Opening Celebration of Grounded by Maya Freelon

Maya Freelon is taking over the Gregg Museum of Art & Design for Grounded, an exhibition that opens with a celebration on Saturday, November 7, from 1 PM to 5 PM. The show itself runs from October 29, 2026, through May 29, 2027, so the party is just the start of a long run.

Freelon is an Artist-in-Residence at the museum, and Grounded is the anchor of Grounded at the Gregg, a season of four exhibitions that relaunches the museum's residency program. Raised in Durham and a former teacher at NC State's College of Design, she works with vibrant color and layered tissue paper—a style she traces back to her maternal grandmother. She turns the galleries into an immersive environment that weighs fragility against resilience, with the red clay and soil of North Carolina serving as both material and metaphor. The work asks what it means to create sanctuary in uncertain times and how the land holds memory, pain, and possibility.

The museum itself adds a personal layer to the show. The Gregg is housed in the 1927 Chancellor's Residence, a Georgian mansion that the Freelon Group renovated in 2017. The firm was led by Freelon's father, Phil Freelon, who was also the principal architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Her great-grandfather, Allan Freelon, a Harlem Renaissance Impressionist, is featured in the exhibition as well.

The opening celebration on November 7 brings in more than just the art. Along with Freelon, there will be performances by Tre. Charles, Johnny Lee Chapman III, and NC State's Panoramic Dance Project, so the afternoon will have dance and music alongside the exhibition. The celebration is free and open to the public, from 1 PM to 5 PM at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, 1903 Hillsborough St., NC State University, Raleigh.