400 North Queen Street * Kinston, NC 28501 *(252) 527-2517
​Hours of Operation:
Tuesday-Friday: 10 am to 6 pm
Saturday: 10 am to 4 pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
Our Galleries
For more information about the exhibits in our galleries at the Arts Center, contact us at (252) 527-2517. Admission is free and open to the public.
Dr. Eugene Poole, Jr.
“Silent Thunder: Echoes of Greatness”
March 3 – May 8, 2026
Born in Kentucky, and carried by deeply rich ancestral bloodlines from Kinston, North Carolina, Dr. Eugene Poole is redefining contemporary textile art with astonishing precision and purpose. In just four years, his command of fabric and thread has propelled him into the forefront of fine art quilting, where craft is transformed into monument. Poole’s quilts are fearless and deeply personal—works that function as mirrors, reflecting the complexities of identity, history, and the world we inhabit. Through vibrant color, commanding scale, and meticulous execution, his art interrogates social, political, economic, and spiritual realities, confronting issues of justice, equality, violence, incarceration, mental health, and the enduring stigmas faced by underserved communities. His works are radiant visual testimonies that demand reflection and response.
His upcoming exhibition, “Silent Thunder: Echoes of Greatness” marks both a homecoming and a culmination. Drawing from a lineage of master tailoring and aesthetic refinement, Poole elevates fabric and thread into narrative vessels that honor the African American diaspora, its resilience, triumphs, and unfinished struggles. His life-sized quilted portraits and tapestries read like topographical maps from a distance, then reveal dense stitchwork, layered textures, and astonishing detail up close. In these works, early disciplines of draftsmanship and architectural thinking converge with ancestral memory and contemporary urgency. The result is an exhibition that collapses boundaries between craft and fine art, past and present, beauty, and truth; inviting viewers to stand before the work, move closer, and witness the power of quilting – reimagined.
Jamil Burton "Stitched in Dignity"
Jamil Burton is a visual artist and illustrator whose work tells powerful stories rooted in family, community, and lived experience. Originally from Newark, New Jersey and now based in Kinston, North Carolina, Burton works across multiple mediums including oil, acrylic, watercolor, pencil, and charcoal.
His art blends traditional and contemporary realism with bold color and emotional depth, exploring themes of life, love, and the Black experience. Whether through fine art, illustration, or commissioned work, Burton’s creative practice is driven by storytelling and connection.
Jamil’s work has been featured in children’s books, public projects, and community collaborations, and he continues to use art as a way to inspire reflection, celebrate humanity, and spark meaningful conversation.
Selected Works from Permanent Collection
Permanent Collection Works of Henry Pearson & Friends — Kinston-born Henry Pearson (October 8, 1914 – December 3, 2006) was an acclaimed abstract and modernist painter who graduated from the University of North Carolina and studied theatrical design at Yale University. During WWII, he became interested in Japanese art and theatre forms and designed maps for the US Army Air Corps. In the early 1950s, Pearson moved to New York and studied Reginald Marsh and Will Barnet, who were students of the Art Students League of New York. Pearson was loosely associated with the Op Art movement. His collections may be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the North Carolina Museum of Art. Along with his art, Pearson taught at the New School for General Studies and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He was interested in literature and illustrated several poems by the Irish Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney. Much of his correspondence and other associated memorabilia may be found at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Brandon Gibson​
​
​
​