Field Guide: After the Storm

January will mark six months since Tropical Storm Chantal swept through the Triangle. 

In a new feature, writer Andrea Richards profiles Culture Mill and the Paperhand Puppet Project, two Saxapahaw arts organizations displaced by Chantal flooding. The story asks a question that will become increasingly relevant: How do organizations both recover and prepare for the inevitable next disaster?

It also foregrounds an incredible fact I keep thinking about: When the storm hit, Paperhand was working on a show, its 25th annual summer performance, about the power of water. From the story: 

Entitled The Gift, the show centers on grandmothers and women guardians of waterways, invoking the movement, spirit, and power of water with awe-inspiring puppets that include a 60-foot ocean goddess, a river, and an illuminated whale. 

“None of it was lost on us about how close to home it all was,” said Paperhand director Donovan Zimmerman.

Read the story here, and find more culture stories and links below. 

Culture Mill co-directors Murielle Elizéon and Tommy Noonan. Read the story about the organization’s post-storm recovery here. Photo by Matt Ramey.

A few ideas of things to do this week. And here’s a look at a few recent theater productions coming out of Durham high schools—and how the drama programs staging them are catching national attention. 

Here’s a rundown of culture stories we published in 2025. (And news stories, too.) My highlights from this year include: Getting to talk to more of the Triangle’s dynamic writers, working with our delightful freelancers, and getting to edit Lena Geller’s lively Lunch Money column.

This was one of my favorite pieces to write, and this was one of my favorite pieces to edit. 

ICYMI: Chopping it up with John Darnielle about God, housing, and music. Tuna Salad on a Hoagie. A new natural wine bar in Brightleaf Square. New movies. (Including the Shakespeare-inspired Hamnet, which I saw this week—it’s amazing and devastating; you will cry. A lot!)

Speaking of Shakespeare, there’s a new bar in Raleigh that Eater Carolinas is calling a “Romeo and Juliet fever dream” for people looking for a very specific kind of Renaissance vibe. A new pizza joint in Durham. Walter’s list of noteworthy Raleigh bars and restaurants that opened in 2025 and the Axios Triangle-wide rundown of the ten best restaurants to open this year. 

Chapel Hill author D.G. Martin passed away at age 85. A Raleigh literary friendship. A profile of beloved Durham drag performer Stormie Daie.

— Sarah Edwards —
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