Inside the Container: A Conversation about Creativity, Healing, Grief, and Joy with Nnenna Freelon and Jaki Shelton Green

NCMA poet in residence Jaki Shelton Green talks with Grammy Award—nominated jazz vocalist/composer/actress Nnenna Freelon about her husband, award-winning North Carolina architect Phil Freelon (1953—2019), who is featured in the Museum’s exhibition Container/Contained: Phil Freelon Design Strategies for Telling African American Stories.

The women will discuss Mr. Freelon as a husband and father, his remarkable 40-year career, and the various ways he constructed and expanded space for himself as an African American in the field of architecture. The two will also explore creativity, healing, grief, and joy through poetry and personal reflections.

The event will be livestreamed.

About Nnenna Freelon
Multiple Grammy—Award nominee Nnenna Freelon is known worldwide as a captivating live performer. Recently, she starred in the critically acclaimed show Georgia on My Mind: Celebrating the Music of Ray Charles. Freelon is no stranger to the music of the master singer–she toured with Charles as well as many other great jazz artists, including Ellis Marsalis, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Earl Klugh, and Take 6.

Images courtesy Nnenna Freelon and Jaki Shelton Green