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Think North Carolina and most people imagine rolling mountains or sandy beaches, but venture into its towns, and you’ll find a different kind of landscape: one painted in bold murals, sculpted in handmade ceramics, or filled with the sweet sound of buskers on tiny stages tucked down side streets.
From Asheville’s artsy enclaves to Durham’s indie galleries and Carrboro’s colorful street festivals, these are North Carolina’s most creative towns, where creative energy is not limited to a gallery or museum but is rooted in the very soul and community of the place.
For art lovers, North Carolina is a state that rewards you in spades. It’s a playful playground for the curious mind, and for those who see the world a little differently.
Asheville
There’s something about Asheville. It’s not only a mountain town but a hub of creativity. From the street art murals of the River Arts District to the innovative craft beer scene, anyone who dreams big will find their tribe in Asheville.
In Asheville, murals adorn the outside of brick warehouses, musicians busk on downtown corners, and the community can interact with the artists in their working studios in the River Arts District, where painters, potters, glassblowers, and sculptors perfect their craft.
In Asheville, you will also find independent galleries, community theaters, and live music venues that keep the cultural calendar full year-round. If that’s not enough, Asheville is the place to go for music and foodie festivals – Shindig on the Green, Mountain Dance & Folk Festival, Asheville Fringe Arts Festival, and Downtown After 5 are just a few highly-acclaimed festivals that put Asheville on the map.
Although Asheville is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Helene, which destroyed huge portions of the town (including the River Arts District), its spirit remains intact.
Of course, many may say their art is reflected in their food and beverage! Asheville tops our list of best foodie town in North Carolina, and best place in NC for beer lovers.
Here is our two day itinerary for Asheville, a guide to the River Arts District, and our review of the IHG Indigo Hotel Downtown Asheville.
Durham
Once defined by tobacco and textiles, Durham has transformed its industrial past into a boldly modern arts scene. Historic warehouses house contemporary galleries, artist studios, and performance spaces, while striking murals turn downtown streets into an open-air exhibition. We love the Nasher Art Museum at Duke University and the unique Satellite Park
For Broadway musical fans, Durham is where you will find the biggest touring shows. The DPAC is where to go for Broadway’s favorites and big-name touring artists, but for those who prefer low-key and indie, you’ll find intimate live jazz bars like Sharp 9 Gallery and Missy Lane’s Assembly Room have indie/acoustic artists on any given night.
The American Underground at the American Tobacco Campus is a community space and hub for innovators, creators and changemakers since 2010. This is where the visionaries sharpening the future come to be empowered and supported.
Then there’s Durham Underground Market, held once a month, where you can dive into pop-up stalls and shop for unique crafts directly from the maker, whilst being serenaded by local live musicians. Durham’s art scene is curious and constantly evolving, mirroring the city’s innovative and inclusive spirit.
Here is a guide on things to do in Durham
Raleigh
Of course, we have to include our home of Raleigh on this list. We’re constantly amazed by how many creative ventures open up here in the City of Oaks. Raleigh’s creative scene blends big institutions like the NC Museum of Art with small, independent projects like the Raleigh Art Murals project – an initiative that promotes the creation of street art in the downtown district.
With scrappy galleries, artist-run spaces, and monthly First Friday events that turn downtown into a lively arts crawl, Raleigh embraces the creative types and gives them a canvas to shine on. That extends over to the performing arts, with many small theaters and the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts which is home to the North Carolina Symphony and the Carolina Ballet.
We’re big fans of the annual Artsplosure festival, which is an arts and culture festival that takes place every May, as well as Illuminate Art Walk, a festive display of light sculptures that pop up in downtown during the Holiday season, and the Spring Daze Arts Festival that celerbates North Carolina artisans and craftsmen a beautiful forest location beside a lake!
In Raleigh, murals brighten warehouses that would have once perished into nothing, live music spills from small and intimate venues, and crafters and makers fuel the creative energy at local markets. There’s also the coworking Art Space in downtown Raleigh where you can see artists at work, and smaller workshops in the Boylan Heights District – they have a fantastic neighborhood Art Walk every December which brings the community out in the thousands to support local artisans.
But one of the best artistic attractions to explore (new in late 2025) are 5 Thomas Dambo trolls hiding in Dorothea Dix Park! Its a fun adventure roaming Raleigh’s largest city park finding the family of trolls hiding in forests and resting against a tree enjoying a pretty Raleigh skyline view!
Although a capital city best known for innovation and technology, Raleigh is a city that shows you can still take artistic risks – and it pays off. We can’t celebrate this city enough!
Here’s a guide on top things to do in Raleigh BUT if you want ALL the hot tips, insights on things to do we have a seperate site ThisisRaleigh.com with EVERYTHING you need to know. Start with our 48 hour itinerary guide to Raleigh.
Carrboro
Carrboro is a town in North Carolina that’s small in size but big on personality. I would argue that it’s North Carolina’s most unapologetically artsy town, famous for having more art galleries, indie music venues, and artsy coffee shops than any other town.
This is largely thanks to The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, which is constantly putting on plays and exhibitions, as well as serving as a hub for artists and creatives to come together as a community. The NC Crafts Gallery on the corner is a charming shop has been showcasing the work of North Carolina artists and makers since 1989.
Main Street is adorned with murals, sculptures, and artistic details, which are best seen on the monthly ArtWalk, held every 2nd Friday. The ArtWalk is run by the Town of Carrboro Council and takes you on a journey through the town’s art galleries, studios, shops, and artsy restaurants.
Carrboro is also home to the legendary music venue Cat’s Cradle, which has been hosting live music events for more than 50 years. Artists like Nirvana, Public Enemy, John Mayer, and Iggy Pop have performed here.
Poetry is also another artistic expression that’s celebrated in Carrboro. The Town Council regularly has poetry readings, and Carrboro also hosts the West End Poetry Festival every year in October. Fiercely local and proudly eccentric, Carrboro thrives on community, creativity, and collaboration. We also LOVE their Saturday farmers markets. It has a fun community, homegrown vibe that reminds us of markets back in Australian. Here’s how to spend an enjoyable day in Carrboro.
Chapel Hill
Just a short journey from Carrboro is Chapel Hill, another town anchored in artistic expression. Similar to Carrboro in that you can find art exhibitions and poetry readings in the Town Hall and Public Library, but different in that it’s a larger town with a growing community, largely thanks to the UNC Chapel Hill.
In the center of downtown, they have the Ackland Art Museum, where the permanent collection spans everything from ancient artifacts to contemporary American masterpieces. They host 10–12 rotating exhibitions a year, with more than half the gallery space dedicated to special and traveling exhibits! And for something unique, you can pay a visit to William Hayes Ackland, the museum’s namesake and benefactor, who is buried in an alcove.
Poetry is a big part of Chapel Hill’s artistic skeleton, and every two years, a Poet Laureate is picked to inspire and celebrate the community through poetry and public programs. The position is paid, albeit a small fee, but the fact that creativity is not only encouraged but financially supported shows just how much this town cares about creative expression.
As well as this, campus museums and performance halls offer rotating exhibitions, while downtown galleries, bookstores, and intimate music venues keep the creative energy local. Grab a mural map from the Welcome Center and walk Franklin Street and Rosemary St to spot murals and learn more about local Chapel Hill culture!
Here is a guide for a two-night getaway to Chapel Hill. We stayed at the historic and iconic Carolina Inn and can’t recommend it enough!
Seagrove
Seagrove is a tiny town in central North Carolina with an outsized creative legacy—and if Carrboro is unapologetically artsy, Seagrove is unapologetically craft-driven. Known as the Pottery Capital of the USA, Seagrove has been shaping clay for more than 300 years, making it one of the longest continuously practiced pottery traditions in the country.
What makes Seagrove special isn’t just the volume of potters—it’s the depth of skill, heritage, and individuality. More than 100 working potters live and work in and around town, many from multi-generation pottery families. You’ll find everything from traditional salt-glazed jugs and earthy stoneware to contemporary sculptural pieces and modern functional ceramics, all made by hand.
At the heart of it all is the North Carolina Pottery Center, which tells the story of the region’s pottery history while showcasing rotating exhibitions from local artists. From there, the joy is simply wandering—driving quiet back roads, following hand-painted signs to individual studios, and meeting the potters themselves, often working just feet from their kilns.
Seagrove really comes alive during the Seagrove Pottery Festival in November, when studios open their doors, kilns are fired, and collectors from around the country descend on the town. But even on a regular day, there’s something deeply grounding about the rhythm of this place—the slow pace, the red clay underfoot, and the sense that creativity here is a way of life, not a performance.
Rooted in tradition yet constantly evolving, Seagrove is a reminder that creativity doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. It’s thoughtful, tactile, and deeply human. If you love art with soul—and places where craftsmanship still matters—Seagrove belongs at the top of your North Carolina creative towns list.
Winston-Salem
Home to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, NCMA Winston-Salem, and Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem has to secure a spot on this list. In fact, it has been given the title “North Carolina’s City of Arts and Innovation.”
Winston-Salem blends old-school artistic craft with contemporary vision, and there’s always a steady stream of exhibitions, performances, and experimental work to explore at these renowned institutions.
Head to the vibrant downtown district and you’ll discover colorful murals, public art displays, and outdoor installations. Nestled between Trade and Liberty Street is the Downtown Arts District, where you can walk into contemporary artists’ studios and take home something one of a kind.
Then there is ARTivity On The Green, an art-themed park in downtown Winston-Salem, expanding the Art District and connecting it to Innovation Quarter. The park features central water misting towers, a bandstand, a mural wall, and rolling grassy hills. All of this is lit at night, and the lights on the towers and bandstand change colors.
With ballet, film, theater, and visual art all thriving side by side, Winston-Salem is a town embedded in creative spirit.
Wilmington
Those who follow us regularly will know that we have a love for Wilmington, a coastal charmer with a creative spirit.
Wilmington pairs salty air with artistic ambition and is known for its long-running film industry. It’s known for being the backdrop for TV series Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill, as well as featuring in blockbusters like Iron Man 3, The Conjuring, The Hunger Games, and The Summer I Turned Pretty.
As well as its film roots, Wilmington also serves as a canvas for street art, which has brightened up its Riverwalk district, and hosts numerous events and festivals throughout the year courtesy of the Arts Council of Wilmington, most notably its Fourth Friday event.
The Cameron Art Museum (CAM) has a collection of fine arts, crafts and design which includes works of historical and contemporary importance by regional, national and international artists and artisans. New Elements Gallery has showcased the best of regional and national fine art and craft since 1985 and the riverwalk has permanent sculptures such as the iconic Venus Flytrap. Did you know that it’s native to this area?
One piece of artwork hidden in the Airlie Gardens worth seeing is the Bottle Chapel, a mosaic style piece of art made from – you guessed it – thousands of colorful glass bottles glued together by cement. While there the beauty of the 400+ year old, 128ft high, Airlie Oak dripping with Spanish moss is probably the greatest masterpiece in all of Wilmington!
Greensboro
Greensboro is often underestimated as an artsy town in North Carolina. Its downtown is filled with cultural centers,murals, galleries, and theaters that value hands-on creativity, from open studios to citywide art walks.
Artists can find community relatively easily in Greensboro at the GreenHill Center for NC Art or GreensboroArtsHub, whereas art lovers can admire contemporary art exhibitions at the Weatherspoon Art Museum and Center for Visual Artists.
Greensboro’s art scene is community-driven and refreshingly unpretentious, with the town council offering grants for local artists to display their work in its electronic kiosks and City Hall. You’ll find up and down Elm St and inside its boutiques and galleries. (Lots of great breweries and resturants to enjoy on this eclectic downtown main street as well!)
Greensboro’s creativity is less about being flashy and more about a genuine connection between the artists and their audiences.
Black Mountain
Tucked just east of Asheville, Black Mountain is more than just a mountain town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It has long punched above its weight creatively.
Once home to the influential Black Mountain College, the town still attracts artists, writers, and musicians, and is said to be home to more than 100 artists.
It’s lively downtown, which is home to Black Mountain Arts Center, a community art center in the town’s former town hall and is home to several independent galleries and craft studios, while artistic events and workshops take place regularly to encourage locals and visitors alike to pick up a paintbrush or put on their dancing shoes.
If you’re visiting Black Mountain, be sure to head to the Chapel of the Prodigal at Montreat College to see a fresco painting by artist Benjamin F. Long IV, who has created a stunning religious fresco piece in the church’s sanctuary.
Blowing Rock
We discovered Blowing Rock on a trip to Boone, and quickly discovered it was more than just a gateway to the Tweetsie Railroad.
Blowing Rock blends Appalachian culture with artistic flair. From its Art and History Museum to its Art and Sculpture Trail, this compact town is packed with artsy finds – especially in its downtown area, which is dotted with galleries showcasing regional painters, photographers, and visual artists.
Music and art festivals abound in Blowing Rock. Each year, events like Art in the Park, Concerts in the Park, and Symphony by the Lake bring the creative spirit outdoors, while pubs like Town Tavern, The Inn at Ragged Gardens, and The Speckled Trout Restaurant & Bottle Shop host live music several nights a week throughout the warmer months.
What North Carolina towns ooze with the creative spirit that you feel futre readers of this post would like to know about? What makes it a top artsy place in NC?
