I WAS HERE: The Wrightsville Beach Mailbox at Shell Island
About this Event
OPENING RECEPTION COOKOUT - AUGUST 4, 5pm-8pm
A multi-model interactive installation primarily featuring print and digital works inspired by letters, notes, artifacts collected from the Wrightsville Beach Mailbox at Shell Island.
Located at the north end of Wrightsville Beach island, The Wrightsville Beach Museum Mailbox at Shell Island is a hidden gem where visitors can leave personal messages. Originally placed in 2003, the mailbox has become a place for heartfelt notes and reflections. Over time, the journals are collected and moved to the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History, where they are displayed and archived. The mailbox creates a unique way for people to participate in a conversation through time and space. The letters and notes provide insight into the full scope of humanity. Many are letters to lost loved ones or the universe, some are very sad, some are deeply funny. Many are a mixture of emotions. Confessions, goals, dreams, affirmations, statements of gratitude.For over 100 years, generations have come to Wrightsville Beach to make lasting memories. Wrightsville Beach Museum is so lucky to be the forever home of so many of our community's photos and stories, ensuring those memories are preserved and shared. Every day the museum plays host to a mixture of residents, visitors, and people who don’t neatly fit into either category. The mailbox is in many ways a monument to those memories and people. A primary feature of this exhibition will be a project highlighting the emotional experience of archiving and connecting past to present.
UNCW MA Public History Practica: Shell Island Legacy, Connecting Past to Present
Shell Island Beach is an important piece of the history of black leisure sites in Coastal Carolina and the realities of segregation in a tourism driven economy. Between 1917 - 1926, efforts were made to develop what envisioned as a “mirror of Wrightsville Beach” or “National Negro Playground” on what was then a separate island. The resort was only open for three summers between 1923 and 1926, but is a key historical touchpoint for the history of Black tourism in the area. In many ways, the mailbox has become a form of ‘sacred space’ for complex emotion that has never fully been connected to the site’s history.
Junior Docent Summer Practicum
A special interactive installation featuring creative works and multimedia projects inspired by the 23 years worth of letters left in the Shell Island Mailbox by the Junior Docents curated by Olivia Stetler (Wilmington Early College). This summer Junior Docents learned communications design and studio art skills are key parts of designing exhibits and interpreting history. Bring headphones for the full experience!
Artists and Community Curators:
Deidre Carney is an interdisciplinary contemporary artist and curator of the Wrightsville Beach Museum. Deidre’s work is mostly influenced by dynamic engagement, utilizing archival and digital arts methods to explore the relationship between the ephemeral and the preserved, the curated and the collaborative.
Rebekah Burroughs is a student in the UNCW Public History Program, curating for the Wrightsville Beach Museum as part of her Graduate Practica course. Rebekah has worked in curation and museum collections at The Country Doctor Museum in Bailey, NC, and the Wilmington Railroad Museum and Burgwin-Wright House and Gardens.
Wrightsville Beach Museum Junior Docents: A Tar Heel Junior Historian Association Club is a free club for students in grades 4-12 where students learn by doing. Students in the program gain curatorial and creative arts skills through participation in every stage of the process. Junior Docents is part of the Tar Heel Junior Historian program administered by the NC Museum of History.
This exhibit is act of community curation built by students from Wrightsville Beach Elementary, Noble Middle School , Cape Fear Academy, Wilmington Early College High School, SEA-Tech High School, UNCW, UNC Charlotte, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ULB - Université libre de Bruxelles, Kent State University and more.
ON VIEW: August 4-6
OPENING RECEPTION COOKOUT: August 4 - 5:00pm-8:00pm ($25 Suggested Donation)
An Evening with Ben Keys: August 5 - 5:30pm - 7:00pm
This exhibit and the WBM Summer Education Program is made possible by The Endowment Arts & Culture Program administered by The Arts Council of Wilmington & NHC.
Thank you to Harris Teeter and Middle of the Island Catering for their generous support of our opening reception cookout.
Agenda
🕑: 05:00 PM - 08:00 PM
Opening Reception Cookout- August 4, 2026
Info: Enjoy the beautiful sunset over the water at Seapath Marina and join us for a family friendly cookout to kick off the pop-up exhibit and celebrate the hard work of the students in the program. RVSP highly encouraged. Donations welcome! Suggested Donation $25.
🕑: 05:30 PM - 07:00 PM
An Evening with Ben Keys - August 5, 2026 - Hosted by Olivia Stetler
Host: Olivia Stetler and Ben Keys
Info: Join us for a special evening with artist Ben Keys! Junior Docent Olivia Stetler will ask Ben Keys questions about his experiences making the Wrightsville Beach paintings early in his career and what it's like being a working professional artist.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
