Penn Center receives NPS grant for historic preservation of Butler Building
The National Park Service awarded Penn one of 54 grants for African American Civil Rights Preservation and History.
Charlotte Forton Community Fellow to bring culinary experience to Penn Center’s annual Heritage Days celebration
Culture and Community’s Charlotte Forton Community Fellow, Chef Bernard Bennett, will bring his culinary artistry to the Historic Penn Center’s 2026 Heritage Days Symposium
Artist-in-Residence Cookie Washington partners with The Guardian’s Legacies of Enslavement program at Penn Center
Artist-in-Residence Torreah “Cookie” Washington leads community quilting workshop in partnership with The Guardian’s Legacies of Enslavement program
Culture and Community Artist-in-Residence hosts National Crafts Open Studio Weekend at Penn Center
The Sam Doyle Artist-in-Residence, Torreah “Cookie” Washington, hosted the event, which invited participants to visit her studio, gain insight into her creative processes, and explore the craft of Gullah Rag Quilting.
Culture and Community Names 2026 Artist in Residence and Community Fellow
Master quilter Torreah “Cookie” Washington and James Beard Award semifinalist chef Bernard Bennett will engage with Sea Islands communities and visiting learners through programs supported by the Culture and Community project
Willson Center announces second phase of Penn Center partnership
A new $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation will continue its support of the Culture and Community project
Culture and Community at Heritage Days Festival
Culture and Community will co-sponsor a symposium on Gullah/Geechee lineage and legacy, as well as coordinate and support a delegation of students attending the festival from Claflin University, College of Charleston, and Georgia Tech.
Artist in residence Victor Ryan Robertson to perform at historic Morton Theatre in Athens
The Grammy-nominated tenor will also engage in a public conversation as part of the University of Georgia’s 2025 Spotlight on the Arts festival. The November 12 event is free and open to all.
Call for Submissions: Sam Doyle Artist-in-Residence at the Penn Center National Historic Landmark District
The Culture and Community partnership invites submissions for an artist residency program to take place during 2026 on the theme of Commemoration. Proposals must be in media that relates to, and be in conversation with, the artistic, cultural, and historic legacies of Penn Center and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor more broadly.
Culture and Community names 2025 artist in residence and community research partners
Grammy-nominated tenor Victor Ryan Robertson (pictured), the incoming artist in residence, and Gullah farmers Ben C. Johnson and Charity Coleman, the community research partners, will engage with Sea Islands communities and visiting learners through new and existing programs supported by the Culture and Community partnership.