NCHC June26 Stagville

Commission for Forthcoming Historic Stagville Visitors Center Exhibit

Historic Stagville State Historic Site would like to commission a ceramic mount by North Carolina artist Dare Coulter, to be used in an artifact display in an interpretive history exhibit at the site.

The piece would be part of a permanent educational exhibit inside the new Historic Stagville visitors center, expected to open to the public in late 2027.

The full commission cost of $4,300 will be covered by the Historic Stagville site revenue fund.

The piece will be a ceramic model of two life-sized cupped hands, cradling a string of reproduction beads. The hands would be modeled on the hands of a living descendant of those once enslaved at Stagville.

The mount will be displayed for the public with a museum label, in an artifact case alongside original artifact beads. The piece will not be used for commemoration or decoration, only for interpretation. The mount will be part of a short exhibit section interpreting cultural resistance during enslavement.

Please see the photograph (right) for an example of a similar piece by artist Dare Coulter.