Mission
Our mission is to foster a creative ecosystem based in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, through the cross-pollination of artist residencies, educational outreach and groundbreaking immersive artworks from local, national and international artists.
Vision
We believe that culture is an investment in civil society, and such an investment benefits from the existence of open, dynamic and fluid enclaves fostered by artists and other creative people. We believe that gathering together and sharing knowledge and resources within these enclaves will improve both our artworks and our communities. We believe in the commingling of different ideas, energies and initiatives as a means of sparking innovation and radical possibilities in art and society. We believe in culture as an ongoing creative process, and we seek to support and feed that process through our various programs and initiatives. Culture Mill values a circular exchange of resources, ideas, energy and social and creative capital within a community, rather than linear transactions. As it draws multiple energies in and spirals new ones out, Culture Mill is distinctly and necessarily grounded in a place: Saxapahaw, NC.
We’ve been doing this for over 10 years
In celebration of our 10th anniversary in 2024, we launched a campaign that centers 10 of our stories – from our origins and most celebrated works to our commitment to place, community practice, and values to current happenings and visions of the future. Explore that campaign in a series of 10 beautifully crafted videos that tell our layered story.
Projects
Culture Mill develops and produces original works of art or artistic exchanges. These works may be on the stage, site-specific, immersive, or somewhere in-between. Culture Mill's original works may involve any artistic discipline, but are ultimately time-based, crafted experiences that center the body.
Artists
Culture Mill is an artist-driven organization, which means the people who design its programs and direct it are working professional artists. A loose network of local, national and international artists make up the greater Culture Mill community, participating in its programs through any combination of artistic projects, outreach activities or residencies.
We also believe in the right of artists to receive fair compensation for artistic labor. Culture Mill was the fist organization in the southeast to obtain W.A.G.E. certification, and pays fees to artists for all its programs and projects according to W.A.G.E.'s minimum fee scale.
The Culture Mill Lab
The Culture Mill Lab is a space which supports the realization of our programs and projects. It is a rehearsal and performance space for artworks that will take place in Saxapahaw or elsewhere. It is a place for artists to gather in order to exchange practices, ideas and strategies, and for students to take part in Culture Mill’s educational programming. The Lab is also our office space. All of these events together help to build creative community in Saxapahaw, and to provide a space for the support and development of the arts.
Become a Sustainer
After years of award-winning, innovative work, Culture Mill has launched a sustainer campaign. We want to ask your help in our continuing to offer professional quality artworks made in rural North Carolina, creative tools to non-arts sectors through our outreach programs, and the availability of our resources such as the Culture Mill Lab to local groups and individuals through our open space policy.
Because a deep-rooted, long-term connection to our community is a cornerstone of our vision, we now ask you: a member of our community, to become a sustainer of Culture Mill. Your contribution will help to continue all of these important elements of our work. By becoming a sustainer, you can gain access to many aspects of our creative process, and even to special crafted experiences for certain donors. Any amount, even $5 per month, is meaningful to us.
More than anything, you are becoming an investor in a radical vision: a world where independent, local and innovative world-class art is grown in rural North Carolina, serving as a model for the future of locally sustained creative culture.
