pink, yellow, and green 50 ft inflatable tree

SEEK Raleigh | La Ceiba | Martín Wannam | Credit: Danny Peña

SEEK Raleigh

Raleigh Arts


Jump To:

 
About SEEK Raleigh Current Projects A(spora) by Jazsalyn Upcoming Projects low bearing fruit in a field of dreams Past SEEK Projects 2024-2025 Cohort Apply to SEEK Raleigh

About SEEK Raleigh

SEEK Raleigh is an experimental public art program by Raleigh Arts that engages the community through public art in City of Raleigh Parks, greenways, and/or community spaces.

Current Projects

Colorful mural on a cement wall featuring an undulating wave figure

"Asian Joy" Mural by Ina Liu, Isabel Lu, and Sophie Tô.

Asian Joy Mural

Ina Liu, Isabel Lu, and Sophie Tô created the Asian Joy mural on a wall adjacent to Union Station at the end of West Street in downtown Raleigh. This community-driven project celebrates the experiences and joy of Asian Americans in North Carolina. It explores the intersection of Asianness and Southernness, highlighting their impact on the well-being and community of Asian Americans. Learn more

Two young women with pastel summer dresses, flowery shows and curly hair look at artwork and custom bikes in a gallery with white walls.

The Grid Project

 

The Grid Project is a Raleigh-based arts collective comprised of artists Daniel Kelly, Jean Gray Mohs, Pete Sack, and Lamar Whidbee. Over the course of a year, the project will feature exhibitions, engagements, and workshops, utilizing donated indoor and outdoor spaces. Its goal is to cultivate a vibrant, inclusive, and supportive art scene in Raleigh, providing artists with opportunities to experiment and interact with the public and one another.

Learn more.

A young white woman with a shaved head and a big smile stands in a studio with colorful artork.

Taylor Allison

Taylor Allison's SEEK Raleigh project is a soft sculpture inspired by the Carolina Lupine (Thermopsis Villosa), a native herbaceous perennial with upright clumping bulbs. The flower's base was bare in the beginning, but the audience performed the “blooming” by placing small, separate bulbs of their choosing into open slots of the tall base sculpture. The artwork will be on view until the end of April 2025.

Learn more.

A(spora) by Jazsalyn

blue and green artwork on the windows of the Chavis community center

Aspora artwork at Chavis Community Center

Jazsalyn’s A(spora) reinterprets Afro Atlantic history through augmented scends of the Gullah Geechee Corridor- a region of cultural significance to West African descendants, recognized as a National Heritage area, stretching along the coastal plains from North Carolina to Florida. The digital landscape of A(spora) renders microscopic imagery of Indigenous African plant species, such as indigo (indigofera tinctoria) and okra (abelmoschus caillei), to transform the corridor through collage, artificial intelligence, and 3D simulation technologies. Experienced as an interactive digital installation, A(spora) invites viewers to navigate its digital landscape. The artwork in on view on the exterior of Chavis Community Center.

Upcoming Projects

More information about the projects will be posted here when available. Subscribe to our Arts Flash Newsletter to stay up to date about upcoming projects.

low bearing fruit in a field of dreams

Artist Mark Brown

Artist Mark Brown, photo by Jaylan Rhea

Artist Mark Brown's artwork and the materials used in its creation serve as a metaphor for the idiom “hoop dreams,” encapsulating the relentless pursuit of playing basketball at the professional level. The sculptural elements in the installation utilize salvaged and reclaimed materials relevant to the sport, such as rims, pallets, reclaimed wood, basketballs, and steel chains. These materials evoke both the sentiment of the ambitious pursuit of the dream and the barriers that undermine its realization.  The installation will be on view at Green Road park starting from mid-April to late May 2025.

Learn more

Past SEEK Projects

People having a party in front of a mural

Raleigh's Smallest Park by Katie Stewart

Brood Awakening

Katie Stewart and Jay Ross, a Raleigh-based creative team, collaborated to bring the community a unique medley of art, environmental education, and culinary experiences. Their interactive art walk of native wetland flora, fauna, and fungi inspired by the vibrant ecology of Southeast Raleigh’s wetlands at Walnut Creek Wetland Park occurred in the Fall of 2025.

Learn more.

Brightly colored inflatable La Ceiba tree.

La Ceiba

Martín Wannam's SEEK Raleigh Project "La Ceiba" was displayed in downtown Raleigh on Sept. 15 at La Fiesta del Pueblo. 

"La Ceiba," inspired by the sacred tree, is a 50-foot pink and yellow inflatable with a futuristic haze that aims to spread radical hope and evoke childhood memories and celebration for immigrant communities and queer folks in North Carolina.

Learn more.

SEEK Raleigh | Tessellate at Dix Park | Oliver Lewis

 SEEK Raleigh  | We Art a Village |  Justin Perry

SEEK Raleigh |  Día de Oakwood | Peter Marin 

SEEK Raleigh | Noir Bizarre | I Have A Dream Pop Festival


 

SEEK Raleigh | The Purple Flower Black and Unknown Barbs 

SEEK Raleigh 2023 | Nyssa Collins 

"VITAL Health", Michael S.Williams and Stacey L. Kirby, performance for SEEK Raleigh, 2020. Photo by Caroline Cockrell.

Four Heads For Bragg Street, by Jerstin Crosby, was a site-specific installation along the chain-link fence at Bragg Street Park facing Person Street.

Pieces of Grief is a seven-segment audio project by Felix Obelix. As a sonic meditation on grief and loss, it integrates field recordings, anonymous voicemails, archival interviews, and original music. It is intended to be listened to in quiet contemplation.

SEEK Raleigh | Oracle Machine | Julia Caston

Apply to SEEK Raleigh

Propose a public art project that you would like to create. The City of Raleigh will provide space and funding. The project budget can range from $1,000 to $10,000. Artists may submit up to four proposals per year. 

Find out more about the next deadline and application process on the SEEK Raleigh Artist Call

Contact

 

Kelly McChesney
Public Art Director
kelly.mcchesney@raleighnc.gov
919-996-5657

Department:
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources
Service Categories:
Raleigh Arts
Related Services:
Public Art

Subscribe

 

Related Projects

  All projects