Shining a light on durham artists
Applications for the 2025 Spotlight Exhibition Series are now closed.
Thank you to everyone who applied! We are thrilled to have received so many submissions from talented emerging artists. Our selection committee will review applications throughout December, and applicants will be informed of their status by December 20, 2024.
About the series
The Spotlight Exhibition Series provides 5 emerging artists the opportunity to present a solo exhibition at NorthStar Church of the Arts. Each selected artist receives a $2,000 stipend and hands-on support with production, installation, promotion, and curation.
This program is designed to uplift artists, particularly those from QT/BIPOC and working-class backgrounds, by removing barriers to exhibiting their work and providing resources to help them succeed.
COMING IN 2026
We are excited to announce that the Spotlight Exhibition Series will return in 2026! Applications will open in the fall of 2025. If you’re an emerging artist looking for support to showcase your work, keep an eye on our website and newsletter for updates.
SUPPORT THE SERIES
This work is made possible in part by the Triangle Community Foundation’s Cultural Arts Grant and by supporters like you. Your contributions ensure we can continue to offer these opportunities and foster a thriving arts community.
Want to help support emerging artists? Donate today or learn more about how you can get involved.
Artist Workshops
At NorthStar, we passionately support artists' visions of empowering our community through self-expression. Our artist workshops embody this ethos, providing a nurturing environment where people of all ages are encouraged to explore their creativity and create their own art.
We’ve hosted workshops like The Durham Palette with Claire Alexandre, which allowed participants to create their own paints out of materials from the Earth around Durham, including flowers, soil, and clay. These artists were asked to exhibit their work and speak on their sustainable practices at the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s DeBerry Gallery.
Zena Carlota hosted a workshop entitled Mapping the Bones, where participants created multimedia collage to work through feelings of grief and loss. And last summer, Ayan Felix hosted CPT, a dance movement workshop for Black and Indigenous People of Color.
And, in line with the dreams of our founders, we provide design access and education to middle and high school students through partnerships with Blackspace and the Durham Office on Youth.
NorthStar is committed to paying multidisciplinary artists of color for their teaching work in our community throughout the year. If you are interested in hosting a workshop, please email our Executive Director at lauren@northstardurham.com
