Duke Arts Studio Mentorships Launch Creative Student Projects

Last year, 13 undergraduate students across several majors launched their creative projects with the Duke Arts Studio program. Duke Arts Studio is a year-long mentorship program that offers creative, professional mentorship for undergraduate students who are working to realize creative projects in the arts, entertainment, and media. Students gain experience in all stages of the creative process while growing their professional networks. 

To celebrate the opening of applications for the 2024-25 Duke Arts Studio cohort, we’re spotlighting some 2023-24 projects: Emily Wang’s gallery exhibition, Quiet Places; Johnathan Brown’s original film, Eyes, Eyes, Eyes, Eyes; and Yuhuan Zhang’s public performance art piece, Can I Have Your To-Go Boxes, Please?

Emily Wang: Quiet Places

Sophomore Emily Wang created Quiet Places, a multi-media exhibition combining landscape painting, music, and writing. Opening at Hillsborough’s Skylight Gallery, the exhibition finds beauty in ordinary life, channeling art to contemplate, appreciate, and imagine moments in nature. With mentorship from David Davenport, a Durham-based painter, Quiet Places captures one moment, from two voices, in three forms.

An experienced painter, flutist, and creative writer, Wang says that bringing these art forms together was like a “dream come true.” Working with Davenport exposed her to the process of lining up a venue, which entails making connections, drafting a proposal, and crafting the layout of an exhibition. Wang was ultimately excited to show her work at an off-campus gallery as “an opportunity to extend outside of Duke and into the broader community.” She notes that the Hillsborough Artist Cooperative allowed her “to get out there a little more, meet a bunch of artists, and show [her] work!”

Davenport met Wang periodically throughout the year, providing feedback on her paintings and sharing about his life as a professional artist. In turn, Davenport said he felt inspired by Wang’s “creative soul,” particularly how she found the spirit of expression in unassuming STEM fields like chemistry.


Johnathan Brown: Eyes Eyes Eyes Eyes

Senior Johnathan Brown directed and produced Eyes Eyes Eyes Eyes, a community-based film investigating the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and the information age. Brown’s project centered on how the scrutinization and hyper-performance at these intersections presents challenges to those searching for authenticity. An ethnographic photobook and bespoke DJ mix also accompanies his film, which had its premiere at Durham’s The Fruit on April 21, 2024.

Brown’s mentor was Sherrill Roland, a sculpture and performance artist based in the Triangle. While Brown and Roland find comfort in different mediums, they encouraged each other to venture out of their comfort zones. Roland prompted Brown to explore the role of venue and installation in how an audience experiences films, while Brown demonstrated to his mentor the process of collaboration in filmmaking. Through Duke Arts Studio, Brown was able to secure The Fruit as a venue for the film, strengthening his ties to the Durham art scene.


Yuhuan Zhang: Can I Have Your To-Go Boxes, Please?

In Can I Have Your To-go Boxes, Please?, first-year student Yuhuan Zhang designed a live performance art piece at Duke’s dining hall, provoking patrons at Duke’s WU dining hall to consider the environmental impacts of eating from to-go boxes, especially when reusable plates and utensils are also available.

For this piece of performance art, Zhang partnered with Meg Stein, a Durham-based visual artist focusing on sculpture and social practice. Stein remarks that when she works with other artists, “it does end up feeding my own practice, even through the energetic exchange.” Zhang felt an energetic exchange with both her mentor and those who passed by her performance art. “A lot of people expressed the same sentiment as me, which is that they don’t know why people are using to-go boxes for here [only to place that box in the dish return]. They are resonating with me, so I feel largely encouraged by them.”

Zhang and Stein wanted to impact students not only through the message of the piece, but also through the medium of performance art. Observing how most art at Duke takes place in the gallery, but rarely around campus, Zhang hopes her project encourages students to “not be afraid to do some public activity or some public art.” Stein also values the power of performance art to invite viewers to a different kind of artistic experience, “having art in different places where people aren’t expecting to see it and haven’t put on their art glasses on yet, so they get this surprise entry point into the experience.”


About Duke Arts Studio

Duke Arts Studio is a year-long mentorship program with professionals providing support for student creative projects in the arts, entertainment, and media. The program pairs students with mentors from the Durham arts community or Duke Alumni Networks who offer creative and professional guidance. Students also form a cohort, meeting for monthly meals and professional practice seminars. Through Duke Arts Studio, students from all majors across all undergraduate years gain experience in the various stages of creative projects – drafting, managing feedback, revision, pitching, and promotion – with support from mentors and peers.

Applications are due by September 20th.