic remains steadfast, as does our gratitude for the artists and arts organizations who remain committed to making sure that all North Carolinians have access to the life-affirming, community-building power of the arts. As the year draws to a close, we want to review some key moments from 2021, a year defined again by Covid-19.
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We advocated for North Carolina arts
Conservative estimates place the economic loss to North Carolina’s arts sector at $89 million. Addressing the financial impact that the pandemic is having on artists and arts organizations has been a top priority of the North Carolina Arts Council, and this year we were able to help secure more than $24 million to help the state’s arts sector recover from the pandemic.
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We sparked the arts
Part of that recovery effort included the launch of Spark the Arts, an awareness campaign designed to inspire people to participate in the arts by highlighting how the arts lift spirits, bring people together, and heal. The campaign recognizes that the people of North Carolina are the spark that keeps the arts alive, well, and thriving, and its goal is to ignite the resurgence of our state's arts sector from the pandemic by connecting residents and visitors to arts experiences and arts stories across our state.
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We said farewell to our executive director
N.C. Arts Council Executive Director Wayne Martin leaves us this month after a 34-year career characterized by a deep and enduring commitment to the agency's founding mission of "arts for all people." Over the decades, Wayne has worked to bring statewide and national investment in and recognition of our state’s rich and diverse arts community. During his time with the Arts Council, Wayne has been its folklife director, creative economies director, and executive director, a position he assumed in May 2012. Additionally, Wayne was a key figure in the creation of the North Carolina Arts Foundation, which to date has received more than $3 million from the private sector to support the Arts Council’s work. Most recently, he has been guiding the Arts Council through the pandemic crises. Read more about his work.
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We grew our diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) work
Our commitment to addressing DEAI issues in the arts has been a major focus of our work this year. Deputy Director Dr. Tamara Holmes Brothers outlines key developments in our DEAI efforts in the letter below.
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Facilitating a framework for change
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Dr. Tamara Holmes Brothers, N.C. Arts Council Deputy Director. Photo by J Caldwell, Ph.D. courtesy of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
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Greetings to the North Carolina arts community:
Last year, I provided a framework for the North Carolina Arts Council’s diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) efforts within the agency and in collaboration with the state’s arts community. I am leading this charge by taking meaningful steps with my colleagues who remain committed to our intention and pledge to be more inclusive. In that spirit, here are the agency actions we’ve taken in 2021:
- Facilitated biweekly N.C. Arts Council DEAI staff meetings in which we held conversations with diverse statewide groups to discuss cultural identity, awareness, and disparities specifically in the arts; held internal training and reflection sessions to understand topics related to DEAI
- Analyzed the N.C. Arts Council’s funding strategies to identify unbalanced grantmaking practices and defined ways to implement equitable methods; established and posted a timeline of historic N.C. Arts Council DEAI efforts and an agency DEAI statement
- Hired additional staff of color in leadership positions
- Supported a Strategic Planning Partners professional development session for BIPOC artists
- Announced the most diverse cohort ever of A+ Schools Apprentice Fellows
- Granted North Carolina Central University’s Teaching Artist Certificate Program a Statewide Initiative Grant to highlight the significance of teaching artists and to assist in recruiting more diverse teaching artists across the state
- Participated in the Penland School of Crafts Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Tour with NC A&T State University students and faculty
- Created a Folklife and Creative Aging Rural Learning Cohort made possible through a grant from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and Aroha Philanthropies
- Established and administered a DEAI Audit Pilot Program to assist participating arts organizations in acknowledging and removing barriers to equitable access to grant funding, employment/leadership, and professional development opportunities
Ensuring that structural practices and policies are equitable is essential to the sustainability of our investments in diversity and inclusion. We are mindful that this work is continuous as we persist towards our mission of “arts for all people” in order to be a truly inclusive agency and arts community. We welcome and look forward to your participation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Tamara Holmes Brothers |
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The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources seeks a visionary, energetic leader to serve as the N.C. Arts Council’s executive director. That person must be dynamic, collaborative, innovative, and knowledgeable about the challenges and opportunities that exist within our arts communities, and will be responsible for the development, management, and implementation of Arts Council programs that fulfill the agency’s mission of “arts for all people.” Apply by December 31. |
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Arts in Communities Director Dan Brosz left his position with the Arts Council at the end of November. He joined us in March 2019 and worked closely with the state's vast network of local arts councils. He also managed the Grassroots Arts Program grant that provides annual funding for high-quality arts experiences in all of North Carolina's 100 counties. Dan is now the curator of collections/project director at the Hastings Museum in Hastings, Nebraska. In this position, Dan directs the museum's collection, preservation, and interpretation efforts. The transition is somewhat of a homecoming for Dan, because he is from the Great Plains (South Dakota) and spent most of his career in the history museum field. Dan asked us to say that he enjoyed his time with the Arts Council and that he will greatly miss working with his constituents and the Arts Council staff.
Marketing and Communications Director Sandra Davidson leaves the Arts Council this month to pursue a career as an independent artist and develop a new project with the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Cynthia Hill. Davidson joined the agency in 2017 and served as content strategist and content director before assuming her current position. During her tenure, Sandra directed content and created communications strategies for three key statewide initiatives: the Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary campaign, for which she interviewed 50 renowned N.C. artists about the public value of the arts and their connection to the state; the 2019 Year of Music campaign Come Hear North Carolina, where she oversaw the production of 365 days of N.C. music stories; and Spark the Arts. She also co-hosted and co-produced Under One Roof, a virtual benefit concert that raised more than $50,000 to support individual artists affected by the pandemic.
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The National Endowment for the Arts recently announced American Rescue Plan Grants to three N.C. local arts councils. Grants totaling $550,000 will be distributed to the Arts Council of Wilson, Inc., Emerge Gallery Art Center (Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge), and the Arts Council of Fayetteville. The agencies will use this funding to distribute grants in their communities to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. Read more.
Our 2021 Holiday Guides highlight seasonal performing arts offerings and places to shop local across the state this season.
Throughout November, we featured Penland School of Craft’s recent Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) tour on our social media accounts. Find an in-depth story about the tour, which encourages HBCU students to consider a career in craft on our blog.
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The Recording Academy announced nominees for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards and an impressive number of North Carolina musicians received nominations. GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art opened its 42nd Winter Show, an annual survey of contemporary North Carolina art. More than 400 works by emerging and established N.C. artists are on display in the GreenHill gallery, in Greensboro.
The Cameron Art Museum welcomed more than 1,500 visitors to the premiere of Boundless, a public sculpture by Stephen Hayes honoring the United States Colored Troops, who fought to liberate Wilmington from the Confederacy in 1865. Read more about the project.
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