The Student Friends of the Ackland Art Museum (SFA) will be hosting its annual free-of-charge arts celebration at Ackland Art Museum, Art After Dark, this Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. During the celebration, attendees will have access to galleries, there will be a workshop and lecture by artists and the museum will be serving coffee and donuts.
SFA, who has put on the event for the past several years, hosts events around campus all year and works to promote art throughout the UNC community.
“We’re a group that works to engage our campus community and UNC students with the Ackland Art Museum because I think it’s a really great resource that not everyone knows about," SFA President, Ingrid Kottke said. "I know a lot of students that go for class, but I think it can be a really nice place to hang out with friends as well."
The highlight of Art After Dark will be the two showcased artists, Tim Youd, who will be giving a talk; and local, Erin Canady, who will be giving a workshop on graphite and watercolor.
“Ingrid Kottke has really expressed interest in bringing living artists into the museum to lead workshops, so there’s a connection between the museum, the students and local artists,” said Audrey Shore, communication assistant for the Ackland and adviser for SFA. “She reached out to a ton of local artists and was really interested, and Erin really wanted to be involved with Art After Dark, so it was kind of a perfect storm.”
Before the workshop, there will be the talk by Tim Youd, who has been working on a unique long-term project.
“He is completing a 10-year performance piece called '100 Novels,' and what he does is he selects a book and then picks a location that is significant to the book then goes to that location and retypes the book on a single sheet of paper using a typewriter from that time period," said Shore. "He’s coming to the Ackland and Wilson Library Dec. 1 through 10, and he’s retyping Daphne Athas’ 'Entering Ephesus.'”
On top of the artists, attendees will have the opportunity to view the Ackland’s featured exhibit “Flash of Light, Fog of War: Japanese Military Prints 1894-1905,” which features many wood-prints from the era.
“I have always loved art and love going to art museums," first-year Allison Lai said. "This event not only allows me to go to the museum before closing hours, but also allows me to be more engaged with art and the art featured there.”
