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The Daily Tar Heel
Town Talk

Yates may not be occupied, but it sure is colorful

The site of a controversial Chapel Hill police raid in November is now home to a colorful display of local window artwork — and Friday, town residents will gather at West End Wine Bar to celebrate.

The abandoned Yates Motor Company building, located on West Franklin Street, is featuring window art made possible by the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership since December.

Carrboro artist Charles Chace’s work was constructed in early March and will remain in the building’s window until June. Friday’s event — a reception to celebrate the piece — will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will feature a meet-and-greet with Chace and an exhibition of more of his artwork, said Meg McGurk, interim director of the partnership.

McGurk said the project was conceived in October.

The first installation, a monochromatic holiday-themed piece, was created by UNC student Adrian Schlesinger, McGurk said.

She said the work’s progress was briefly disrupted by the Occupy Chapel Hill encampment of the building in early November.

“We were already working weeks before that happened,” McGurk said. “It was a blip in the timeline of the project.”

Schlesinger’s work, which was displayed from December until the beginning of March, featured a kitchen and living room scene as a family celebrates the holidays.

Chace’s piece replaced the piece early last month.

“It’s not just an art piece, it’s more of an engineering feat,” McGurk said.

Chace said his work — which features colored cardboard shingles shaped into a multidimensional rectangle — was inspired by the colors of spring and the low cost of his materials.

“I was trying to accumulate a lot of things that were kind of worthless and reappropriate them,” Chace said. “The worth comes from the time you put into them.”

The Orange County Social Club donated cardboard and Fitch Lumber provided nails and paint for Chace’s artwork.

Chace, who began his art career with an apprenticeship after high school, said he normally works in video and multimedia, but was draw to the idea of multidimensionality in space.

“When I got in the space, I immediately knew I was going to do some sculptural dimensional thing,” Chace said.

And local residents are taking notice of Chace’s innovative use of space.

Maya Colson, a Carrboro resident, said the window art was a better use of the space.

“It definitely caught our attention with the layers, Colson said. “It’s definitely an eye-catcher.”

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