by Charles WSIR Johnson
August 15- October 30
Rhythm & Blues Gallery
Opening Reception , September 18, 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM

“I try to be music not just play it”…Wsir Johnson An exhibition of art that makes music and music that makes art.

The organic elements: earth, water, fire and air has been a passion for my creativity. Each completed creation is two art forms: visual and resonance. Building unique earthen hands drums, Bamboo Fula flutes and ceram-a-Saxophones (out of earth) is a lifestyle passion. I design, create and play, what I conceive, whether around forests, on stage or recording for film, working with nature’s elements is more than a notion; it is a testament in world harmony and peace. Blending African Diaspora Interdisciplinary design with a modern presence, is my fine ART……

Each creation is hand built: one coil, one slab and one thought at a time, using various earthenware base materials. Ceramos hand building gives me the improvised freedom to move in an organic, holistic, unpredictable art expression. Comparable to the most provocative, and innovative improvisational world jazz. Hand building, by means of “earth” and contemporary techniques, gives me a spiritual and cosmological cultural connection, my ancestors practiced many centuries ago on the continent called “Africa”. - Charles WSIR Johnson

August 15 - September 30
Lyda Moore Merrick Gallery

Capture the rhythm, spirit, and personality of the music and performers who give the festival its vitality, as well as the individuals and electrifying atmosphere present at each year’s festival. A mixture of color and black/white photographs taken over the last twenty years. Photographers included in the exhibition are David Webb, Jerry Novick, Damien Prout, Mike Collins, Lorrain Tipaldi, Michael Beck, Jerry Savage, Jenny Warburg, Jean Christian Rostagni, and Paul Liggitt.. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 10 am – 7pm; Saturday, 10 am – 3pm, and Sunday call for schedule. For more information call (919) 683-1709 or www.hayti.org.

New Date, New Location & New Decade of the BLUES!

For more information, visit the Bull Durham Blues Festival Website

Durham, NC- The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. is pleased announce the 21st Annual Bull Durham Blues Festival will be held September 18, 19, & 20, 2008. Not only have the dates change Volunteer Forms from the first weekend in September, there will be a new location for the festival this year- the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP), 409 Blackwell Street, Durham. Yes, this “new decade of the blues” will relocate to the BDAP for this year’s event due to the scheduled renovations of the historic Durham Athletic Park (DAP).

The Thursday night concert will take place at the St. Joseph’s Performance Hall at the Hayti Heritage Center at 7:00 PM, and will feature acoustic blues artists paying tribute to the Carolina and Piedmont blues styles. Friday and Saturday, September 19 & 20 the festival kicks off at 6pm in the DBAP featuring four acts per night. At the Festival there is something for the entire family, a KidsZone with interactive entertainment for youngsters; and a Marketplace where blues lovers can indulge in an eclectic mix of regional and international foods for the soul, arts and crafts by NC artists, and a variety of unique specialty items. The music is sure to make you move, but if you feel a need, lawn chairs and blankets are welcome. Join in the fun on the infield or in the grandstand, rain or shine!! Gates open at 5 PM and show ends at 11PM.

The artists’ line-up for North Carolina’s largest celebration of the blues will be announced in May. The pre-sale is scheduled for June 23-27, with advance tickets going on sale July 1.

Vendor application forms are available now, call 683-1709 ext. 21 or download the application here.

Volunteer forms will be available June 1st, call 683-1709 ext. 33 or download the application here.

This annual festival, produced by St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc., has been successfully presented since 1988. It is nationally recognized as one of the premier Blues festivals in the country and was honored in 2000 with the “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. This three-day event has become North Carolina’s largest celebration of the Blues, recognizing Durham’s rich musical heritage as an important center of Carolina and Piedmont Blues. The festival has attracted as many as 20,000 Blues lovers and has over a 3 million dollar economic impact on the Durham economy annually.

The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. (SJHF) founded in 1975, is an African American cultural and educational institution deeply rooted in the historic Hayti community of Durham, North Carolina. SJHF is dedicated to advancing cultural understanding through diverse programs that examine the experiences of Americans of African descent – locally, nationally and globally. The Foundation is committed to preserving, restoring and developing the Heritage Center, the former St. Joseph AME Church, a National Historic Landmark, as a cultural and economic anchor to the greater Durham community. Funds raised from the event support the programs and operations of the Foundation and Hayti Heritage Center.

For more information call (919) 683-1709 or info@hayti.org.

New Date, New Location & New Decade of the BLUES!

For more information, visit the Bull Durham Blues Festival Website

Durham, NC- The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. is pleased announce the 21st Annual Bull Durham Blues Festival will be held September 18, 19, & 20, 2008. Not only have the dates change Volunteer Forms from the first weekend in September, there will be a new location for the festival this year- the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP), 409 Blackwell Street, Durham. Yes, this “new decade of the blues” will relocate to the BDAP for this year’s event due to the scheduled renovations of the historic Durham Athletic Park (DAP).

The Thursday night concert will take place at the St. Joseph’s Performance Hall at the Hayti Heritage Center at 7:00 PM, and will feature acoustic blues artists paying tribute to the Carolina and Piedmont blues styles. Friday and Saturday, September 19 & 20 the festival kicks off at 6pm in the DBAP featuring four acts per night. At the Festival there is something for the entire family, a KidsZone with interactive entertainment for youngsters; and a Marketplace where blues lovers can indulge in an eclectic mix of regional and international foods for the soul, arts and crafts by NC artists, and a variety of unique specialty items. The music is sure to make you move, but if you feel a need, lawn chairs and blankets are welcome. Join in the fun on the infield or in the grandstand, rain or shine!! Gates open at 5 PM and show ends at 11PM.

The artists’ line-up for North Carolina’s largest celebration of the blues will be announced in May. The pre-sale is scheduled for June 23-27, with advance tickets going on sale July 1.

Vendor application forms are available now, call 683-1709 ext. 21 or download the application here.

Volunteer forms will be available June 1st, call 683-1709 ext. 33 or download the application here.

This annual festival, produced by St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc., has been successfully presented since 1988. It is nationally recognized as one of the premier Blues festivals in the country and was honored in 2000 with the “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. This three-day event has become North Carolina’s largest celebration of the Blues, recognizing Durham’s rich musical heritage as an important center of Carolina and Piedmont Blues. The festival has attracted as many as 20,000 Blues lovers and has over a 3 million dollar economic impact on the Durham economy annually.

The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. (SJHF) founded in 1975, is an African American cultural and educational institution deeply rooted in the historic Hayti community of Durham, North Carolina. SJHF is dedicated to advancing cultural understanding through diverse programs that examine the experiences of Americans of African descent – locally, nationally and globally. The Foundation is committed to preserving, restoring and developing the Heritage Center, the former St. Joseph AME Church, a National Historic Landmark, as a cultural and economic anchor to the greater Durham community. Funds raised from the event support the programs and operations of the Foundation and Hayti Heritage Center.

For more information call (919) 683-1709 or info@hayti.org.

New Date, New Location & New Decade of the BLUES!

For more information, visit the Bull Durham Blues Festival Website

Durham, NC- The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. is pleased announce the 21st Annual Bull Durham Blues Festival will be held September 18, 19, & 20, 2008. Not only have the dates change Volunteer Forms from the first weekend in September, there will be a new location for the festival this year- the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP), 409 Blackwell Street, Durham. Yes, this “new decade of the blues” will relocate to the BDAP for this year’s event due to the scheduled renovations of the historic Durham Athletic Park (DAP).

The Thursday night concert will take place at the St. Joseph’s Performance Hall at the Hayti Heritage Center at 7:00 PM, and will feature acoustic blues artists paying tribute to the Carolina and Piedmont blues styles. Friday and Saturday, September 19 & 20 the festival kicks off at 6pm in the DBAP featuring four acts per night. At the Festival there is something for the entire family, a KidsZone with interactive entertainment for youngsters; and a Marketplace where blues lovers can indulge in an eclectic mix of regional and international foods for the soul, arts and crafts by NC artists, and a variety of unique specialty items. The music is sure to make you move, but if you feel a need, lawn chairs and blankets are welcome. Join in the fun on the infield or in the grandstand, rain or shine!! Gates open at 5 PM and show ends at 11PM.

The artists’ line-up for North Carolina’s largest celebration of the blues will be announced in May. The pre-sale is scheduled for June 23-27, with advance tickets going on sale July 1.

Vendor application forms are available now, call 683-1709 ext. 21 or download the application here.

Volunteer forms will be available June 1st, call 683-1709 ext. 33 or download the application here.

This annual festival, produced by St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc., has been successfully presented since 1988. It is nationally recognized as one of the premier Blues festivals in the country and was honored in 2000 with the “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. This three-day event has become North Carolina’s largest celebration of the Blues, recognizing Durham’s rich musical heritage as an important center of Carolina and Piedmont Blues. The festival has attracted as many as 20,000 Blues lovers and has over a 3 million dollar economic impact on the Durham economy annually.

The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. (SJHF) founded in 1975, is an African American cultural and educational institution deeply rooted in the historic Hayti community of Durham, North Carolina. SJHF is dedicated to advancing cultural understanding through diverse programs that examine the experiences of Americans of African descent – locally, nationally and globally. The Foundation is committed to preserving, restoring and developing the Heritage Center, the former St. Joseph AME Church, a National Historic Landmark, as a cultural and economic anchor to the greater Durham community. Funds raised from the event support the programs and operations of the Foundation and Hayti Heritage Center.

For more information call (919) 683-1709 or info@hayti.org.