Durham Momentum 360

In fall 2023, I was accepted into Durham Momentum 360: Making Your Own Opportunities with Public Art, a five-ish week course designed to strengthen artists pursuing public art through mentorship, practical exercises, and real-world application. The goal of the program was to help artists become more competitive for public art opportunities by improving how we presented ourselves, how we approached calls, and how we positioned our work within a larger civic and professional landscape.

Before the course formally began, I attended the optional pre-course meetup at Golden Belt. That early gathering gave us the chance to connect in person before the Zoom sessions started and set the tone for the weeks that followed: a program grounded not only in strategy and professional development, but in conversation, relationship-building, and local creative community.

What drew me to this course was not the need to prepare for my first public art call. I had already been applying to mural and public art opportunities since 2018. What I wanted was to strengthen myself as a mural candidate locally, build a more meaningful network in the Durham area, meet potential collaborators, and learn from the teaching Public Artist for the cohort, David Wilson. I was looking for the kind of opportunity that would push me beyond what I already knew, challenge me to reach higher levels of professionalism, and help me better understand the kinds of calls that require more experience, stronger presentation materials, and a broader view of what is possible.

That mattered to me because I was ready to stretch. During the cohort, I considered opportunities that were larger than anything I had previously imagined myself applying for, including a courthouse annex project in Puerto Rico. Even when I knew something might be beyond my current reach, I wanted the experience of thinking bigger, reaching outside my comfort zone, and learning what more seasoned muralists and people familiar with selection processes might see, advise, or question. That kind of guided stretch was part of the value of the cohort for me.

The course was mentored by David Wilson and Cynthia Deis and included private coaching sessions reviewing each artist’s current CV, bio, website, social media presence, and other support materials. We also worked through assignments focused on professional readiness: artist bios, support materials checklists, pricing and profitability, and the true cost of public art practice, including administrative time, project management, community engagement, and overhead. That part of the experience reinforced something important for me: public art is not only about what you can paint, but also about how clearly and confidently you communicate your vision, your process, your professionalism, and your readiness for the scale of work you hope to do.

One of the things I appreciated most was that the cohort examined actual opportunities, not abstract examples. We reviewed live calls, tracked deadlines, discussed fit, and thought through how to respond strategically. I was eager to imagine how our mock applications might grow into future opportunities.

The cohort also gave us insight into Durham’s broader public art ecosystem. Through guest sessions and shared resources, we learned more about the City of Durham’s Cultural & Public Art Program, its public art processes, its advisory structure, and the pre-qualified artist registry. That part of the course was especially relevant to me because I had already been working for years to find my footing within Durham’s public art ecosystem, including applying to the Durham Pre-Qualified Artist Registry. The cohort gave me a clearer understanding of how the City’s public art infrastructure worked and helped me better recognize how artists can grow their visibility, connections, and opportunities within a local civic arts landscape. For me, that made the experience feel even more timely and valuable.

A meaningful outcome of this course was the way I chose to act on a lesson. As part of the process, I found and identified a mural I liked locally, learned who the muralist was, then researched other murals created by that muralist. Rather than stopping there, I reached out directly to North Carolina muralist Max Dowdle and asked if I could volunteer on one of his murals in exchange for first-hand knowledge from his lived mural practice. He said yes, and that decision led me to assist on his mural "Home of the Airborne" in Spring Lake, North Carolina. In that way, the course became more than a class. It became proof that sometimes the opportunity is not simply found — sometimes it is initiated.

What I value most about Making Your Own Opportunities with Public Art is that it reinforced initiative as part of the muralist’s practice. It reminded me that growth in public art is not only about waiting to be selected. It is also about preparation, outreach, presentation, relationship-building, persistence, and the willingness to make opportunities. 

Title: Durham Momentum 360:
Making Your Own Opportunities with Public Art
Site/City: Durham, NC
Dates: pre-course meetup September 15, 2023 held at Golden Belt.
Cohort: September 23, 2026 - October 26, 2023