The Max G Creech Selma Historical Museum, partnering with the Johnston County Writers Group, is among several local organizations to be awarded a North Carolina Grassroots Arts Program subgrant for 2018-2019 from the Johnston County Arts Council.
The Selma Development Partnership, which operates the museum and the Selma Visitor Center, is matching the grant with money raised through a membership campaign that started in July.
“We recognize the part that public funds play in promoting the arts,” said Eric Jackson, education and projects chair for the Selma Historical Museum. “We are using this $2,000 subgrant to fund four street-level arts projects that will #ActivateSelmaNC during the town’s rebranding campaign.” The four projects are:
- A Selma Artists Cooperative or art pop-up, for three months this Fall at the Selma Visitor Center. Participating artists will display their work and engage the public in low-key interactive workshops and demos in the SDP conference room.
- A street art installation of an interactive kinetic park bench, to be built by disabled Army veteran Susanne Pote, owner of Kosmic Kittens Cat Lounge, along with fellow veterans and local students.
- Developing Selma Stories and Community Dialogues at the museum, the Harrison Center for Active Aging and Selma Public Library. Currently “Telling Our Stories” is Thursdays at 3 pm at the Harrison Center. A hands-on “Selma in a Trunk” travel case recently premiered at the library.
- A one-day Johnston County Writers Conference, scheduled for April 6, 2019, at the soon-to-be fully renovated Selma Civic Center. For writers, the event will include morning workshop sessions and a box lunch. The public will be invited in for a book talk and book signing with a North Carolina writer, to be determined.
The awards ceremony for all subgrant awardees is Tuesday, September 4th from 3:45pm to 4:30pm in the Auditorium at the Johnston Medical Mall, at 514 N. Bright Leaf Boulevard in Smithfield. The ceremony is open to the public.
The NC Grassroots Arts Program is supported by the NC Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. For more information, visit the Johnston County Arts Council’s website at jcartscouncil.org.
