Community Partners
Community Partners
On this page:
LocalEyes
A program dedicated to the ideation and production of projects based on Winston-Salem’s rich trove of historical and contemporary myths, legends, successes and challenges. This program features the people, organizations and events of our richly diverse local community and across the state.
MUSEws
The Museum of Understanding, Storytelling and Engagement’s mission is to connect, enrich and enlarge the community through history, storytelling and informed balance perspective that leads to acceptance, understanding and belonging. MUSE and METL have deep community ties and share values of creativity and inclusion.
MUSEws is undergoing a comprehensive renovation and METL is creating two permanent innovative exhibits for the museum’s re-opening in 2025:
- An LED journey on the Safe Bus, the extraordinary success story of the nation’s leading Black-owned transportation company.
- Cutting-edge immersive animations featuring the work of remarkable Winston-Salem painter Jerry Hanes.
Winston-Salem African American Archive
Witnessing Winston-Salem’s Storied Black Community
METL partnered with the Winston-Salem African American Archive (WSAAA) to produce a short documentary and an immersive installation at CDI exploring the long and rich history of Winston-Salem’s Black community. From the successes of the flourishing Black neighborhoods of the mid-20th century to the destructive urban renewal practices of later decades, WSAAA has been a repository of vital stories, audio recordings and artifacts of the local Black community.
With a Black-led, intergenerational creative team, the documentary titled "We Are, Because We Were" was funded by South Arts Cross-Sector Impact Grant and has been accepted at the International Black Theatre Festival (IBTF) Film Fest 2024.
WSAAA-METL Immersive Installation Program
The immersive installation "Bridging the Gap: Past, Present & Future," was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and launched in May 2024 bringing together artists, students and community members to think forward as we celebrate and witness the past.
"Bridging the Gap: Past, Present & Future" will re-open with additional community partners throughout 2025.
PBS-North Carolina
METL and PBS NC are natural partners with an emphasis on creativity, inclusive programming and high-quality educational resources. METL has shared early drafts of these concepts for youth programming with PBS NC and is excited to explore potential production partnerships.
Friends of the River
"Friends of the River" provides pre-K and kindergarten fundamentals (emphasis on fun) through engaging, colorful segments on ABCs, counting and storytelling with a smart, funny cast of characters. The show includes live action actors, puppetry and nature themes featuring creatures named after North Carolina rivers. The UNCSA students who work on this project will have invaluable professional training in producing a real-world series and it will be a unique addition to excellent educational programming.
Lord of the Rabbits
"Lord of the Rabbits," serving grades one through five, a shire-inspired fantasy series dealing with social awareness as well as the call of adventure, including adventures at home.
Winston-Salem State University
Started in 2022, this successful collaboration between WSSU and UNCSA has resulted in a forward-thinking and unique Virtual Reality nurse education training program. Now employed in WSSU nursing classes, and potentially to be deployed in other North Carolina schools, this program is receiving attention from across the state and the country. This project has been generously funded by NC Policy Collaboratory based at UNC-Chapel Hill, and is in early stages of commercialization.
Learn more about the WSSU-METL collaboration