Here we are in 2026. Despite/because of “everything,” I am excited to announce the Black Stories in Census Tract 2 exhibit opens at Buncombe County Special Collections at Pack Memorial Library on Tuesday, January 20 and runs through through April 21, 2026.
The exhibit is by STM Multimedia and Garnet Prose + Projects (aka me) in partnership with the Historic Stumptown Neighborhood Association. We have been working on iterations of this project for several years, documenting stories and producing events.
STM’s Elizabeth Lashay Garland wrote and designed the beautiful graphics about the exhibit below. Liz is a great friend who also happens to be wonderful to work with and a true gift to our community. Her mentorship of the next generation of media makers is particularly impressive. As mentioned previously, Slay the Mic/STM Multimedia’s 10 Year Anniversary fundraiser is underway, donate here.
STUMPTOWN | HILL STREET | S. MONTFORD
Black Stories in Census Tract 2 is a curated multimedia archive illuminating the social, cultural, and historical impact of Asheville’s Black neighborhoods—honoring the families and communities whose roots shaped Stumptown, Hill Street, and South Montford, bringing their stories forward through imagery, memory, and collective history.
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
The history of Stumptown has been preserved through the dedicated archival work of Ami Worthen, whose community-centered research and oral history collection have safeguarded stories often excluded from official records by centering elders, families, and lived experience as primary sources of knowledge.
Building on this foundation, STM Multimedia has led a contemporary documentation process that translates this archival work into accessible, intergenerational multimedia storytelling through video, audio, photography, and digital archives, in collaboration with Dogwood Health Trust, the Asheville-Buncombe Community Land Trust, and now the Friends of the Library & Buncombe County Special Collections, ensuring Stumptown’s history is ethically preserved and publicly accessible.
MIXED MEDIA
The exhibit weaves together mixed-media elements—including archival photographs, vinyl installations, oral histories, video storytelling, neon signage, artifacts, and community-generated materials to create an immersive experience that reflects the layered, living history of Stumptown and Census Tract 2.
CROSS GENERATIONAL
This exhibit creates a cross-generational conversation by bringing elders, descendants, youth, and community members into dialogue—pairing oral histories and archival materials with contemporary storytelling to ensure the history of Stumptown is not only preserved, but actively shared, interpreted, and carried forward across generations.
Elders hold lived knowledge that often isn’t written down, while younger generations bring new tools, questions, and platforms that keep those stories alive and accessible.
PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
Without intergenerational exchange, history risks being lost or flattened, reduced to dates instead of experiences, relationships, and meaning.
Cross-generational dialogue builds cultural continuity, helping young people see themselves as part of a longer legacy rather than disconnected from place.
It fosters healing and accountability, allowing communities to name displacement, resilience, and survival together.
INSPIRATION
The stories of Stumptown residents continue to inspire others by revealing the strength, creativity, and care that sustained the community despite systemic barriers and displacement.
Stumptown stands as a testament to the power of community in the face of exclusion, where families built homes, institutions, and networks of support that fostered dignity, pride, and belonging. Though physical spaces were disrupted by redlining and urban renewal, the spirit of Stumptown endures through memory, tradition, and storytelling—reminding us that place is not only defined by geography, but by the people who shaped it and continue to carry its legacy forward.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
On Tuesday, April 14th at 5 pm, the exhibit will expand beyond the gallery space with a scheduled documentary screening that brings Stumptown’s history to life through film, creating an opportunity for deeper reflection, community dialogue, and shared learning. The screening will serve as a gathering point for elders, descendants, students, and the public to engage directly with the stories presented in the exhibit and continue the cross-generational conversation around memory, place, and preservation.
ALSO: That night we will be presenting a new BCSC archival collection made possible in part by support from the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County.
Follow @stmmultimedia and @avlhistory for exhibit updates.
MORE SOON. LOVE.
Ami Worthen 