Mixed Concrete is back for its third annual show, with two major goals in mind: to continue uniting the Chapel Hill community and to raise even more money than last year for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.
In order to accommodate growing crowds, Mixed Concrete’s fundraising art show will be a weekend event this year, hosted by TRU Deli & Wine on Rosemary Street. The opening reception Friday night is a main component of the show and will feature guest speakers Christine Odom, executive director for Habitat for Humanity for N.C., and future homeowner Sherry Horne.
Burgess Robinson, co-founder and this year’s co-director of the art show, worked with a group of eight people to organize the event, including people from the Greek community and the Undergraduate Art Association.
This year, Mixed Concrete also worked with the Campus Y, Carolina Creates, art groups like Students for the Benefit of the Fine Arts (SBFA),UNC Habitat for Humanity and Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.
“We’re trying to create value in our community by bringing these groups together,” Robinson said.
Josh Ellis, a co-director of Mixed Concrete and co-chairman for UNC Habitat for Humanity, said the event is really unique and that people from all over Chapel Hill are going to be involved, not just the UNC community.
“I think it’s a cool way to raise money,” he said. “There’s a lot of benefits by restaurants and 5Ks, but there’s not a lot of art shows, especially ones that are student-run.”
However, charity art shows are not new to all of the team’s members. Sophomore and co-director Caroline Orr said she realized on a trip to Tanzania that art can do more than hang on a wall and look pretty.
“You can use art as a vehicle for something, and it doesn’t have to be just art for art’s sake,” she said. “It can spark awareness towards a cause.”
Ellis and Orr are two of over 40 artists featured in this year’s show. Ellis said all mediums of art are accepted. Over 150 pieces — from photography to paintings to jewelry — will be sold,reporter’s notes, which Robinson said is triple the numbers of Mixed Concrete’s first show in 2012.
Robinson, a senior physics major, said he thinks the reason Mixed Concrete is still going strong is because of the response they have gotten over the past two years.
“The feedback has said ‘This is an awesome event. This is an event that doesn’t exist anywhere else in any other form. No one is bringing these groups together. No one is creating something as unexpected as Mixed Concrete,’” he said.
Participating artist Anthony Hamilton also said Mixed Concrete is great for the community as a whole.
“It’s great for emerging artists, it’s great for Habitat for Humanity, a charitable organization, and it’s great for small businesses trying to have a presence in Chapel Hill,” Hamilton said.
Emily Lucas, a recent UNC graduate and another co-founder of Mixed Concrete, said she is impressed with how far the show has come from its first year and with the leadership role Robinson has taken within the team. His goals for this year include raising $10,000, compared to last year’s $6,000, and to make Mixed Concrete a big fundraiser on campus.
“We want so many people there that the police have to shut down Rosemary,” Robinson said.
arts@dailytarheel.com
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