
Hayti's Artist MEmberShip
Welcome, CREATIVES.
For over a century, this building has been a gathering place for Durham. The Hayti Heritage Center has called it home since 1975, and for fifty years it has been where this community comes to celebrate, create, and connect. Now, we're deepening that commitment to the artists who are at the heart of everything we do.
This spring, Hayti is opening its doors in two new ways, and if you consider yourself a creator, we want you to be among the first to know.
THE HAYTI ARTIST MEMBERSHIP
The Hayti Artist Membership is a formal program giving Durham artists free and subsidized access to Hayti's spaces, a community of fellow creatives, and a real stake in a 50-year-old institution that was built for people like you.
Members get:
- Free access to our classrooms and dance room for personal creative practice
- Discounted rates in the Sanctuary and Community Room
- Priority booking windows before spaces open to the general public
- A listing on the Hayti website: your photo, contact info, and portfolio link
- An annual feature in Hayti's newsletter or social media
- Priority access to apply for Hayti-hosted showcases and exhibitions
- Discounted tickets to Hayti public events
- Community gatherings: 90 minutes of works-in-progress sharing, open conversation, and supporting one another
In return, we ask for one public contribution per year (a workshop, a performance, an open studio) and attendance at three of four quarterly gatherings.
MEMBERSHIP TIERS
Emerging Artist: $10/month | $100/year
For students, early-career artists, and artists with limited income.
Working Artist: $20/month | $200/year
For active professional artists and arts practitioners.
Sustaining Artist: $35/month | $350/year
For established artists and arts educators who want to contribute more.
Hardship waivers are available at the Emerging tier. No documentation required — a simple statement of need in your application is all it takes. A waived membership is the same membership.
HOW IT'S FUNDED
The second program we're launching is a tiered rental program that opens Hayti's historic Sanctuary and Community Room to corporations, nonprofits, and community organizations. Revenue from those corporate bookings flows directly into funding free and subsidized space for artist members. Every event held in this building by a corporate partner is, in a very direct sense, an investment in you.
Corporate bookings do more than keep the lights on. They ensure artists always have a key.
JOIN US
Applications are open now. The program launches this spring, with the full membership year beginning in August. Spots in the first cohort are limited, and we'd love for you to be part of it.
This building has been standing since 1891. It has always belonged to this community. Now, more than ever, it belongs to you.
Welcome home.
Apply for membership below.
Questions? Email Hayti's artistic director, mmarshall@hayti.org.

