Creative Catalyst Fellowship helps build connections between Pocosin Arts and its rural, tight-knit community

Located in the charming small town of Columbia, North Carolina, the Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft is a haven for artists, with a slate of offerings including workshops, weekly classes, and after school and summer youth programs. Executive Director Marlene True is on a mission to connect those programs with the broader community.

In the sparsely populated, rural Tyrrell County situated along the state's northeastern coastal area, that mission is not without its challenges. A Creative Catalyst Fellowship in Community Engagement, supported in partnership with the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the UNC School of the Arts, has helped True expand those connections in recent months.

Creative Catalyst Fellow and artist Ann Workman was working with Pocosin Arts as the gallery coordinator when she learned about the fellowship opportunity. She and True were excited to work on building relationships in the local arena, which required a measure of creativity and thoughtfulness.

"We took our programs out into the community to increase access, hosting them in familiar community gathering places," True says. "We felt this would help people feel more comfortable and would facilitate attendance."

Communication about the programs throughout the county, which covers a large area, proved to be the biggest challenge. In addition to several other communication methods, they ultimately added a printed newsletter to the rotation. "We began producing and distributing a monthly printed newsletter delivered to every mailing address in Tyrrell County," says True. "Having Ann as a Creative Catalyst Fellow helped us find new ways to communicate, new places to connect, and strengthened relationships within our community."

In addition to her communications work, Workman led four main outreach projects: Mom’s Night Out, an ice cream social, a pig pickin’ and a Black History Month mural. True says those events were informative.

We learned that creating programs to interact with the community outside of our regular studio spaces and classrooms is a great way to connect with our community ... the work of engagement is ongoing and requires persistent efforts and attention.

Marlene True, Executive Director, Pocosin Arts

"We learned that creating programs to interact with the community outside of our regular studio spaces and classrooms is a great way to connect with our community," she says. "It also confirmed something we already knew, that the work of engagement is ongoing and requires persistent efforts and attention.

"It is a joy to work with Ann, to see her work and grow. She gave her full attention to the programs we developed and helped us reach new people and create goodwill in our community for Pocosin and the arts. It has been an enriching experience to work with the Kenan Institute for the Arts and our first fellow and one for which I am grateful."

Workman is likewise grateful for the experience and the opportunity to build relationships. Below, she reflects on her work and the challenges and rewards of making those connections between the arts organization and its community.

Can you describe some of the work you did as a Creative Catalyst Fellow at Pocosin Arts? 

Mom’s Night Out was a twice-monthly program run throughout the summer that allowed local mothers to come learn a new craft every meeting while we provided child care and craft activities for their children. Among the reports of burnout and disproportionate burden placed on mothers throughout the pandemic, I wanted to create a program that would give them a short break away from the kids to enjoy fellowship with other mothers in the community.

The ice cream social and pig pickin’ were events that provided us an opportunity to get in contact with the general public and provide information on Pocosin Arts and our programs. The pig pickin’ was our most successful event and provided free dinners to anyone who stopped by to check us out at the local park. During the cookout we had a craft for kids to work on, cornhole boards, free calendars with local school dates and program dates, and raffles for two Food Lion gift cards and kids’ backpacks.

Our Black History Month mural was created to honor Tyrrell County residents of color that had a positive impact on our community. This project was developed through several listening sessions where we invited locals to give their input regarding what they would like to see in our Black History Month mural. Through these listening sessions, we identified three important figures in Tyrrell County’s history that we wanted to honor: Estella James McCoy, L.A. Keiser and George Rowsom. 

What challenges did you encounter?

The two main challenges I faced during these projects were COVID-19 and finding ways to spread information. Getting people to gather in such a small community is hard enough, but with COVID it was even more difficult. Getting information out in Columbia is also difficult at the best of times. Our local newspaper just shut down recently, so we’ve been looking for new ways to get the word out about all of our programs and events. Finding new channels to send information through has been a challenge and has required contacting many different people and groups to see how I can get information to their communities.

How has the fellowship helped meet your goals professionally?

My ultimate career goal is to become an independent artist so that I can spend as much time as possible with my son. My fellowship with Pocosin Arts has given me invaluable experience in event and program planning, website management, coordination, public speaking and effective communication. It’s also given me extremely rewarding interactions with the local community; being able to expose the residents of Tyrrell County to the opportunities that Pocosin Arts has for them to engage with art and artists that are hard to come by in such a rural area has been such a gratifying experience.

Can you tell us about your own art? What interests you? How has your work at Pocosin Arts influenced you as an artist?

My art is very self-centered. It allows me to explore my own feelings about subjects that fascinate me, like womanhood, race and death. I don’t really have a particular medium that I favor, because I still have so much to learn, but I’m excited to continue trying new mediums and techniques!

Being able to see so many artists’ work and their creative processes has inspired me to create more and to continue to be open to trying new things. It has also helped me get over my fear of failure. ... And being surrounded by so many passionate artists who have made art their career has convinced me that I can do the same.

Ann Workman, Creative Catalyst Fellow

My time at Pocosin Arts has exposed me to so many artists that I never would have had the chance to interact with if it weren’t for Pocosin. Being able to see so many artists’ work and their creative processes has inspired me to create more and to continue to be open to trying new things. It has also helped me get over my fear of failure. Being put in positions where I have to make things happen has helped me prove to myself that I can do what needs to be done to succeed. And being surrounded by so many passionate artists who have made art their career has convinced me that I can do the same.