The Commons

The Commons: Southern Futures invited participants to step into and move within currents of grief, joy, and memory through a procession of performances, creative and skills-based workshops, and celebrations occurring across sites of historical and cultural relevance throughout the town of Chapel Hill.

About The Commons

In residency April-May 2024

The Commons: Southern Futures was envisioned as a container to hold community, history, celebration, grief, and memory. Artist-curators Sylvester Allen Jr., Johnny Lee Chapman III, Cortland Gilliam, Anthony ‘Otto’ Nelson Jr. Jasmine Powell, and CJ Suitt came together under the guidance of Culture Mill artists Murielle Elizéon and Tommy Noonan to thoughtfully craft a weekend of programming that would provide the public with moments for introspection, hands-on learning, and connection. The collective presented works of theatre, dance, and spoken-word in company with community workshops, film screenings, and a block party held at the neighboring Hargraves Community Center in the heart of Chapel Hill’s historic Northside neighborhood.

The seeds of The Commons: Southern Futures were planted with Eclipse (2022) and nurtured through the course ‘Social Geography’ (2023), as this group of artists deepened their connection to and understanding of our campus and Chapel Hill. The interwoven histories of race and place in Chapel Hill came into sharper focus with each passing project, leading The Commons: Southern Futures artists toward a creative exploration of Black identity in all its complexities. The curatorial group spent two weeks in-residence with Carolina Performing Arts, working closely with production staff to bring their vision to life in Current ArtSpace.

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Meet the Curators

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The Curatorial Statement

The Commons: Southern Futures is the third Commons to be presented by Carolina Performing Arts. It thus exists upon a continuum of Commons, building upon what has come before. This year's Commons also takes departures from past Commons curatorially and programmatically. Cortland Gilliam explains the intent behind The Commons: Southern Futures in the programs curatorial statement.

Read the Curatorial Statement
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The Commons Crit

The Commons Crit was an experiment in a more fluid and invested kind of arts journalism for a new era. Three scholar-poets were embedded into the Commons: Southern Futures itself and encouraged to develop their responses organically, in whatever forms they took. The results were artistic and personal, serving as a notable break from conventional forms of arts writing.

Read the writings of Nina Oteria and Jameela F. Dallis

Moments from the Commons

  • Self Un/En Titled. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.
  • The First and Final Meeting of Jim, Joe and Wyatt. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.
  • Self Un/En Titled. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.
  • After Lives, Cortland Gilliam vignette. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.
  • After Lives, CJ Suitt vignette. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.
  • Self Un/En Titled. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.
  • After Lives, Johnny Lee Chapman III vignette. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.
  • Self Un/En Titled. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.
  • Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media
  • The First and Final Meeting of Jim, Joe and Wyatt. Photo by Roderico Y. Díaz / Iximché Media.

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