Method Community Park Public Art

About the Artists

The City of Raleigh is working with two local artists to create public art at Method Community Park. Dare Coulter will create exterior public art throughout the site. Kulsum Tasnif is documenting the stories of former Berry O'Kelly students and IAR community members through oral histories and videos. 

Project Overview

• Renovate the existing historic community center to address needed improvements and community priorities. 
• The Community Center is housed in one of only two surviving buildings from the multi-building Berry O’Kelly School.  Also known as the Pioneers Building, it now serves as a community center at Method Park, a City of Raleigh facility.
• The buildings and athletic facilities remaining at the Berry O’Kelly School campus reflect the history of an important Raleigh institution. Residents of the freedman’s village that evolved into Method had always prioritized education. Three schools existed in the late nineteenth century before Method’s most prominent resident, Berry O’Kelly, donated land in 1894 for a new school. A frame building with a gable roof housed the school until 1915, when a significant upgrade resulted in a ten-classroom brick edifice to house an elementary and high school. The new institution was called Berry O’Kelly Training School, and it consolidated three rural African American schools. Rosenwald funds helped expand the school in the 1920s, and by 1931, it was the state’s largest high school for African American students. The school remained in operation until 1966. The 1926 Agriculture Building and the ca. 1959 Gymnasium are the only buildings remaining. O’Kelly’s grave is on campus, and a memorial marker further honors and remembers his importance to the community. 
• One of the project's goals is to highlight the rich history and diversity of the Method Community. 

Learn more about the Method Community Center Improvement project.