Durham’s White Rock Baptist Church
We’re pleased to be re-launching our NC Field blog, after several years’ hiatus! Our thanks to Truman Austin, a senior at Chapel Hill’s Emerson Waldorf School, for sharing this article with us. Special thanks as well to Pastor Rev. Dr. Reginald Stephens, Minister of Music Raymond Johnson, and the congregation of White Rock Baptist Church, […]
NC Folk Shines a Light on Jugtown Potters, Harkers Island Mariners, and Burlington Lowriders
NC Folk was recently featured in INDY Week (article by Spencer Griffith). Click here to read the full article. For more than forty years, the North Carolina Folklife Institute has worked alongside other nonprofits to promote awareness of the state’s shifting cultural practices, covering a broad array of food, music, arts, and vocations. Recently, it […]
Potter Mark Hewitt receives United States Artists Fellowship
by Evan Hatch NC Folk wanted to spread the word. Pittsboro potter Mark Hewitt has been awarded a United States Artists Fellowship. The award comes with a $50,000 unrestricted prize allowing Hewitt to make needed repairs to his farm. Check out the article in the Raleigh N&O: http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article49211350.html Of course Mr. Hewitt is no stranger […]
Martín Ramírez and the USPS
by Evan Hatch In a quirky and remarkable gesture, the United States Post Office issued a limited-edition set of Forever stamps featuring the work of Sr. Martín Ramírez. This gesture is remarkable because this semi-famed Mexican American artist is considered by many to be a visionary artist – a category of artists generally relegated […]
Calvin Trillin expounds on NC BBQ
by Evan Hatch Calvin Trillen’s thoughtful New Yorker piece offers some insights into the battle over North Carolina BBQ, and into North Carolina culture. It is a pleasant piece and its greatest strength is to recognize the futility in defining North Carolina BBQ. We know what BBQ is. And we know what it isn’t. No amount […]
Watch This Is My Home Now: The Montagnard Community in Greensboro
by Evan Hatch Documentarian Mariah Dunn Kramer found her calling early in film making through a fortuitous turn of events. In 2013, her participation through the “Smithsonian Young Historians, Living Histories” program led Kramer to conduct intensive oral history work with with Greensboro’s Montagnard youth. The experience only marked the beginning of this venture. This […]
Instagram for Nonprofits
by Tat’yana Berdan Recently some experts have begun to question the effectiveness of Facebook– the largest social media site – in helping an organization reach its followers. No matter how many followers you have, they may not see your posts unless you are willing to “boost” them (i.e., pay for them to show up). This new pay-to-play model has particularly […]
Socially Conscious Organizations
By Lea Efird Traditional structures of nonprofits are the realities for most of these entities, but hybrid and for-profit structures are on the rise in the US and internationally and have also been successful. If a nonprofit reevaluated its accomplishments, goals, etc., would the 501(c)(3) model be most effective for it, versus new legal/financial possibilities? […]
Contra Dancing in Carrboro
by Tat’yana Berdan “‘Hunker down’ is a technical term in contra.” The above is one of the many verbal gems I overheard last weekend at the Friday night contra dance held in Carrboro’s Century Center. My friend Dana introduced me to contra dancing my freshman year of college. I took ballroom lessons for many years […]
Tyris Jones, Storytelling as a Craft
by Sarah Bryan By returning to his roots, Tyris Jones discovered a new path in life. The Laurinburg native lived away from his hometown for years, but when he came back to live in Scotland County, he was inspired to combine his professional background and his family traditions into a new career as a storyteller. […]
Help NC continue its forward looking arts policy
The North Carolina Arts Council has released a draft plan for the arts over the next four years and is seeking public input through an online survey. The document that results will be a new strategic plan to shape the future of NC arts for the next four years – 2015-2019. If you think this is […]
Encouraging “Place-Rooted” Development: Notes from Stone Country
by Joseph O’Connell In the late 1970s, Bedford, Indiana began investing in the construction of a nine-story-tall pyramid. Made from locally-quarried limestone, the pyramid was intended as the centerpiece and chief attraction of a heritage park interpreting the local architectural stone industry. As a symbol, it would invite the comparison between Bedford’s achievements and those […]
Ethics of the documented – Finding Vivian Maier
The newly released documentary Finding Vivian Maier tells the story of John Maloof’s purchase of a box full of old negatives at auction, hoping they would relate to the book he was writing about his Chicago neighborhood. Instead, they led him to the discovery of street photographer Vivian Maier. As Maloof learns more about her work (which […]
May Day – Tom Dula’s Hanging and the Ethics of the Documented
On this day in history – May 1, 1868 – Thomas C. Dula was hanged in Statesville, NC for the murder of Laura Foster. Dula (pronounced “Dooley”), the bloody murder, and subsequent trial became the infamous subjects of the “Ballad of Tom Dooley.” Much has been written over the years about the actual murder, the ballad, and […]
Storytelling Animals
by Joy Salyers, Executive Director On May 6th and 8th, I’ll be participating in the Raleigh performances of a national movement called Listen to Your Mother. 32 cities nationwide are hosting these live staged readings in honor of Mother’s Day, each directed, produced, and performed by local communities, for local communities. Last year was the […]
Pete Seeger’s lessons for we who sing, and we who stand nearby
(Pete Seeger at the Great Hudson River Revival, 2011) (Post title comes from Seeger’s song, “To My Old Brown Earth”) Last Monday morning sometime after six, I heard the radio talking about Pete Seeger’s career and said aloud, “Oh, no.” Throughout the day and week I read many tributes and memorials in the news […]
Remembering Ted Hicks
by Tom McGowan The death of Ted Hicks last Friday deprives our community and the community of scholars and storytelling artists of an extraordinary bearer of family and local traditions. Born in 1954 in Avery County, the son of Ray and Rosa Hicks, Ted stayed at home in their iconic weathered house on the […]