As the Hayti Heritage Center wraps up its 50th anniversary year, its leaders find themselves reexamining the center’s vision. From planning major renovations to installing new leadership and reshaping its anniversary celebration, it has been a year marked by challenge and change.
The 50th anniversary year was a tumultuous one. The organization cancelled its annual March Hayti Film Festival, citing money woes, instead hosting a two-day acting workshop. The center then focused on plans for a 50th anniversary celebration in August, including musical performances and a “Durham’s Got Talent” showcase. But then in May 2025, longtime director Angela Lee stepped down, and five staff members, including the finance officer, soon followed.
By June, new leadership was in place, with former board member King Kenney stepping in as the interim director while the organization searches for a permanent executive director. Tyra Dixon, who previously worked with Hayti as a contractor on its film festival, is now the artistic director.
The new leadership cancelled the August anniversary weekend and began planning a new 50th anniversary celebration for Giving Tuesday on Dec. 2. The event will be a half-day open house, where guests will be invited to explore the space and join the 1975 Sustainer Circle, which invites members to donate $19.75 a month as a callback to Hayti’s establishment in 1975. Hayti leaders hope to raise $50,000 in their anniversary fundraising campaign to support future events at the center.
“We’re not banking on the campaign to keep the lights on; our campaign is to bring quality programming,” Dixon said.
Among other changes, the new leadership is undertaking renovations to the building. The aging facility has endured plumbing and maintenance issues, Dixon said. As a result, parts of the building have been closed for repair and renovations aimed partly at improving accessibility, Kenney said.
Hayti received $600,000 from the Durham Housing Authority earlier this year for “essential repairs and updates.” An additional $250,000 is being provided by the City of Durham for improvements, including restoring the exterior walls, modernizing the foyer, improving accessibility, and general roof and gutter repairs, according to the DHA.
In addition to improving facilities, Hayti’s leaders say that as the organization enters its next half-century, they hope to prioritize Hayti-organized events. In the past, many events held at the facility, including the Hayti Film Festival, artist gatherings, and dance classes, were organized by outside groups that rented the space or collaborated with the center, Kenney said. In Hayti’s new chapter, Kenney said he wants the organization to be more than a rental venue.
In 2026, Hayti’s leaders plan to start fresh. The center anticipates hosting 12 artists, singers, and performers throughout the year. Guests include award-winning author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates on Aug. 19 and acclaimed countertenor John Holiday on Oct. 1, with tickets ranging from $25 to $50. The film festival is also expected to return in March 2026.
To Kenney, a season organized and presented entirely by Hayti allows the center to be a “tastemaker” and cultivate its own identity.
To Angel Dozier, former communications contractor and current marketing manager, working at Hayti is a sort of homecoming.
After 50 years as a key venue of Black art and culture in Durham, Dozier is excited for what comes next.
The first time she visited was in the 1980s, when her mom was getting her master’s degree at North Carolina Central University. Memories were still fresh of the Durham Freeway cutting through the Hayti neighborhood and the Hayti Heritage Center was less than a decade old. When she later moved to Durham in 1999, Hayti stayed with her. “Hayti is where I came for the arts,” Dozier said.
She attended the African Dance Class on Monday nights and the Jambalaya Poetry Slams at Hayti. She watched Durham grow, with high-rise apartments downtown and a Broadway-style theater seating 2,700.
“Some of these things didn’t exist,” Dozier said. “But Hayti always did.”
Above: Artistic director Tyra Dixon wants to see more live events at Hayti in the coming year. Photo by Jothi Gupta — The 9th Street Journal
