Chatham Arts Council

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October 24, 2025

History Steps on Stage: When One Man Becomes Fifteen

Black actor in suspenders, white shirt, and brown paints. Onstage, he gestures while speaking in character.

Our Northwood and Seaforth tenth-graders saw a performance–and they also what happens when storytelling meets history. Because in Mike Wiley’s hands, history doesn’t feel far away at all. It’s standing right there, center stage in front of you.

By Amanda Moran | Filed Under: Artists-in-Schools, Arts for Resilient Kids, Arts in Education, Slideshow Featured | Tagged With: acting, actor, AIS, artists-in-schools, Arts education, Dar He, Emmett Till, Mike Wiley, northwood, play, playwright, school performance, Seaforth, tenth grade, theatre, US History

June 23, 2025

Meet This Artist: Makani McKenzie – Actor, Singer, Entrepreneur

The Chatham Arts Council is investing in artists through our Meet This Artist series, introducing you to 12 Chatham County artists each year in a big way. The fine folks at Hobbs Architects in downtown Pittsboro are powering our Meet This Artist series this year. Architecture is art, and the Hobbs crew values art in our community. So, take… Read More →

By Heather O'Shaughnessy | Filed Under: Arts + Equity Grants, Meet this Artist, Slideshow Featured | Tagged With: actor, anakeesta, carowinds, dollywood, makani mckenzie, Musical Theater, princess parties, singer, special effects, wig stylist

January 10, 2025

Mike Wiley Brings Theatre and Writing to Siler City and Virginia Cross

Mike Wiley residency

Siler City Elementary (SCE) and Virginia Cross Elementary (VCE) students and teachers enjoyed actor and playwright Mike Wiley’s solo performance of “One Noble Journey” this past November. In addition to the performance, Mr. Wiley hosted teacher and student workshops at both schools during his week-long artist residency in Chatham. An Audience-Fueled Performance: “One Noble Journey”… Read More →

By Jessica Rigsbee | Filed Under: Artists-in-Schools, Arts for Resilient Kids, Arts in Education, Slideshow Featured | Tagged With: acting, actor, AIS, art residency, artists-in-schools, Arts education, dance residency, fifth grade, Howard Craft, Mike Wiley, one noble journey, play, playwright, school performance, Siler City Elementary, theatre, Virginia Cross, virginia cross elementary, Writing, writing residency

January 5, 2024

Mike Wiley’s Masterful Residency: Teaching through Theatre at Bennett and Bonlee School

Photo trio from L to R: An actor in historical costume stands with boy in floppy hat; Girl stands next to same actor, both with heads raised to the sky; students laughing in class.

“This was absolutely great!” Board of Education members Gary Leonard and David Hamm were enthusiastic after sitting with Bennett School students and teachers to watch actor and playwright Mike Wiley’s solo performance of “One Noble Journey.” The play’s narrative brought to life the remarkable journey of Henry “Box” Brown, a courageous slave who shipped himself… Read More →

By Jessica Rigsbee | Filed Under: Artists-in-Schools, Arts for Resilient Kids, Arts in Education, Slideshow Featured | Tagged With: acting, actor, AIS, art residency, artists-in-schools, Arts education, dance residency, fifth grade, Howard Craft, Mike Wiley, one noble journey, play, playwright, school performance, seventh grade, theatre, Writing, writing residency

May 17, 2023

Mike Wiley Brings the Story of Henry “Box” Brown to Chatham Grove and JS Waters

Photo triptych of Howard Craft, female student performing with Mike Wiley, and boy wearing glasses seated at desk, smiling and waving at camera

Mike Wiley is a story teller, and he had a thrilling and important one for the kids at Chatham Grove and JS Waters. It was the story of Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who shipped himself to freedom in a wooden crate. Mike’s one-man play, One Noble Journey, was a smashing success with students on the… Read More →

By Andrea Akin | Filed Under: Artists-in-Schools, Arts for Resilient Kids, Arts in Education, Slideshow Featured | Tagged With: actor, AIS, artists-in-schools, Arts for Resilient Kids, Howard Craft, Mike Wiley, playwright, poet, theatre, Writing, writing process, Writing teacher

April 4, 2022

Meet These Artists: Actors Huck Boone and Kinsey McCubbin

The Chatham Arts Council is investing in artists through our Meet This Artist series, introducing you to 12 Chatham County artists each year in a big way. The fine folks at Hobbs Architects in downtown Pittsboro are powering our Meet This Artist series this year. Architecture is art, and the Hobbs crew values art in… Read More →

By Rachel Flanagan | Filed Under: Artist Close-Up, ClydeFEST, County Happenings, Meet this Artist, Slideshow Featured | Tagged With: acting, actor, Chatham County, clydeFEST, Meet This Artist, pittsboro youth theater

April 17, 2018

Meet This Artist: Mike Wiley—The Busiest Man in Show Business

This month’s “Meet This Artist” is written by guest blogger Elisabeth Lewis Corley.  Multiple hyphenate Mike Wiley, an actor-playwright- director-arts educator, came to Pittsboro because he and his wife, Jodi Neely Wiley, were living in Apex and expecting a second child when their first was almost four and they needed more room. And Jodi Neely… Read More →

By Lesley Landis | Filed Under: Artist Close-Up, Meet this Artist, Slideshow Featured | Tagged With: actor, Arts education, books, Chatham County, Community, memoir, Music, non-fiction, performance, Pittsboro, theater

March 28, 2017

Meet This Artist: Derrick Ivey is master-of-many theater magician

 This month’s Meet This Artist is by guest blogger Elisabeth Lewis Corley. Native North Carolinian Derrick Ivey was a Radio, Television and Motion Picture major at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, studying journalism and screenwriting. He moved to Atlanta briefly then returned to Chapel Hill and settled in Chatham County where he… Read More →

By Bett Wilson Foley | Filed Under: Meet this Artist, Slideshow Featured | Tagged With: acting, actor, directing, drama, Man Bites Dog, plays, playwright, theater

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