This opportunity was brought to Cianna’s attention by her former professor, Linda Dallas, Assistant Professor of Visual Arts. “I am so happy that Cianna continues to share her generous heart and unique vision with the College Park community,” says Linda Dallas. “As always. I am so pleased when the abundant talent of SAU’s creative community is recognized.”

Raleigh Arts funded the project as part of Deborah Aschheim’s Raleigh Stories project. Cianna Jackson was one of 4 Raleigh artists that Aschheim selected to mentor through their first public art project. “Finding I AM” is an exciting beginning for Jackson’s public art journey.

Deborah observes, “One reason I loved working with Cianna and Professor Dallas’s students is that I think SAU students are motivated by powerful social justice, community, and spiritual themes. They don’t just want to make something nice-looking; they really want to connect with people through their art. That makes me really happy.”

The mural adorns the wall of the Community Center’s gymnasium. Inspiration for the mural came from Cianna’s work with young participants of the Saint Monica Teen Center’s summer program. Through hands-on activities, Jackson encouraged the teens to describe their unique qualities and how they can use them to better themselves for their future. She hopes the mural will inspire everyone visiting the Community Center to consider their life purpose. The staff at the Tarboro Road Center were eager to demonstrate the unique feature of “Finding I AM.” When the gymnasium is lit with ultra-violet light, the mural glows. This makes it a real hit with black-light sports fans.

To get the community involved, specifically the teens associated with the center, and to showcase the mural, the Tarboro Road Community Center will facilitate a black light dodgeball game on Tuesday, April 30th, at 4 p.m. in the Tarboro Road Community Center gymnasium.

Learn more about the “Finding I AM” mural��.

Learn more about the 51�ؿ�����’s University Visual Arts Program��here.

Learn more about the Tarboro Road Community Center��.

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Blind Date With A Book begins on Valentine’s Day at noon and continues throughout Black History Month. Do not miss this fabulous book give-away.

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On Friday, November 17, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m., the North Carolina Museum of Art will host an event for students from colleges and universities across the state in the East Building. The event includes a free, exclusive visit to the “Turmeric to Tulips: Dutch Art in a Global Age” exhibition. SAU Visual Arts Majors Jayla Daise and Bronte Weatherford, pictured above, will be serving as Gallery Guides for this special exhibition. Falcon creatives Imani Cosby and Jania Gibson helped plan the event and will be facilitating College Night activities. All students are welcome to join in the creative play. Admission to the event is free with a College ID.

Need transportation to College Night?
The SAU van will depart for the event from the Seby Jones Parking Lot at 5:30 p.m.

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George Jack, Associate Professor of Theatre, has been doing plays in a cemetery for the past seventeen years.

Since 2006, Raleigh’s Burning Coal Theatre Company has teamed up with Historic Oakwood Cemetery to produce a series of plays staged on the Cemetery’s premises concerning local Raleigh and Wake County history. Jack has played a part in these outdoor historical dramas from the very beginning, first acting in plays for ten years and then directing for the last six years.

This year’s production is “Butterfly Wings,” written by Burning Coal Artistic Director Jerome Davis and based on the book “Life and Death in High Places” by Raleigh historians Bruce Miller and Robin Simonton (who is also Oakwood Cemetery’s Executive Director). Allison Acuff directs the play, and Jack returns as an actor this year, portraying the role of The Judge, who oversees the murder trial of Ernest Haywood, a Raleigh attorney who shot and killed businessman Ludlow Skinner on Fayetteville Street one morning in 1903. The murder and subsequent trial achieved nationwide attention and rocked the foundations of turn-of-the-century Raleigh society.

“Butterfly Wings” runs this weekend, with performances on Friday and Saturday evenings at 6:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at burningcoal.org or the Historic Oakwood Cemetery.

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“51�ؿ�����’s was influential in Mr. Lee’s education, and we’re excited to showcase some of his best artwork in this special exhibition for the public and our alumni,” Tyler said. “We invite the community to the exhibition’s opening reception on homecoming weekend, October 5, from 5–7 p.m. We hope our guests will learn more about Mr. Lee, who grew up in the area and experience his beautiful works of art.” Lee died suddenly on November 27, 2021, in Valdosta, GA, while traveling home from Atlanta, where he and his wife Gloria visited the van Gogh Experience exhibit. Lee was born in Virginia but grew up near Raleigh and was known for his country scenes, buildings, and grandpa paintings. His work has been displayed throughout Florida and Georgia, and he has won multiple awards at various art shows. He was also known for giving back to the community through art classes focusing on children and adults at public schools, colleges, art galleries, and even his home.

Ernest’s wife, Gloria Lee, said he especially had a heart for working with special needs children. “Ernest felt everyone had art inside of them,” Gloria said. “He had a special way with children from every background, and he studied and prayed a lot to ensure he learned the best way to reach them. He enjoyed capturing things in his paintings to tell a story and often included historical details of the subjects he painted.”

The exhibit runs through October 31, and the Seby B. Jones Art Gallery is open to the public Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., or by appointment. For more information about Ernest Lee or his artwork, please visit .

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An exhibition inspired by the PBS documentary The Big Payback, The SAU Conversation About Reparations, will be on display in the Seby Jones Art Gallery from April 24 – August 25, 2023. This spring, Color Farm Media – the team behind the documentary – partnered with HBCUs across North Carolina to bring the conversation around reparations for Black Americans to the forefront through a series of student-led debates. On March 21, 51�ؿ�����’s University students added their voices to the debate. The SAU event, coordinated by Arts and Communication Department Chair Dr. Kaye Celeste Evans, included contributions from students and faculty from the theater, film, visual arts, music, and history programs and earned SAU “The Big Payback Honors.” This exhibition, curated by Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Linda Dallas, seeks to extend the conversation about this important topic. The exhibition features event photography by students and faculty, student artworks created for the event, and interpretive exhibit panels that provide information about the historical and current reparation efforts.

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Documentarian Byron Hurt explores the world of hazing. In his film HAZING, , Hurt delves into the realities of hazing and how those involved have been affected. In addition, the documentary investigates the need for belonging and why violence, power, and control are sometimes elements/parts of that.

The Department of Arts and Communications is presenting the screening of the film, Hazing, on Thursday, April 27th, at 6:00 p.m. in the Seby Jones Fine Arts Center Auditorium. The filmmaker, Byron Hurt, and producer Natalie Bullock Brown will be present to discuss the importance of making the documentary. SAU psychology professor Colin Adams will moderate the question-and-answer session following the screening. Before the screening, the documentarians will hold a Master’s Class on filmmaking for Arts and Communications majors.

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Photo Credit: Kadain Roper

51�ؿ�����’s University (SAU) was recently named among four of the ten HBCUs in North Carolina to make The Big Payback’s Top Honors list. The university received the recognition just weeks after��hosting a conversation and student-led debate��around reparations for Black Americans inspired by the PBS documentary “The Big Payback,” co-directed by Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow, on March 21st.

“I wish to thank Dr. Evans, along with the faculty and students in the Arts & Communications Department, for lending their creative talents and voice to the topic of Reparations. The Big Payback Tour models the community engagement necessary to develop our students into leaders prepared to provide solutions in today’s world,” said SAU President Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail. “Furthermore, receiving this honor elevates all HBCUs’ significant role in the social justice conversation.”

The Big Payback Top Honors list also includes a cash award to four of the ten HBCUs in North Carolina that stood out during the tour. In addition, SAU received a cash award of $1,500 to use in any area the university sees fit.

“SAU is very proud and honored to be a recipient of The Big Payback Honors. We loved the Big Payback experience,” said SAU chair of the Department of Arts and Communications, Dr. Kaye Celeste Evans, who also served as the advisor of the performative debate team. “We will end our semester with a Big Payback exhibit in our Art Gallery. Our goal is to continue the conversation and work towards community action.”

SAU students from various majors, primarily from the Arts and Communications Department (Film, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Media Communications), presented the performative debate. The production combined visual and performing arts elements, depicting the pros and cons of reparations while interweaving the history of Blacks in the United States. In addition, the SAU Reader’s Theatre Troupe performed while images that relate to reparations and the Black experience were in the background.

The cast of students and faculty who participated in the SAU performative debate is as follows:

Reader’s Theatre Performers

• Steve Jones,��Senior, Theatre Major
• Zaria Jones, Sophomore, Theatre Major
• Carlos Rowell, Junior, Theatre Major
• Miles Beasley, Junior, Communications Major
• Mr. George Jack, Associate Professor of Theatre
• Dr. Kaye Celeste Evans, Chair, Arts and Communications Department

Multimedia and Visual Artists Component����

• Imani Cosby, Sophomore, Visual Arts Major
• Nahala Moore, Sophomore, Visual Arts Major
• Bronte Weatherford, Sophomore, Visual Arts Major
• Raven Rogers, Senior, Visual Arts Major
• Kyrasani Mitchell, Junior, Visual Arts Major
• Ms. Linda Dallas, Assistant Professor of Visual Arts
• Ms. Janet Gustafson, Associate Professor of Film, Video Editing Specialist/Equipment Coordinator, Department of Media & Communications

Photo Credit: Raven Rogers

“51�ؿ�����’s put it down!! Performing a multi-layered, cultural theater presentation��debate,��through spoken word/music and outstanding storytelling, they cleverly embedded a pro/con debate inside of a live action play with a filmed, multimedia component,” said Alexander. “St. Aug was bolstered, and we were greeted, by their fantastic Drumline. The entire event was professionally filmed by their communications department for archival and historic preservation. Also an activist hub, the campus attracted significant student attendance and community participation.”

Other winners included Johnson C. Smith University (Top Super Big Payback Honors) as well as North Carolina A&T University (The Big Big Payback Honors), and Shaw University (The Big Payback Honors).

“All eight participating North Carolina HBCUs made American history, believe it,” said Alexander. “You’ve changed the game, by taking on the topic of reparations for Black Americans and creating these historic HBCU debates.”

to watch a replay of the performative reparations debate at SAU.

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