Executive Director

WAYNE MARTIN became executive director of the North Carolina Arts Foundation on January 1, 2022. Prior to taking this position, Martin served as executive director of the North Carolina Arts Council from 2012 to 2021. During his tenure he advocated to bring significant increases to the grants budget of the Arts Council, including $25.4 million to help arts organizations and artists in all 100 counties of North Carolina weather the pandemic. As a strong believer in the aspirational goal of “arts for all people,” he has worked throughout his career to increase funding to arts organizations in rural and underserved counties.

While working as the executive director he collaborated with Arts Council board members to form the North Carolina Arts Foundation for the purpose of securing private sector support for statewide arts programs.

Earlier in his career, Martin was instrumental in developing and implementing creative placemaking projects including Blue Ridge Music Trails, African American Music Trails, Cherokee Heritage Trails, and the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. His leadership helped secure a Congressional designation of western North Carolina as the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in 2003. That same year, he was chosen to receive the inaugural Preserve America Presidential Award on behalf of the partners working to create heritage trails in western North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

He helped create the North Carolina Heritage Award in 1988 to recognize traditional artists who have made important contributions to our state’s cultural legacy. Beginning in 2008 he led an effort to re-establish an arts council in Wilmington and New Hanover County.

Martin is the producer of noted sound recordings of North Carolina traditional musicians and helped found the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music (PineCone). He is also an active musician, performing stringband music and blues on fiddle, guitar, and banjo.

See the N.C. Arts Council press release for a full description of Martin’s career.