Art in the Atrium Exhibition

Art in the Atrium is an opportunity for local artists to show and sell their work at Centennial Station Arts Center. The High Point Arts Council provides exhibit space in our gallery atrium for visual artists, and an artist reception during our monthly Art on Tap networking events. No commission is charged, so artists receive the full retail price of their work to reinvest in building and growing their creative practice.

The HPAC program also highlights the importance of providing local and regional artists with equitable access to a professional exhibition venue where they can share their work with the High Point community. By activating the atrium gallery as a visible and welcoming space, Art in the Atrium connects artists to the Arts Council’s network of creatives, supporters, and community partners, fostering meaningful relationships, increasing exposure, and strengthening the regional arts ecosystem.

All exhibits are open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding HPAC office holiday closures.

Denise “NiSi” Lee is a visual artist, poet, performer, and multidisciplinary storyteller born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Working primarily in acrylic portraiture, NiSi creates expressive figurative works that center Black women and explore identity, memory, femininity, beauty, resilience, and the stories carried beneath what the world sees.

Holding both a BFA and MFA, NiSi’s multidisciplinary background includes theatre, acting, cosmetology, makeup artistry, poetry, mentorship, and visual art. These experiences inform her approach to the face, body, character, and story on canvas. Her creative practice is also deeply rooted in the representation and preservation of Black women’s stories, a commitment reflected in both her visual art and theatrical writing.

In Under the Brim, her solo exhibition of original portraiture and poetry, NiSi explores family, memory, Black womanhood, inheritance, vulnerability, and becoming. Bringing painting and poetry into conversation, the collection invites viewers to look beyond what is visible and reflect on the stories they carry within.

NiSi creates under NiSi’s Eyes, guided by the philosophy: “Where being seen becomes art.”