Governor Proclaims North Carolina Heritage Day

North Carolina Heritage Day

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, North Carolina is home to many cultural communities whose traditions have defined our local and national heritage. Our state’s culture is dynamic and evolving, shaped by both its oldest and newest communities; and

Whereas, folkways and traditional arts enrich our understanding of history and the lives and contributions of all North Carolinians. The arts are an essential means through which cultural knowledge and community history are passed from one generation to the next; and

Whereas, important cultural contributions to our state’s heritage come from artists of both local and national importance; and

Whereas, recognition of North Carolina’s excellent traditional arts practitioners uplifts the communities from which they come; and

Whereas, the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, recognizes traditional artists through the North Carolina Heritage Award, the state’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts; and

Whereas, since 1989, the North Carolina Arts Council has recognized 100 artists and groups with the North Carolina Heritage Award for their accomplishments in traditions such as basketmaking, old-time music, boatbuilding, weaving, storytelling, R&B, funk music, quilt making, Latin American muralism, herbalism, Cherokee language preservation, carving, Indian classical dance, gospel, pottery, balladry, netmaking, and many more; and

Whereas, the recipients of the 2025 North Carolina Heritage Award are Round Peak guitarist Chester McMillian of Surry County, North Indian classical musician Gaurang Doshi of Forsyth County, gospel singers The Glorifying Vines Sisters of Pitt County, Brasstown wood carver Helen Gibson of Clay County, and Lumbee artisans Herman and Loretta Oxendine of Robeson County; and

Whereas, the 2025 North Carolina Heritage Awards will be celebrated at a public ceremony at the AJ Fletcher Opera Theater in Raleigh on June 7, 2025;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim June 7, 2025, as “North Carolina Heritage Day” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twentieth day of May in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.