Before downtown Durham’s 21st century renaissance, it was home to a crumbling tobacco industry. Then, in 1995, two catalysts planted seeds for a radical transformation: the openings of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and of Durham School of the Arts (then the Durham Magnet Center). These two events radically shifted Durham’s trajectory and contributed to the culture of innovation, tech, health, education, investment entrepreneurship, and arts that downtown Durham is known for today. 

I was 12 years old in 1995 and lived a few blocks from campus. My parents entered me and my sister into the lottery for Durham School of the Arts (DSA), and we both got in, becoming part of the first class of students at the new school. 

DSA was the perfect fit for me. I was able to explore my artistic strengths in the music and theatre departments and quickly made friends with a variety of students and faculty from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Because of the school’s location, we could feel the pulse of downtown Durham. We were part of it. 

I could taste pollen mixed with curing tobacco in the air as I walked to school a few blocks away from downtown’s aging warehouses. I could hear the call of the train’s whistle and the faint pop of post-game fireworks ricochet off red clay bricks from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on game days. 

Durham School of the Arts sits at the nexus of several neighborhoods that felt both stitched together and separated, like sections of a quilt. The hem between the affluent, predominately white Forest Hills community and neighboring Southside/St. Teresa hood, which is historically Black and increasingly Latino, frayed at the Forrest Hills shopping center where I worked my first job at Eckerd drugstore. Predominantly white Trinity Park, which borders DSA’s campus, was next to historically Black Walltown and Old North Durham, and just a block from Duke’s East Campus and 9th Street. DSA’s location defines its culture. The student body reflects the rich diversity of its surroundings. We tried on the sleeves of downtown Durham before it was cool, and in turn we impacted its design. We were raised by a community that was ethnically, economically, and culturally diverse, and in turn we poured magic back into the community. 

Do you know who the performers are in these venues around downtown Durham? Who is putting art up in our galleries? Who is painting our murals? Who is cooking our delicious food? Who is leading our Dia de Los Muertos celebrations? Who are our rappers, poets and beat makers? Who is shaping the culture of downtown Durham? It’s alumni of Durham School of the Arts. 

There are no million-dollar condos and billions-of-dollars investment in downtown without the culture that the Bulldogs have shaped. There is no vibrant, creative class and diverse entrepreneurial and cultural hub without the presence of hundreds of young, diverse artists at downtown’s doorstep. 

Durham School of the Arts has played a vital role in the growth, economic development, diversity, character, and culture of downtown Durham—to take DSA out of downtown would be as foolish as taking DPAC, Durham Bulls, or the Durham Hotel out of downtown. Now more than ever, we need diverse, young creatives to flood the streets of downtown, which are becoming more white and more wealthy due to gentrification. Don’t exacerbate the erasure or Black and brown youth from downtown Durham by moving the school. Invest in downtown’s culture and creativity by investing in keeping DSA where it’s at.

Pierce Freelon is a Grammy-nominated musician, educator, author, and former Durham City Council member. He is the founder of Blackspace, an Afrofuturist digital makerspace.

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