Painter Beverly McIver, the NCCU SunTrust Endowed Chair Professor of Art, rented out her studio at the studios off East Main Street to upper-level NCCU students for a semester while she worked in New York.

“Our advanced students were able to use this space so they could work in a professional environment off campus,” said adjunct instructor and painter Chad Hughes, who also rents at Golden Belt.

A lot of people at Golden Belt knew Neal because he would frequently would come down to the studios with Hughes or McIver. Both are his teachers, and he said he has learned a lot from them.

“I take bits and pieces from both of them and do my own thing,” he said. “When I actually do color portraits of people, I take different aspects to make it into both of them.”

Neal was excited about getting to work at Golden Belt, even if it was only for a semester.

“To work down here is amazing, even just to show my work is a great opportunity,” he said.

At Golden Belt, Neal was able to communicate and network with other artists. He also participated in events like the monthly “Third Friday Durham” art show when the studios serve wine and cheese and the public can view and purchase pieces from many different artists.

“It was just an added bonus to meet people on Third Fridays, also people that want to buy your work,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity.”

If Neal wasn’t at the studio, he was in class and vice versa. He said he probably went to the studio every day. He turned McIver’s space into his own, with many of his works spilling onto three of the four walls of the room.

Along with the paintings he completed last semester, Neal brought many from his regular art studio, his apartment, including “Tears of A Man,” a painting of a man composed of different colors on a canvas.

“It’s like the man is never supposed to cry,” Neal said. The meaning of the picture is actually the opposite, that a man can cry and still be a man. He outlined the man in red, symbolizing the intensity and fire of a man. Neal said he likes color, and being able to make it his own.

“I go from abstract, to a child growing and being faced with many obstacles, to a girl dealing with peer pressure,” he said. “Just different things in different communities and life.”

As the semester ended, so did Neal’s time in the Golden Belt studio. However, because of the connections he’s made, he will still be able to participate in events as an outside artist. Until then, he will be painting in his apartment.

The former art club president at his high school in Greensboro, Neal has big dreams. He wants to get a master’s of fine arts degree and teach art at the college level once he graduates from NCCU in December 2013.

“I got stuff I have to get to,” he said.

This article is reprinted with permission from the Northeast Central Durham Community VOICE (durhamvoice.org). The VOICE is dedicated to telling the authentic stories of its dynamic urban community. A joint project of the journalism programs at NCCU and UNC, the VOICE is staffed primarily by local urban high school aged youth, with mentoring by NCCU/UNC journalism students. The VOICE, launched in September 2009, is supported by a grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, in partnership with the City of Durham as well as local civic, church, arts, education and social justice leaders. Interested teen writers are encouraged to contact durhamvoice@gmail.com