The Origin Story of UN-Artworks

The organization grew from founder Celestine Davis's life and work as a writer, educator, visual artist, storyteller, and community builder. Across classrooms, workshops, creative projects, and community gatherings, she repeatedly encountered people who were curious, imaginative, and full of stories—yet hesitant to claim space for their own creativity.

The doubts often sounded the same:

Too old. Not talented enough. Not a real artist.

But underneath those doubts, Celestine kept recognizing the same hunger: the desire to make something, tell a story, explore an idea, reconnect with joy, or discover a part of oneself that had been neglected or silenced.

So she created something different—not simply a class, workshop, or gallery, but a gathering place where curiosity is the only credential required.

Creativity belongs to everyone

Too often, creativity is treated as the property of people with formal training, recognized talent, institutional access, or permission to call themselves artists. UN-Artworks was created to challenge that idea and to make room for discovery without gatekeeping, becoming without performance, and creative expression without the pressure of perfection.

We believe creativity is a human need, not a professional category. The act of making—writing, drawing, filming, painting, building, moving, singing, or working with your hands—can change how you see yourself and the world around you.

We believe community is part of the creative process. The right room, with the right people, can unlock something that years of trying alone could not.

Storytelling is central to the work

Stories allow us to preserve memory, recognize one another, make meaning from experience, and imagine what might still be possible.

Stories can be spoken, written, filmed, sung, painted, stitched, sculpted, photographed, danced, cooked, or passed quietly from one generation to the next. UN-Artworks honors these different ways of knowing, creating, remembering, and connecting.

We celebrate people in the middle of their stories—not only after their work has been polished, rewarded, or publicly recognized.

Where the vision first took public form

The UN-Artworks vision first took public form in Kinston, North Carolina, through gatherings that brought artists, storytellers, makers, culture-bearers, and community members together for conversation, reflection, hands-on exploration, and shared discovery.

It is fitting that these first gatherings emerged in Eastern North Carolina, a region with deep traditions of music, storytelling, improvisation, craftsmanship, hospitality, and community exchange.

Kinston's cultural history includes an extraordinary musical legacy. The city is a founding hub of the African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina and is associated with the birth of funk. Kinston and the surrounding region have also produced remarkable athletic talent and continue to nurture film, literary, musical, visual arts, and storytelling communities.

These traditions provided meaningful ground for the work, but they do not define its boundaries.

UN-Artworks was not created solely to represent Kinston, nor is its invitation limited to one city or region. Kinston became the first community in which a much larger vision was planted and given room to grow.

Where the vision is going

Today, UN-Artworks creates welcoming spaces for people to explore creativity through storytelling, conversation, learning, hands-on experiences, and community connection.

Its gatherings are designed for real people with real lives. Participants may arrive certain or uncertain, experienced or entirely new, ready to create or simply curious about what might happen.

UN-Artworks is rooted in the belief that creativity can restore joy, reveal purpose, deepen relationships, strengthen communities, and help people recognize possibilities within themselves and one another.

The work first became visible in one community, but the invitation reaches far beyond it.