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(02/04/09 5:00am)
On a recent visit to the Ackland Art Museum to see the new exhibit"" ""Cultural Politics and Contemporary Art" I was immediately called out as a museum novice by the security guard. You've obviously never been here before" he stated bluntly, eyeing the pen in my hand. No pens in the galleries.""While I'm actually a pretty regular patron of the Ackland" the new student-curated exhibit integrated a mix of abstract and traditional art that proved to be a very eye-opening experience. The exhibit was put together by graduate and undergraduate students in an art class on contemporary art and politics led by professor Cary Levine.As I entered the gallery my senses were assaulted by the menagerie of mediums and genres a bright and noisy mixture that spanned many periods of American history culture and art. Most notably one corner of the space contained an orb onto which an eye was projected its pupil dilating as different TV clips resonated in the background. It's a display that throws the conventional stuffy museums of the elementary-school-field-trip brand right out.While the entire exhibit was multifaceted and thought-provoking" certain pieces were especially memorable. Andy Warhol's unexpectedly somber photo ""Birmingham Race Riot"" evoked the tension and discomfort that challenges the viewer to face such a dark period in history. Mabel Dwight's cartoonish ""Life Like"" examined gender through a sketch of a nude woman posing for a room full of gaping men.As I shuffled from tapestry to painting"" the photographs of Robert Frank proved most captivating. In ""Charleston" South Carolina the wide-eyed and weary (respectively) faces of a white baby and its black caretaker juxtaposes the discrepancies in privilege that were once an integral part of the South. Frank's Rodeo" New York City"" artfully — no pun intended — depicts the relaxed figure of a cowboy on the sidewalk of a New York City street"" an unexpected and thought-provoking subject that expands the scope of the exhibit's commentary.The student curators of ""Cultural Politics and Contemporary Art"" compiled an exhibit that struck the right balance of realism and abstraction" accessibility and complexity.And as I left the gallery I realized that the cultural politics addressed in the exhibit extended far beyond the confines of a small" crowded room inside the Ackland.Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(01/12/09 5:00am)
Joanne Marshall didn't exercise often 12 years ago. But as she watched her mother become ill and less mobile each day" she realized she had to make a life change.Yoga was the change she needed. The School of Information and Library Science professor has been teaching yoga at UNC since 2001.She will be leading a class at noon today in the Ackland Art Museum as part of the semimonthly ""Yoga in the Galleries"" event.""We're the only museum to offer Yoga in the Galleries"" said Nic Brown, director of communications at the Ackland.Yoga in the Galleries is one of several public events that is part of the art museum's efforts to reach out to the community.The Ackland is a primary resource for education"" Brown said. The more experiences we can get outside of the Ackland itself the better.""""Lunch with 1"" is monthly event that brings in an expert to discuss a piece of art or music. ""Art after Dark"" allows attendees to buy drinks from a cash bar while exploring art galleries.Each program strategically takes place in the evening or during lunch when professionals would more likely be able to attend.""We've been trying over the past two years to expand our public programming" Brown said. If you were just to look at a calendar of programs for Ackland just for the spring" it's been exponentially larger.""But while programming has expanded"" the museum has quickly reached its capacity.""We've reached saturation relatively quickly"" Brown said.Brown said the museum hosts smaller events because of the museum's limited space, but is looking to host events elsewhere.For example, Brown said holding a large concert within the Ackland's 25,639 square feet, confined to small galleries, would prove difficult.He said the smaller events such as Yoga in the Galleries help promote public attendance for now.Marshall said the quaint experiences offered by the art museum are important. She also teaches yoga at Ramshead Recreation Center on Tuesday nights, and said the opportunity to do yoga in art gallery was a rare and captivating experience.I think there are people who are coming in that would not have come before"" she said. People seem to be very intrigued by the idea of doing yoga in an art gallery.""Marshall said her style of yoga" which focuses more on reflection" fits nicely with the atmosphere of the Buddha-filled art galleries.""The more important side of yoga to me is this more reflective" centering and calming side" she said. It's just a beautiful place to do this style of yoga.""
(12/03/08 5:00am)
There is an energetic circuit pulsating through the galleries of the Ackland Art Museum.Circa 1958"" the exhibition assembled in celebration of the museum's 50th anniversary, generated an excited response from visitors, which in turn energized the museum staff about the Ackland's future shows.This is the biggest exhibition we've done" so everyone at the museum was excited about pulling it off" Director of Communications Nic Brown said. It's icing on the cake that the public responded so well.""The museum's relationship with its visitors extended beyond walls hung with art to include a torrent of lectures" concerts and parties to celebrate Ackland's birthday. The show opened Sept. 21 and will close Jan. 4 but Director Emily Kass said taking stock of the exhibition's achievement was possible even from the start.She said more than 700 people flushed through the galleries at its opening to see work from transformative artists of the 1950s and '60s" like Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg.That number does not include the more than 300 University students who attended the Ackland's fall semester welcome back party held in the walls of the exhibit. ""The large number of people who came to celebrate with us is really special because it's an affirmation that we're connecting with our community"" Kass said. But attendance is only part of the equation.""Kass said she also measures the show's success by its ties with students' curriculum and by scholarship generated by the exhibition.While the artists' names for spring's exhibitions may be less well-known — or even unrecognizable — Barbara Matilsky" Ackland's curator of exhibitions" said the shows' themes are just as relevant to visitors as the pieces from ""Circa 1958.""The Ackland's next exhibition"" ""At the Heart of Progress"" opens Jan. 24 and explores how the Industrial Revolution fired artists' imaginations about issues of technology and the environment.Kass said in planning for future exhibitions, the museum is conscious of the downward-spiraling economy. She said the University made small cuts in the Ackland's funding, which delays new hiring and some publications.The cuts will not affect the museum's expected acquisitions from Circa 1958"" in which the Ackland will purchase some pieces currently on loan to the exhibition. While the exact sales are yet to be nailed down, Kass said the museum has been saving its endowed acquisition funds, the pool of money set aside for this purchases, until she feels that the market is no longer overpriced. We're focusing on being prepared because everyone's affected by the economy"" Kass said. We've scaled back our budget but not in any way that I think will hurt the visitor experience."" Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(10/29/08 4:00am)
To help enhance the Ackland Art Museum's fiftieth anniversary" the museum will discuss the literature of a UNC alumnus who has become one of the most popular poets in history.Today and Thursday" the museum will host its ""Art and Literature in the Galleries"" event"" where fiction and poetry published in 1958 will be discussed. The event comes as part of the Ackland's ""Circa 1958: Breaking Ground in American Art"" series.This week's literature consists of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's ""A Coney Island of the Mind.""As the ninth installment of the literature series" which started in Jan. 2006" Ferlinghetti's poetry will diverge from previously discussed poetry.The discussions are open to the public and consist of roughly 20 people per discussion. They are facilitated by an Ackland educator and one UNC faculty member.""It's like the art — it's breaking new ground"" said Leslie Balkany, Ackland Art Museum educator. Things were being written that were unlike things written before in America.""This is not the first time Ferlinghetti's work has been shown at UNC. Ferlinghetti graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1941 and also wrote for The Daily Tar Heel.His collection of poetry"" ""A Coney Island of the Mind"" is one of the best selling books of poetry ever written, with more than 1 million copies printed.Ferlinghetti's poetry does not follow the standard line and rhythm of traditional poetry"" Balkany said. Though the connection between art and literature in the late 1950's may seem abstract, Balkany said many of the artists and writers intercommunicated.A lot of the art in the exhibition and Ferlinghetti's poetry both make very strong social commentaries"" said Hassan Melehy, associate professor of romance languages, who is facilitating the event.Melehy said during the event, he plans on discussing poetry's role and social commentary in 1958 through prepared questions.The idea is to read the literature and make connections with works of art in the exhibition"" Balkany said. It is a way to bring art and literature together to see similarities between a visual object and the written word.""The three-part literature and art series is also the first where the museum will offer two discussion sessions due to the event's high demand"" Balkany said.""Beat literature has a lot of things to offer students about social commentary and the role of poetry in society and in social activism" Melehy said.Both he and Balkany said students would experience the uniqueness of the event.This is an opportunity to look and think about things in ways different than how you normally would" Balkany said. It broadens your mind.""
(10/15/08 4:00am)
dth/cameron moseley
(10/14/08 4:00am)
Jim Ketch lectures students" plays jazz with them directs them and performs for them.Today he's just going to have lunch with them.Ketch along with his colleague Stephen Anderson from the UNC Department of Music and several students" will host ""Lunch with One: One Work of Art" One Expert" One Hour"" today at the Ackland Art Museum.It will be free for students after registering for a free membership to the museum.The program"" ""Jazz Takes a Leap: The Breakthrough Year of 1958"" is presented in conjunction with the museum's Circa 1958 exhibition, which explores art that emerged around the time of the museum's opening.Ketch said it was a period where jazz artists were looking for new avenues of expression.It's an interesting time in which there's sort of a culmination of two decades of really technical and virtuous advance of the music"" he said. It's kind of the advent of a whole new age of musical exploration.""Artists" who had previously played music based on set forms were looking for a more relaxed method of making music in the early 1960s" allowing them to improvise with greater flexibility.""If you think about the turbulent time of the 1960s" there was just a need to create different approaches to musical expression" Ketch said.Ketch and an ensemble will perform pieces that display this monumental shift from set form to free expression, using John Coltrane's fast-moving chords and Miles Davis' slow, cool music as examples.The lecture also will delve into the avant-garde movement, discussing the introduction of jazz without any rules or scales, and listening to the music of Ornette Coleman.The mobile jazz and the free jazz allowed us to realize that we could also draw from emotional expressive pallets rather than just harmonic" melodic and rhythmic palettes that had been previously used" Ketch said.Nic Brown, director of communications at the Ackland, said he was unsure about how many students would attend the lunch, as Fall Break officially starts a few hours later.Hopefully not everybody will have left for Fall Break yet"" Brown said.Despite the uncertainty of student attendance, the museum plans on hosting the lunch, using it to fulfil its duty of relating visual art to the entire campus.‘Lunch with One' is a way for us to bring people into the museum to have a connection in the museum other than just looking at art by yourself"" Brown said. It's important for us to incorporate the visual arts into the life of the whole University.""By getting the music department involved in the Circa 1958 series"" Brown said students are given a chance to explore more than just visual art at the Ackland.""It's a great chance to eat lunch in an art museum and hear from some of the best experts anywhere"" Brown said.ATTEND THE LUNCHTime: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. todayLocation: Ackland Art MuseumInfo: www.ackland.orgContact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(10/03/08 4:00am)
A glimpse of Circa 1958 By Jarrard Cole" Rachel Scall and Dioni Wise As the Ackland Art Museum celebrates it's 50th year it hosts one of its most extensive exhibitions.Director Emily Kass discuses this exhibition that showcases contemporary art.Artists like Warhol Yoko Ono and Kenneh Noland are showcased.Art creditsKenneth Noland American born 1924: That 1958-59; oil on canvas 83 x 83 inches. Collection of David Mirvish Toronto. Art @ Kenneth Noland/Licensed by VAGA New York NYMorris Louis American 1912 – 1962: Theta Beta 1960; acrylic resin paint on canvas 104 5/8 x 233 ½ inches. Ackland Art Museum Gift of Marcella Louis Brenner. ©1993 Marcella Louis Brenner.John Chamberlain American born 1927: Nutcracker 1958; painted steel 47 x 39 x 30 inches. Private Collection courtesy Allan Stone Gallery New York. © John Chamberlain /Artist Rights Society (ARS) New YorkYoko Ono: Painting to Hammer a Nail 1961/1966; painted wood panel nails painted hammer chain; 13 ¾ x 10 ½ x 4 ½ in. Realized according to the artist's instructions; with permission of the artist. © Yoko Ono
(09/29/08 4:00am)
Robertson Scholars will have to wait a few more years before they can have an on-campus building to call their own.Tony Brown president of the Robertson Scholars Program said plans to construct a free-standing building at UNC are on hold.Last spring program officials announced plans to have the building completed by 2010. Now starting the project will be delayed for two to three years" Brown said.""The decision to put the project on hold is a combination of two things" Brown said. As the program is growing we're unsure about our needs" and the cost of the facility was going up significantly.""The Robertson Scholars Program provides full-tuition scholarships for students to take classes at both UNC and Duke University.Brown said the program had already invested money in plans and design for the facility.""We hope to use the same plans for the facility once we are ready to move forward again with building" Brown said.One of the issues holding up the project is the added expense of building according to U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines.We value environmental issues" Brown said. We want to make a statement about our commitment to the environment.""Brown said he thinks the University will hold the land near the Ackland Art Museum for the project until the program is ready to proceed with construction.In the meantime" there are plans to improve the UNC Robertson facilities at Graham Memorial Hall" he said.""We're going to paint and add book space to make the area more scholar-oriented so they can have a place to come hang out"" Brown said.The free-standing building was originally pitched as a way to give the program more of an identity.Harrison Lee, a Robertson Scholar at Duke, said he thinks the program is cramped in Graham Memorial.Having the new building at UNC would have given us more space for outreach and special events"" Lee said.Sofia Wilson, a UNC Robertson Scholar, said she doesn't mind the project's delay.From what I understand it was pretty expensive for us right now"" Wilson said. It's probably best that the money be used elsewhere until we're ready to move forward with a new facility.""Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/25/08 4:00am)
Kevin Bacon, Ellen DeGeneres, Ice-T, Michael Jackson and the Ackland Art Museum have at least one thing in common: They all turn 50 in 2008.Not to snub any of the celebrities, but Student Friends of the Ackland will celebrate only the museum's 50th year at a party today with a student viewing of the anniversary exhibition, Circa 1958: Breaking Ground in American Art"" which opened Sunday.With food from Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery, music from hip-hop, indie and a cappella groups and a 1950s-inspired costume contest, Student Friends of the Ackland aims for the free party to be a way for students to make a connection with the museum.This is monumentally exciting"" said Kyle Fitch, Student Friends of the Ackland's advisor and the museum's director of annual giving. We may never compare to football"" but we want them to realize that art is fun."" The exhibition includes works from ground-breaking artists like Andy Warhol and Kenneth Noland. Fitch said the exhibition has an expressive quality that appeals to a younger generation.Ackland Director Emily Kass said the museum worked to make the exhibition accessible"" but the museum's nonacademic student connection could be stronger.""We weren't doing enough to make students feel welcome"" Kass said. We want you to have some ownership and know that this is your place. So we needed to extend that invitation.""While the museum and public programs are always free"" membership to the Student Friends of the Ackland gives students access to programs like special lunches and ""Yoga in the Galleries"" in addition to events specifically for group members.Fitch said membership increased from 80 active students last year to more than 500 students expressing interest this year.Elsa Hasenzahl, a senior journalism major and Student Friends of the Ackland president, said the majority of students at the group's interest meeting were majoring outside of a visual arts discipline.I think everyone misses taking art classes" and the opportunities to interact with art are less and less she said. People lose art along the way" so they are excited for these kinds of opportunities.""The combination of free membership and a provocative exhibition is enticing for students wanting to experience the local arts community.""This kind of art looks at the canvas as something completely different" and it prompts discussion Hasenzahl said. If you hear about this exhibit and don't go" you'll kick yourself later.""Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(09/22/08 4:00am)
Sept. 201958 was the first day the Ackland Art Museum opened its doors. Fifty years later" art from that period of American history is on display at the same museum.""Circa 1958: Breaking Ground in American Art"" which opened Sunday, is the Ackland's largest and most ambitious exhibition to date and features works from some of the most influential artists of the 1950s and '60s.I wanted to know what was going on in the art world in 1958" when we opened our doors" said Emily Kass, director of the museum.And as America changed, a lot was also going on in the art world. New styles of painting and sculpting emerged as NASA formed, the space race heated up and the Cold War kept going.A lot of the work in the exhibition is early emerging work by early emerging artists who created mature work and went on to evolve their ideas in the '60s"" Kass said. But these are some very rare and seminal pieces by artists.""One of these pieces is an interactive art piece by Yoko Ono" where visitors are encouraged to hammer a nail into a reflective surface mounted on a mirror.Rare" early works by a pre-Campbell's Soup Andy Warhol and a pre-Pop Art Roy Lichtenstein are also on display.""Just as these artists were breaking ground in American art" we were also this kind of new uncasted unformed museum and our direction has ultimately been that" Kass said.Kass said the exhibition explores how 1958 was a cross section of American culture — when many ideas were percolating and germinating in the American psyche.These new ideas, like the peace movement and other political and social ideas, later came to the forefront in 1960s America.Post-Painterly Abstraction and Assemblage, two styles on display in the exhibition, emerged in 1958 in conjunction with these new ideas. Both styles rebelled against the established and nearly 20-year-old style of Abstract Expressionism, made famous by Jackson Pollock.Barbara Matilsky, curator of exhibitions at the Ackland, said there was a point in 1958 when people thought the forms and formulas of Abstract Expressionism didn't express the new age and new ideals in America.Nic Brown, Ackland director of communications, described Post-Painterly Abstraction as impersonal"" — a style that uses clean" simple lines based in color theory.Assemblage Brown said" ""is Robert Rauschenberg making art from trash"" literally.""The paintings"" the sculptures and the pile of balled-up newspapers are all seen as objects. ""It's just a flat canvas with paint and color and forms and lines" so it's an object and (with Assemblage) the art is all about working with objects" Matilsky said.The exhibition, which occupies four of the museum's galleries, flows from one room the next. While each room explores different styles of art emerging in 1958, the Ackland threads a cohesive theme that connects all rooms of the exhibition: art for art's sake.Crisp edges" separating colors line composition — art for art's sake so that the art becomes an object" said Matilsky.It's not a window into the artist's emotions; it's not a window into a landscape or a portrait — it's just beautiful and appreciated for all those different elements that make up a painting.""Experiencing art as just art is the ultimate goal.""Frank Stella said" ‘What you see is what you see""" she said.
(09/19/08 4:00am)
Orientation. Meeting the new chancellor. Dinner on Franklin Street.It might sound like C-TOPS but the Tar Heels descending on campus this weekend are hardly first-years.A group of 160 alumni will spend time on campus today and Saturday as members of the Board of Visitors an advisory body to the chancellor and the Board of Trustees" that convenes twice a year.And some of the members are as excited to be on campus as incoming students.""It's Chapel Hill — it's like coming home"" Board of Visitors Vice Chairman Michael Kennedy said.This year, the board will evaluate a variety of issues that the University has outlined as priorities, starting with ways to attract students, one of Chancellor Holden Thorp's top priorities.We have been very blessed historically with a great student body" and we take great pride in this said Board of Visitors Chairman Jeff Allred. But we're going to expand and grow over the years" and we need to make sure that the best and brightest are still coming to Carolina.""Allred and Kennedy also are working on the implementation of a grassroots lobbying body that would argue for laws to benefit the University.The arrival of the new chancellor will change the board's focus in a positive way"" Allred said.""Any time you have a change you have someone looking at the system anew" he said. He's an impressive man" and it's going to be fun working with him.""Board members arrived on campus Thursday afternoon and attended a preview of the 1958 Exhibition at the Ackland Art Museum. New members attended an orientation at the Morehead Building.Today"" all members will attend a series of presentations designed to acquaint them with pressing issues on campus.""We see this as an advisory role" where we are helping the University think through a variety of issues" Allred said. And what we want to take out of these meetings is a sense of urgency to act on behalf of the alumni and Carolina as a whole.""Susan Rosenthal" a new board member" said she is excited to take part in changes on campus.""I hope to find ways that I can contribute ideas" or a vision or an objective perspective to UNC she said. Ultimately" I would like to find a way to make a difference.""Alumni expressed excitement to be back in Chapel Hill for the weekend.""These are some of the best and brightest of our alumni in the nation"" Allred said. It's fun to be with them.""Kennedy said he is looking forward to the camaraderie and the focus on campus this weekend. ""Many of these people haven't been back to school in years" he said. It's great getting everyone united" renewing old friendships and making new ones.""Allred said being on campus brings people back to their days as undergraduates.""It reminds people of the time they were most curious.""Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/19/08 4:00am)
Board of Visitors returns to discuss University prioritiesThe Board of Visitors is coming to campus this weekend. They will hear about different projects and meet with administrators. Topics of discussion include student recruitment and government relations.See the related articles below for the full story.Professor receives EUREKA award for genetic researchBrian Strahl professor of biochemistry and biophysics received the Exceptional Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration or EUREKA award.Strahl will receive an $8000 four-year research grant from the National Institutes of Health for research on proteins that help package DNA in cells.Strahl's research could increase understanding of diseases such as cancer.See the related articles below for the full story.Ackland Museum to open exhibit ‘Circa 1958' SundayThe Ackland Art Museum will open its new exhibit" ""Circa 1958: Breaking Ground in American Art"" at 1 p.m. Sunday.The exhibit features and explores two extremely different styles of art that emerged around 1958.The exhibition" which was organized by the Ackland and Guest Curator Roni Feinstein will run through Jan. 4.
(09/04/08 4:00am)
Technological advances around the world and on campus are helping advance the University's mission in areas such as medicine and communication.But an often overlooked beneficiary of such innovation is the artistic community.Today and Saturday on the second floor of Hyde Hall the Institute for the Arts and Humanities is hosting workshops in preparation for Collaborations: Humanities Arts and Technology" a digital arts festival slated for 2010 that will take place on UNC's campus.""Our point of view is that new digital technologies are transforming the arts and how people teach and present and understand their work"" said John McGowan, director of the IAH.We're trying to gather people on campus working on those new technologies and have a festival to display their work. We're going to bring in people from around the world who are doing this innovative work and show it to the community.""The festival will incorporate more than a dozen venues and performance spaces all over campus" from Memorial Hall to the Ackland Art Museum to Morehead Planetarium during a 10-day span in February 2010.But as a whole the concept of advances in digital art still might be a bit foggy.McGowan gave a few more concrete examples of the types of projects CHAT will encompass" from the utilitarian to what he described as ""almost a publicity stunt.""That publicity stunt would involve getting Google Earth's satellite focused on Chapel Hill.""We can enlist 600 students to form something that says 'UNC' or 'Go Tar Heels' on the quad and have it displayed on Google Earth"" McGowan said.For the most part, organizers said the workshops will bring together people still very much in the brainstorming phase of their projects.Participation in the workshops isn't a prerequisite for being involved in the festival itself, but McGowan said the workshops will serve as one of the first opportunities for putting heads together.If you're interested in working on a digital humanities or arts project" come explore the possibilities for collaboration and support the institute's Web site announced. Share ideas" resources and skills and start to collaborate with people who share a common interest.""Many organizations on campus are involved in the collaborative effort" ranging from Carolina Performing Arts to the School of Information and Library Science and to the Renaissance Computing Initiative.With the amount of support and the number of minds collectively involved with this weekend's workshops and the upcoming event itself organizers say the CHAT festival will be one of the few events of its kind" especially in this area.""In San Jose" the center of Silicon Valley I think they're in their third year of having a digital arts festival McGowan said.But I must admit" I've never heard of another campus doing this. We might be out in front as far as other universities.""Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(08/28/08 4:00am)
Plans for what some refer to as Chapel Hill's "best kept secret" are moving in a new direction.
(08/18/08 4:00am)
Correction: Due to a reporting error, this story states that Robert Cantwell co-curated the Ackland exhibit "The '50s and the Anti-'50s." He is teaching a class on the subject of the exhibit.
A $1.25 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will be pumping through the veins of the Ackland Art Museum in the coming years with the impetus of enhancing the museum's role in University education.
(08/18/08 4:00am)
Infused with the success of both its main-stage and PRC2 series and armed with a new face in its administration, PlayMakers Repertory Company is entering the 2008-09 season with fresh ideas and a slate of fresh performances.
Hannah Grannemann will join the organization as its new managing director in charge of administrative functions. That will let Producing Artistic Director Joe Haj focus more on the theater's artistic goals.
(04/14/08 4:00am)
A spinning dress made of banana peels stitched together. Flower sculptures reminiscent of the human brain. A house decorated with coffee grounds, honey and straight pins.
No, you haven't gone through the rabbit hole; you are entering the creative world of UNC graduate art students.
On Friday the Ackland Art Museum unveiled the newest works by six graduating Master of Fine Arts students in the art department's Studio Art Program. The annual show is one of the museum's most popular and well-attended shows of the year.
The exhibit, called "New Currents in Contemporary Art," will run through May 11.
Nic Brown, director of communications at Ackland, said the title of the show attests to the artists' potential.
"The show title is pretty fitting because it doesn't get much newer in contemporary art than students who are graduating within weeks and then entering the art world," Brown said. "This group will be part of the next wave of artists who are defining the way the art world is going."
Most of the artists already have work featured in galleries around the nation, from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest, said Christine Huber, assistant curator of exhibitions at the museum.
And like UNC's graduate program in studio art, the exhibit is not genre specific.
An interactive installation piece by Cat Manolis features motion sensors that trigger a unique audio clip and a spotlight that illuminates a pair of sparkling lederhosen made of black rubber, leather and metal, dotted with sequins, as it hangs from the ceiling.
Manolis' interactive pieces stress ideas that are concurrent with a contemporary trend in installation art: Visual art should be entertaining and accessible to the visitor.
"All of this is playing off the idea that people should feel comfortable interacting with art," Manolis said. "It should be entertainment; it should be like any other art form. It should entertain you. The whole aura and mystique around artwork is that there is this genius artist and their work, and this hidden-away treasure. It's gone."
Where Manolis explores accessibility and entertainment, photographer Taj Forer's work examines the concepts of nature and community while creating a compelling narrative of a community farm in Cedar Grove.
Just steps from Forer's photography are Brad Reagan's flower sculptures, Natalia Vega-Forero's and Ellie Pierson's installation pieces and Lori Esposito's paintings. The collection is truly an eclectic mix.
Brown said the exhibition is viewed as one of the last steps in the students' university education, as it is the first museum showing for many of the MFA candidates.
"It's cool for us to give these artists a chance to have, in some cases, their first exhibition in a real museum," Brown said. "It's also another learning opportunity, as they now get to see how an installation happens and how to work with the museum staff."
"But most importantly these exhibitions are always good."
Contact the Arts Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(03/18/08 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Donations to the senior campaign have accelerated in recent months, though the participation level is still less than last year's class at the same time.
As of early March, 153 seniors have pledged $13,878.80, said Scott Ragland, director of communications in the Office of University Advancement.
Of the total donations given, 62 are specifically for Carolina for Kibera, the official charity of choice for the senior class.
"I don't think there's much concern with it right now," said Veronica Mora, senior class vice president. "It's something everyone starts doing after Spring Break with the realization of graduation coming up."
Less than 4 percent of the senior class has donated. The goal is to have 30.5 percent of the senior class participate.
Mora said that this small percentage is common and that last year at the same time about 6 percent of the senior class had donated.
"We're telling people just to give in general but especially to CFK," Senior Marshal Justin Crouch said.
A little more than 40 percent of the donations so far have been given to CFK, and no other charity has more than a handful of donors. Other groups receiving donations include the Ackland Art Museum and the School of Nursing Foundation, which are the second and third most popular groups, respectively.
"We're going to be in the Pit a lot more after Spring Break," Mora said. "With SpringFest at the end of April, most students can get in by giving a can food donation, but we are encouraging seniors to give a donation to the senior campaign."
Mora expects that Wednesday's Commencement information session will put seniors in the giving mood.
And in addition to the seniors themselves, others are making pledges to the senior campaign.
There are two donors promising to match the senior class's donations if they meet certain participation requirements.
UNC alumnus David Pardue and his wife, Becky, are matching donations given to CFK up to $25,000, Mora said.
Reactions to the selection of CFK as the official class gift have been mixed.
Senior Scott Farmer said he donated to the Kenan-Flagler Business School because he was told there will be renovations there soon.
"I figured (seniors) would just like to see something, whether it's charity in Chapel Hill, they would like to be able to come back and see some of the changes that have occurred," Farmer said.
Other students are well-versed and excited about the work that CFK is doing on campus.
"I've read a lot about it," said senior biomedical engineering major Sagar Rathie, who donated to CFK.
He added that while he thought CFK was a worthwhile organization, the most important thing is that seniors participate.
Organizations seniors have donated to:
Carolina for Kibera
Ackland Art Museum
School of Nursing Foundation
Kenan-Flagler Business School
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(02/27/08 5:00am)
Celebration of jazz to bring noted performers to UNC
The 31st annual Carolina Jazz Festival begins at 4 p.m. today in the Hill Hall auditorium with "Meet the Artists," a jam session featuring UNC music department faculty members James Ketch and Stephen Anderson, among others.
The performers will hold a concert and a conversation, kicking off the four-day festival that also stops at Memorial Hall and other venues.
Go to dailytarheelarts.wordpress.com for the full schedule and description.
Congress appropriates funds, creates advisory committee
(02/13/08 5:00am)
Elegant decor in cyan and chocolate, walls accented with oval mirrors and a baby-grand piano adorn the lobby, bar and entrance to the Franklin Hotel.
And last month this 18-month-old addition to Franklin Street won the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce's 2007 Business Newcomer of the Year Award.
The award is given to a chamber-member business that is less than three years old and shows innovation, creativity and contribution to the community.