The Arts Council Of Wilmington/NHC

Joy of Gel Printing™: Mark Making and Image Transfer
2026-06-13 10:00 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center, 120 South 2nd Street, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
Class Description:
Discover the magic of gel printing—a playful, painterly form of printmaking that uses a gel plate instead of a press. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to transfer images from magazine pages and laser prints, and create captivating marks with feathers, credit cards, and other everyday objects, layering transparent and opaque paints to build depth, movement, and surprise. Your prints can be transformed into greeting cards, collages, art journal pages, and mixed media works filled with personality and story.
What You’ll Learn:
• How to use a gel plate, brayer, and essential printmaking tools
• Positive and negative shape concepts
• Layering transparent and opaque paints for rich, dimensional effects
• Mark-making techniques with common household items
• Image transfer from magazine pages and laser prints
• How to create greeting cards from your finished prints
You’ll have generous studio time to experiment, explore, and create a beautiful stack of one-of-a-kind prints. This process is freeing, intuitive, and a little addictive—come ready to play and let curiosity lead the way.
Instructor: Mary Martin, Collage & Mixed Media Artist
Location: Community Arts Center 120 S. 2nd Street Wilmington, NC
Date: Saturday June 13, 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 2:30 pm
Class Fee: $ 100. Includes 4 hours of instruction/studio time and most materials: a variety of papers, use of instructor’s gel plates, brayers, texture tools, and paints. Bring your own magazines to use for image transfer.
Suggested magazines that transfer well: Elle, Vogue, Smithsonian, Women’s Health, Car and Driver, Harper’s Bazaar, Better Homes and Gardens, Real Simple, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Wilmington Magazine, Free travel magazines and booklets (often found at airports, hotels, ferries, etc.)
Register: Use the QR code above or register at https://square.link/u/RS4hz4YM
Questions: Call Mary Martin at 910.218.2814

Bluegrass in the Grove Fest
2026-06-13 11:00 - 20:00 | poplar grove, 10200 Highway 17, Wilmington, NC, 28411-6772, United States
On Saturday, June 13th, Bluegrass in the Grove Fest will take over the grounds of Poplar Grove from 11am to 8pm of live bluegrass, folk music, and traditional dance. Hosted by Dear MariBella & the Pigkickers and sponsored by Economy Exterminators, Farmer’s Supply and Token Picks, the event will bring a dynamic lineup of local and out of town bands: including Dear MariBella & the Pigkickers, Carolina Connection, Sail Away Ladies, Screamin Bridge, Folkstone Stringband, Massive Grass, Pickety Split, and Travis Watts & the Mountain Blessings, Carson Peters and Iron Mountain, and Mason Via.
There will also be traditional dance performances and interactive workshops by Cape Fear Contra Dancers and Cripple Creek Dance Studio. The Jam-Zebo will house instrumental workshops and jams hosted by Earl Jones Music School.
It’s more than just a music festival—Bluegrass in the Grove is a celebration of heritage, family, and the timeless connection between music and place with a mission to keep the spirit of North Carolina folk music alive.

Artist's Reception: Prints by The Dandelion Fox
2026-06-13 16:00 - 18:00 | Home Plate Provisions, 910 Castle St, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
Artist’s Reception for our current exhibition by The Dandelion Fox, aka local artist Carly Gee.
Carly Gee presses flowers from her own garden as well as NC wildflowers, from which she constructs elaborate and unique original works of art. Each of these prints reflects an extraordinary amount of time and care, in addition to being simply beautiful.
Home Plate is proud to feature talented artists whose work embodies the notion of “home.” Each framed print is available for sale, with all proceeds going directly to the artist.
For more information, visit us on IG @homeplateprovisions and @thedandelionfoxart

Women+ Through History Sketch Comedy Show (Ages 16+)
2026-06-13 18:30 - 21:00 | Waterline Brewing, 721 Surry Street, Wilmington, 28401
Ladyfolk Productions is hosting a Women+ Through History Sketch Show, written and performed by some of the funniest comics in Wilmington, NC. On top of the amazing show, we’ll also be doing a 50-50 raffle! That means money for you, and for us! And if that wasn’t enough, every draft poured is another dollar towards our fundraiser for our play “Hysteria!”

Artist Reception – “Perspectives” Featuring Joanne Geisel
2026-06-14 14:00 - 17:00 | 970 Inspiration Drive, Wilmington, NC 28405, 970 Inspiration Drive, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
Join us in the gallery on Sunday, June 14th, 2-5pm for our Artist Reception featuring all new works by Gallery Artist Joanne Geisel! Enjoy special refreshments, meet our artists, and enjoy live music by guitarist Miles Moore! This exhibit will run through July 27th, alongside a new selection of featured works by our 30+ Gallery Artists.
Painter & instructor Joanne Geisel is exploring brand new dimensions to her designs! Joanne uses oil paints to capture our Carolina coastlines, working from her photos or life to authentically render each scene. Now, alongside her impressionist landscapes, view expressive scenes from Joanne’s imagination, using abstract colors and sweeping curves to visualize natural motions. Says Joanne:
The joy of creating is to go deep within and find new ideas and emotions. What was once the reality of a beautiful landscape, for example, could become something else. It is a change of perspective that can defy logic. My goal is always to create an oil painting that I consider beautiful and shows my deep connection to nature, whether it is a landscape or an abstracted version of one.

UNCW’s CAB Art Gallery Presents: “Sarah Peoples: Through the Oyster Speculum”
2026-06-22 - 2026-09-09 | CAB ART Gallery, 5270 Randall Dr, Wilmington, NC, 28403, United States
“Through the Oyster Speculum” is an exhibition of artworks by Philadelphia based
artist, Sarah Peoples, opening in the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Cultural
Arts Building (CAB) Art Gallery on Monday, June 22, 2026.
The exhibition will run through Wednesday, September 9, 2026. A public reception will
be held on Thursday, August 27, 2026 from 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Summer gallery hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. and closed on Friday, beginning May 22 – August 10, 2026.
Regular gallery hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
with extended hours on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The CAB Art Gallery is located on UNCW’s campus on the ground floor of the Cultural
Arts Building, near the building’s main entrance. Visitors can access the gallery from
South College Road or Racine Drive, and parking is available in front of the box office
entrance to the building.
For more information visit https://uncw.edu/seahawk-life/arts/venues/cultural-artsbuilding/
and https://linktr.ee/cabartgallery
Sarah Peoples: Through the Oyster Speculum
“Such a predetermination to eat this big universe as her oyster or her egg, and to be
absolute empress of all height and glory in it that her heart could conceive, I have not
before seen in any human soul,” Thomas Carlyle on American Transcendentalist
Margaret Fuller’s hunger for experience.
In a multimedia exhibition of sculptural installation, light, and sound, Sarah Peoples:
Through the Oyster Speculum reveals the stories, legends, myths, and expressions
deployed as shorthand to make sense of American identity and culture. At the
exhibition’s center, a large diorama recreates the grand American wilderness as a
theatrical tableau. This immersive environment invites close inspection, revealing
instability and distortion beneath familiar narratives. Using humor and wit, Peoples
demonstrates how the very ideas meant to define a place can simultaneously obscure
other truths, creating parallel realities or mirror worlds that coexist rather than resolving
into singular meaning.
The world, and specifically American ideals, are Sarah Peoples’ oyster, and she cracks
them open through a multivalent speculum. Derived from the Latin specere, “to look,” a
speculum refers to three distinct items: a mirror, the iridescent beauty mark on a bird’s
wing, and a medical tool for inspection. In these capacities, a speculum reflects, signals,
and reveals. The installation of artworks encapsulates all meanings of the word. By
foregrounding these disparate functions, the exhibition spotlights the unstable ground
on which perception rests. To look through the oyster speculum is to see through the
lenses of culture, history, and desire.

CAM at the Movies - "Legacy"
2026-06-26 19:30 - 21:30 | Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street, Wilmington, 28401
Legacy is a short film chronicling the oral histories of the descendants of the United States Colored Troops by filmmaker Adam Alphin, produced by Daniel Jones and Heather Wilson of Cameron Art Museum. Legacy braids the narratives of several USCT soldiers: Ceasar Evans, a 19-year-old who escaped slavery to join the USCT and then resettled in the Cape Fear Region; Joseph Cherry and Jesse Smallwood, who after their service helped to build community in Indian Woods, outside of New Bern; Rev. William Hammond Hunter of the 4th USCT, whose service to the community of faith in Wilmington led to the founding of St. Stephen AME Church; and Charles H. Whitney of the 37th USCT, a white abolitionist from Massachusetts. Legacy captures the resilience of these men, the strength of the communities they built, and the impact that they have had on our region, our state, and our country.
This screening is part of the CAM at the Movies series, is a co-partnership screening with the Cameron Art Museum. A post-screening discussion will feature Alphin and Jones, offering insight into the film’s research and its connection to CAM’s ongoing interpretive work.

Benny Hill Concert
2026-06-28 17:00 - 19:00 | Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center, 120 South 2nd Street, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
Get your Tickets Here!
June 28, 2026
Doors open at 4:30 pm | Showtime: 5:00 pm
Tickets $10
Proceeds Benefit the WWWIIHFHC and the HBHUSO/CAC
Benny Hill has a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington and a Masters of Music from Northern Illinois University. Benny currently resides in Wilmington, N.C. and is an adjunct professor at Cape Fear Community College. For the past twenty years, Benny has performed in a diverse set of musical groups and engagements, ranging from orchestra pits to cruise ships to featured artist and soloist at numerous venues across the country and abroad.

4th of July Open House
2026-07-04 13:00 - 17:00 | Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center, 120 South 2nd Street, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
1pm – 1940’s Sing-A-Long with Kathy Enlow
2pm – Swing Dancing with Cape Fear Swing Dance Society
Screening of our Documentary Film
All Day – Home Away From Home – The USO at 2nd and Orange
Free Coffee & Doughnuts
5 cent soda
Visit the lobby museum filled with WWII exhibits

Jazz at the Mansion: Crescent Moon
2026-07-08 18:30 - 20:00 | The Bellamy Mansion Museum, 503 Market Street, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
Since 2010, the Bellamy Mansion Museum and Cape Fear Jazz Society have partnered to highlight locally, regionally, and nationally acclaimed jazz performers. On the second Wednesday of each month May through September, join us for a concert on the lawn of the Bellamy at 6:30 pm. Performers range from solo songstresses to big bands with a little bit of something for every jazz lover.
Proceeds from ticket sales support the musicians, the Cape Fear Jazz Society, and the Bellamy Mansion Museum.
Wednesday, May 13, 2026: Darryl Murrill
Wednesday, June 10, 2026: El Jaye Johnson Quartet
Wednesday, July 8, 2026: Crescent Moon
Wednesday, August 12, 2026: FROG Project
Wednesday, September 9, 2026: Burning Bridges
*Wednesday, October 8, 2025: Rain date if needed
​*For rain-out rescheduling. October show is at 5:30 pm w/ gates opening at 5 pm.
​
Shows are outdoors therefore weather permitting. In case of inclement weather, the show will be cancelled or rescheduled by 3 pm the day of. That information can be found here or on our social media channels. There are no pre-sales of tickets for this reason. Tickets can be purchased at the gate the day-of beginning at 6 pm.
For information, please contact Jen Fenninger at jfenninger@bellamymansion.org or by calling (910)-251-3700 x3

Carrie: The Musical
2026-07-09 19:30 - 2026-07-12 22:30 | The Red Box at Thalian Hall, 310 chestnut street, wilimington, NC, 28401, United States
The Red Box at Thalian Hall
July 9-12 · 2026
THU-SAT 7:30 PM · SUN 2:00 PM
Carrie White is a teenage outcast who longs to fit in. At school, she’s bullied by the popular crowd and invisible to everyone else. At home, she’s dominated by a loving but cruelly controlling mother. What none of them know is that Carrie has just discovered she has a special power — and if pushed too far, she’s not afraid to use it.
Carrie is a PTPT Apprentice Theatre production, performed at Historic Thalian Hall. PTPT is a professional theatrical training center rooted in the Wilmington community. This production was made possible through the vision of our Apprentice Creative Team and the guidance of their mentors. From directing and choreography to stage management and design, each element is led by an Apprentice developing their leadership in the arts to pursue future professional opportunities. To learn more about PTPT Apprentice Theatre, visit ptptstudio.com/apprentice-theatre.

Cinematique presents "Psycho"
2026-07-10 16:00 - 21:30 | Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street, Wilmington, 28401
The Cinematique summer lineup begins July 10 with two screenings of Psycho, the genre-defining thriller that transformed horror filmmaking. Screenings will be followed by a discussion led by Juan Carlos Kase, Associate Professor and Chair of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Stay after the matinee or show up early for the evening screening to enjoy the Cinematique Social Hour from 6pm-7:15pm in the Jengo’s Bar (we’ll provide the snacks!)
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.

"The Travel Companion" screening at Jengo's Playhouse
2026-07-17 19:30 - 21:30 | Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street, Wilmington, 28401
Simon, a struggling documentary filmmaker, enjoys free flights courtesy of his best friend and roommate, Bruce, who works for an airline. However, when Beatrice, a more successful filmmaker, enters the picture and starts dating Bruce, Simon risks flying too close to the sun.

Past Meets Pavement Walking Tours: Wilmington and the American Civil War
2026-07-18 09:00 - 10:30 | The Bellamy Mansion Museum, 503 Market Street, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
Join us for a 90-minute walking tour in historic downtown Wilmington. The tour begins and ends at the Bellamy Mansion Museum. This tour will focus on the people and places of antebellum Wilmington while exploring the port city’s role in the American Civil War.
The tour is appropriate for all ages, but please note this may not be suitable for anyone with limited mobility. The tour is rain or shine, within reason, and attendees will be notified via email if the tour is cancelled due to serious weather.
There are NO WALK-UPS allowed, and registration is required. If you have questions, please email info@bellamymansion.org before registering.

Open Studio Event with Dick Roberts
2026-07-24 - 2026-07-26 | ACME Art Studios, 711 N 5th Ave, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
Art in Bloom Gallery is pleased to host an Open Studio Event with Dick Roberts this summer at ACME Art Studios. Join us during the final weekend in July for a very special show and sale of the work from Dick’s studio.
Open Studio Hours are:
Friday-Sunday, July 24-26
Friday, 6-9pm – Fourth Friday Gallery Night
Saturday, 10am-6pm – Brooklyn Arts Social District Saturdays
Sunday, 10am-5pm
ACME Art Studios is located 711 N. 5th Avenue in downtown Wilmington, NC.
Dick Roberts, originally from Durham, NC, has made Wilmington his home since 1982. His studio has been in AMCE Art Studios since 1991, an artist collective located in downtown Wilmington, of which he is a co-founder. He is also a co-founder of the No Boundaries International Art Colony, established in 1997, which happens yearly in Bald Head Island.
“The paintings are about the act of painting. Although individually the paintings possess different intensities, opposing levels of complexity and abstraction, and perhaps a vague adherence to a narrative, the core of the process of painting remains consistent. The paintings are a reflection of the process of painting them. Every process is unique.
The magic of painting can never be totally explained. I find joy in discovering the emerging world of a new painting. Although harmony of the mind and the heart is important, the metabolic process of converting color, form and line into the forces that drive the painting is absolutely necessary.”

"Sorry to Bother You" screening at Jengo's Playhouse
2026-07-30 16:00 - 21:00 | Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street, Wilmington, 28401
Celebrate Art House Theater Day at Jengo’s Playhouse with a special screening of Sorry to Bother You on Thursday, July 30 at 4pm and 7:30pm.
Art House Theater Day is an annual celebration uniting independent cinemas and movie lovers around the world in support of the vibrant art house film community. This year’s Art House Theater Day Ambassador is Boots Riley, making this wildly original and sharply satirical debut feature the perfect centerpiece for the occasion.
Starring LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, and more, the genre-bending sci-fi comedy follows a young Black telemarketer who discovers the key to professional success by using his “white voice.” But as he rockets up the corporate ladder, he’s pulled into a bizarre conspiracy that forces him to decide between personal ambition and solidarity with his activist friends fighting to unionize.

Jazz at the Mansion: FROG Project
2026-08-12 18:30 - 20:00 | The Bellamy Mansion Museum, 503 Market Street, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States

Past Meets Pavement Walking Tours: "Wilmington: Lost But Not Forgotten"
2026-08-15 09:00 - 10:30 | The Bellamy Mansion Museum, 503 Market Street, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
Join us for a 90-minute walking tour in historic downtown Wilmington. The tour begins and ends at the Bellamy Mansion Museum. This tour is based on Beverly Tetterton’s book “Wilmington: Lost But Not Forgotten” and will explore homes, businesses, and other buildings that have been lost to time.
The tour is appropriate for all ages, but please note this may not be suitable for anyone with limited mobility. The tour is rain or shine, within reason, and attendees will be notified via email if the tour is cancelled due to serious weather.
There are NO WALK-UPS allowed, and registration is required. If you have questions, please email info@bellamymansion.org before registering.

An Evening with the Port City Ukuholics
2026-08-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street, Wilmington, 28401
Join us for another special night of live music with the Port City Ukuholics in support of the Cucalorus Film Foundation! Tickets are $20, with all proceeds benefiting the Cucalorus Film Foundation that uplift emerging and innovative artists through festivals, residencies, community cinema, professional development and youth education.
The Port City Ukuholic Band was founded by Music Director Lynn O’Connell when she followed a calling to spread the joy of ukulele music in the Wilmington area. Combining multiple ukuleles with a rhythm section (bass and percussion), authentic HULA and incredible vocal harmonies the group does an outstanding job at making people smile, dance, laugh and enjoy life.

Cinematique presents "The Thin Blue Line"
2026-08-21 16:00 - 21:30 | Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street, Wilmington, 28401
Cinematique at Jengo’s brings you The Thin Blue Line, an influential documentary known for its innovative storytelling techniques and lasting impact on the genre. The screenings will include an introduction and discussion led by Mariana Johnson, a documentary history professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Stay after the matinee (4pm) or show up early for the evening screening (7:30pm) to enjoy the Cinematique Social Hour from 6pm-7:15pm in the Jengo’s Bar (we’ll provide the snacks!)
This unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer’s murder in Dallas.

CAM at the Movies- "Flesh for Frankenstein"
2026-08-28 20:30 - 22:30 | Jengo’s Playhouse, 815 Princess Street, Wilmington, 28401
Within the decadent walls of the Frankenstein mansion, the Baron and his depraved assistant Otto have discovered the means of creating new life. As the Baron’s laboratory begins to fill up with stitched body parts, the Baroness dallies with the randy new manservant and soon the decadent, permissive household is consumed by an outrageous, bizarre and hilarious combination of death and dismemberment.
Flesh for Frankenstein was produced by Andy Warhol. This cult classic will be paired with a talk by CAM Associate Curator Ben Billingsley, exploring the film’s relationship to Andy Warhol: Silver Clouds, on view June 18 to September 27 at CAM. The program offers a deeper look at Warhol’s expansive practice and his influence across media, from visual art to film.

Jazz at the Mansion: Burning Bridges
2026-09-09 18:30 - 20:00 | The Bellamy Mansion Museum, 503 Market Street, Wilmington, NC, 28401, United States
