746 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(10/18/06 4:00am)
Caitlin McLean is just one of many students who can vividly recall getting lost on campus.
McLean, a sophomore political science major, said she got lost trying to take a shortcut between some buildings and had to retrace her steps to start all over again.
The University is trying to help students such as McLean, as well as visitors, more easily navigate the campus.
Way-finding maps - large maps of the entire campus - and building identification signs are in the process of being installed, said Jill Coleman, a landscape architect.
Two way-finding maps already have been installed. One is near the Morehead parking lot and the other is by the bus stop along South Road in front of the Student Union.
Both signs were installed in time for University Day last week in order to better aid the many visitors to campus.
"I think that the signs will help visitors a lot," said Si On Lim, a sophomore biochemistry major. "Freshmen would probably use them too, but I think mainly the people that come to campus events like football games would benefit."
McLean said she thinks that students and visitors will use the way-finding maps, but that they need to be placed in the most conspicuous areas of campus so they are easy to find.
Coleman said the maps target pedestrians.
"We located them in places where the largest number of visitors will come onto campus," she said.
By placing only two campus maps so far, University officials said they hope to get feedback about locations and usage of the maps.
Coleman said that the actual design of the maps will be adapted, and that more maps will be put up around campus after they assess the community's response.
Along with the way-finding maps, building identification signs also will be installed in front of campus buildings and all residence halls.
In the past few months, these signs have been placed along Manning Drive and up to the Ackland Art Museum.
"I think they're great. It is very helpful to be able to identify the building when you drive by since so many people come onto campus by car," Coleman said.
She said she knows that a lot of people who come to campus don't know the names of all the buildings.
The residence hall signs will show both the name of the hall and the community to which it belongs.
"I live in Whitehead, and we had a sign on a pole, but it fell down, and the only other sign is on the wall of the building, and it's not really visible," Lim said, noting that people confuse Whitehead Residence Hall as being a part of the Carolina Inn but wouldn't if there was a sign.
Sophomore Curtis Dunn, said he thinks the signs will be a helpful addition to campus.
"I think the large maps are a good idea for both first-year students and visitors," Dunn said. "The building signs could get to be a little overwhelming, though."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/14/06 4:00am)
Not long ago, Joel Hanks offered his friends a proposition:
"Let's just do a show, we'll play a bar, we'll do some Sublime songs; it'll be fun."
He never imagined that he would spend the next five years making a career of it.
Hanks now plays bass at sold-out shows across the nation with Badfish, a self-described tribute to Sublime that is arguably one of the most popular bands of its kind in music today.
The group is only one of many in a growing wave of musical mimicry, with the formation of tributes and cover bands skyrocketing in recent years.
Google the subject, and you'll find a plethora of Web sites and message boards listing booking information, rating shows on "likeness" and "authenticity," and debating the distinction between a "cover band" and a "tribute band."
Even in Chapel Hill, such groups are no longer restricted to the Friday-night frat party or the Jones-Henderson wedding reception, infiltrating the likes of Cat's Cradle and other beloved indie-rock havens.
"There's a lot more cover bands now than there were 10 years ago, and you couldn't even find a tribute band 20 years ago," said UNC music operations manager Paul Cole.
"I would definitely call what's going on now a phenomenon."
As far as basic differentiation goes, cover bands are your typical, "Shake Your Booty," bar mitzvah fare, whereas tribute bands usually impersonate their source givers as immaculately as possible, costumes and all.
In Cole's case, the description falls somewhere in the middle. Cole is a founding member of The BackBeat, a local Beatles and '60s cover band composed of four UNC alumni.
You might not hear British accents or see flamboyant Sgt. Pepper's garb on the BackBeat boys, Cole said, but the group mixes a precise replication of The Beatles' sound with the aesthetic appeal of the flower-power era when performing.
"For us, it's all about the music," he said.
The BackBeat began as what Cole describes as a "sort of educational outreach" when the photography of famed Beatles' wife Linda McCartney went on display at the Ackland Art Museum in 2001.
"They called me, since I work in the music department, and were asking if I knew a Beatles cover band for the event," he said.
Cole didn't, so he decided to make his own.
Five years later The BackBeat plays gigs almost every weekend, ranging in variety from chancellors' receptions to biker bars, and the band will have its first show at Cat's Cradle in October.
"With this particular group of guys, its just what we're into," he said. "We get a bigger kick out of doing this than our own stuff."
Like the members of The BackBeat, Hanks and his Badfish bandmates fell into the world of cover bands by chance.
"At first it was just for fun, so we could hang out with our friends at the local bar, make some extra cash," Hanks said of the band's initial Sublime tribute in 2001.
However, the one-time tribute to the SoCal group soon turned into a monthly gig, and by Sept. 2002 Badfish was selling out bars across New England.
"We went from playing one market to four markets. The tour started for two weeks and then went to three weeks, then four," he said. "It was a very natural build."
After years on the road, Badfish now claims ownership to a level of popularity that few cover bands have managed to replicate.
"Not a lot of people, especially when we play on the East Coast, ever got a chance to see Sublime, and we're giving them an opportunity to see these songs performed live," Hanks said.
"It just seems like we've fallen upon this niche, and I feel very lucky for that," he said.
However, despite the fact that the group deems itself a tribute to Sublime, Hanks said he and his bandmates are not in the business of emulating the ska-punk legends.
"We've never had that idea to be the band," he said. "We're Badfish, and we don't try to be Sublime. We're doing our own idea of what these songs should be."
Many cover bands go beyond simply performing songs and re-imagine them for a new audience.
The pop-punk supergroup, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes first brought songs by the likes of John Denver and Elton John to the Warped Tour crowd with 1997's Have A Ball.
Then, taking a different route, in 2003 the Easy Star All-Stars released Dub Side of the Moon, a complete album covering Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in a reggae style.
Easy Star Records musical director and Dub Side producer Michael Goldwasser said the idea came from his close friend Lem Oppenheimer.
"I did some preliminary arrangements and thought it might work, and then we put together the All-Stars for that record and started production," Goldwasser said.
Dub Side was an instant hit, and as the band embarked on a national tour in support of the album, anticipation began to grow for the group's next cover.
Distributors suggested the next project be another Pink Floyd album, The Wall, but Goldwasser had another vision in mind: Radiodread, a reggae take on Radiohead's modern classic, OK Computer.
"We wanted to move out of the '70s and do something for our generation," he said.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for Goldwasser has been earning a reputation as a cover musician while directing a record label that focuses on original artists.
"I think every musician and composer wants to be known for original material," he said. "It comes from your mind, it comes from your heart, it's you.
"But I don't consider what we are doing as a cover, I feel like what we do is reinterpretation - taking something old, rearranging it and doing something new to it.
"Hopefully people can see it as art."
Regardless of success stories such as Dub Side of the Moon, the cover band explosion has drawn as much criticism as it has interest.
"There is a certain negative attitude among a certain group of musicians," said Cole of the flack cover bands often receive.
"We were once part of that, but you grow up after a while," he said. "We enjoy what we're doing, and that's all that matters."
However, Cole said much of the backlash has stemmed from tribute bands that take their acts to the extreme.
"They've got more of a Hollywood aspect to it," he said. "The guys in those tribute bands are just as much actors as they are musicians, and they can carry that big ego that gets a bad rap."
Hanks and Badfish have faced similar criticism but also have wondered if they hold an obligation to the surviving members of Sublime.
"I think the guys in the band are not psyched about it," he said.
But Hanks said he and his bandmates aren't affected by the negative commentary, no matter the source.
"You can't please everyone, whether you're in a cover band or doing original stuff," he said.
"I'm so amazed by the response we get, though. So many people thank us for what we do because they could never get this experience otherwise, and that's very special to us," he said.
In Goldwasser's opinion, music is music, no matter who wrote the songs.
"If we make music that makes people happy and brings joy to the world, than we have succeeded in what we hope to do as musicians."
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(08/29/06 4:00am)
The Ackland Art Museum now has a leader to oversee the expansion that will almost double the museum's size.
(08/23/06 4:00am)
Striving to be named the nation's leading public university comes with an expensive price tag - about $241.2 million during the course of a year to be exact.
That was the amount of money UNC brought in during fiscal year 2006 as part of the Carolina First campaign, the University's private fundraising effort.
"These private dollars do provide a margin of excellence," said Matt Kupec, vice chancellor for University advancement and the campaign's public advocate.
"I think we've been resilient in continuing to make that case."
The total was the largest amount the campaign has reeled in since it began in July 1999 - it also marked the first time the $200 million mark was broken.
Carolina First fundraisers said they hope to raise $2 billion by December 2007. So far about $1.826 billion has been raised.
Kupec said the University is on its way to raising $2.1 to $2.2 billion.
This summer a number of hefty donations were made to the campaign.
On a May 23 ceremony in Washington, D.C., Chancellor James Moeser received a $5 million gift from FedEx Corp. to support the construction of the Global Education Center. The complex will house all international studies programs for the College of Arts and Sciences, including study abroad.
The University also received a $22.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in May to support the clinical trial of an oral drug that treats African sleeping sickness. An international research consortium will be led by UNC faculty to carry out the trial.
The Dooley family of Charlotte established the Parker-Dooley Fund for Southern History with a $250,000 gift to the Southern Historical Collection. A 350-piece collection of papers and letters of Robert W. Parker, who served as a soldier in the Second Virginia Cavalry in 1861 and is an ancestor of the Dooleys, will be donated to Wilson Library.
Money generated through the campaign will fund merit scholarships, provide faculty support and reduce capital project expenses.
According to the campaign's Web site, the drive is ahead of pace as it races toward its conclusion.
If the campaign can take in $12.1 million each month until its end, it will reach its goal. Since the campaign began, Carolina First has averaged $22.4 million a month.
In October, University officials announced that they were upping the ante by increasing the original goal of $1.8 billion to $2 billion. The deadline to raise the funds also was extended by six months.
And University officials don't expect to stop seeing an influx of green after the campaign closes.
"The fundraisers will remain in place and continue their same activities with individual donors, corporate donors and foundations," said Elizabeth Dunn, senior associate vice chancellor for development. "It just won't be under the Carolina First name."
Dunn said any unmet needs at the end of the campaign will be addressed during a three- to five-year interim.
When the campaign closes, merit scholarships will be re-evaluated. The $60 million goal for this project was not met, Dunn said.
Plans for the Arts Common and expansion plans for the Ackland Art Museum also will be kept in sight.
"There are some projects that emerged as important priorities long after the campaign's initiatives were established," Dunn said.
Only seven schools across the country are chasing down a goal of collecting at least $2 billion through private fundraising campaigns. The University of Virginia is the most ambitious of those seven, pushing for $3 billion by 2011.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/22/06 4:00am)
The Ackland Art Museum is on the verge of big changes.
With an upcoming season of exhibits and events, a plan for the expansion of the museum to more than twice its size and, soon, a new director, the Ackland will be transformed into a very different place.
But how far off that transformation is, no one can say.
"There's not a timetable on that," said Amanda Hughes, Ackland's director of special projects, referring to the expansion, which will create additional galleries, new studio space, a sculpture courtyard and a museum store.
"We don't know who the new director will be or when he or she will begin," said Carolyn Wood, interim director of the Ackland.
One of the new director's first obligations will be to oversee fundraising efforts for the expansion, a $25 million project to be funded entirely through private donations.
But the director search might be coming to an end. A list of three candidates was submitted to the Office of the Provost, and one offer has been extended.
"We are awaiting acceptance of that offer," said Carol Tresolini, associate provost for academic initiatives.
Tresolini could not say who the candidate is, but it is one of three who came to campus to interview: David Brenneman, chief curator of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta; Emily Kass, a consultant at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Fla.; and Eric Lee, director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma.
"We're just waiting until they work it out," Hughes said.
But what is worked out is the Ackland's new season.
In the fall, three exhibitions will be presented: "Persuasion, Passion and Participation: The Psychology of Politics;" "Witnesses to an Age in Transformation: Three 18th Century Paintings;" and "Depth of Field: Expanding Perspectives in 20th Century and Contemporary Photography."
January 2007 will see the opening of "Fashioning the Divine," a gallery of South Asian sculpture.
In the spring, a show of works by graduate students receiving masters in fine arts will open.
The museum also has introduced some new events. Lunch with One - a monthly, free lecture by an expert discussing one work of art - began in June.
Lunch with One, which Hughes said has been successful, was created so University staff, faculty and students could eat lunch while still attending a lecture at the Ackland.
"Art After Dark" will continue this year, with the museum remaining open until 9 p.m. as part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Art Walk on the second Friday of each month.
The expansion - whenever it happens - is bound to offer something new to all.
The space, Hughes said, will allow the Ackland to better "entertain diverse audiences, from public school kids, to University students, all the way to people who live here in Chapel Hill."
Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(07/20/06 4:00am)
What does it take to make an old building feel young again?
That's just one of the questions being asked this summer as progress continues on UNC's Arts Common, a makeover plan for the northwestern area of campus.
The Playmakers Theatre could get rebuilt stonework, windows and doors as early as next month, according to historic preservation manager Paul Kapp.
That work, along with a change in color to match Old East, would bring the now-salmon colored building back to the way it looked in the 1920s - its last period of historical significance.
Nearby, Gerrard Hall will see a comprehensive restoration that will take away its distinction of being the only building on campus with no bathroom - but will restore its true honor with a reconstruction of its original portico, which was based on a temple in ancient Athens.
The building's original architect also designed the administrative building at the University of Mississippi and much of the campus of the University of Alabama.
"You can see its pedigree as part of a large context of antebellum college architecture in the South," Kapp said.
Not all the proposed changes included in the Arts Common plan will bring campus buildings back to the past - a $25 million addition to the Ackland Art Museum has been described by UNC officials as "modernist."
The cost of the addition is a reminder that progress rarely comes without a price.
In addition to that, $180 million will be sought on a project-by-project basis over the next 10 to 15 years to complete the Arts Common plan, said Bruce Runberg, assistant vice chancellor for planning and construction.
The $29 million for the first phase of construction has already been obtained, and some aspects of the plan - such as a renovation of Memorial Hall - are already being hailed as a success.
But the price of progress cannot just be measured in dollars and cents.
Local activists have lobbied to save West House, a 1935 structure located near Hanes Art Center and the future home of a planned quadrangle modeled on Polk and McCorkle places. They lost their final battle last week, when the Council of State, a group of top N.C. government officials, voted to axe the house.
While they are generally highly optimistic about the Arts Common, West House proponents recently expressed additional concerns about the aesthetics of the Arts Common.
"I am a little disappointed about the size of the buildings and how close they are to the street," said Jeffrey Beam, a UNC employee who spearheaded the West House movement. "It makes for an urban campus, which is totally unlike what Carolina once was."
Runberg countered those statements.
"What is unique about our campus is the canopy of trees," he said. "If you go around and you look as the buildings around North Campus, you'll see some red brick, a little lighter brick and more traditional style, but it's all blended by the trees. That's what we would hope to accomplish with the Arts Common as well. ... I think really it's going to maintain the character of North Campus."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(02/21/06 5:00am)
After working at N.C. State University, Christopher Brown is hoping to leave the Wolfpack and return to his alma mater as the director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
Brown, a Chapel Hill native who received his bachelor's degree from UNC in 1981, said his experience in several different areas of science will help him connect the center to the work of other science departments at the University.
"What I bring is an understanding of how science is done at a major research university," Brown said, referring to his experience at N.C. State as a botany professor.
Speaking Monday in an candidates' forum, Brown unveiled his vision for the center's future.
Brown is one of five finalists vying for the position. Three of the other finalists had applied in the original search last year.
The search process had to begin again after administrators decided none of the four original finalists was the right choice for the job.
Jeff Hill, interim director of the center, has an interview Wednesday, and White said the search committee will submit its evaluation to Provost Robert Shelton within two weeks.
Linda Deck, director of the Idaho Museum of Natural History; Terri Gipson, associate director of Space Sciences and Project Director for the McDonnell Planetarium Redevelopment at the St. Louis Science Center; and Todd Boyette, president and chief executive officer of The Health Adventure, a museum in Asheville, also are up for the position and interviewed during the last few weeks.
Brown said he wants to use the center as "the gateway to science at UNC" and build the University's public image.
His plan involves cooperative efforts between the center and other public attractions at UNC, such as the Ackland Art Museum and the N.C. Botanical Garden.
Brown also said outreach programs are important to the center's mission. "I think we can become the 'go-to' place for science answers for the public."
The center can have a positive relationship with Chapel Hill because of its prominent location on Franklin Street, Brown added.
"This place can be a strong example for town-gown relations."
Because the planetarium is undergoing renovation in the coming months, Brown emphasized more programs outside of the building to keep patronage up.
"We need to develop an on-the-road outreach program," he said.
Brown's background is in botany; he holds a bachelor's of science degree in the subject from UNC and a doctoral degree from N.C. State.
But his career focus has been on space science, spending years serving as director of NASA's Specialized Center of Research and Training.
Brown is director of the N.C. Space Initiative, an organization he helped found at N.C. State. It deals with research, education, outreach and space commerce.
He also directs the N.C. Space Grant, which provides more than $800,000 to 11 state universities.
Brown said his experience raising funds would aid the center's efforts to gain financial support.
Peter White, chairman of the search committee and director of the N.C. Botanical Garden, said he was impressed with Brown's application and presentation.
"We have a candidate who really relates to the breadth of science on this campus."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/24/06 5:00am)
The Ackland Art Museum offered a free public lecture Monday night from one very artistic family.
Though not quite the Jacksons, Betye Saar and two of her three daughters, Lezley Saar and Alison Saar, have been recognized for their artistic achievement. The trio spoke at the Hanes Art Center as part of their ongoing exhibit, "Family Legacies."
Patrons packed the center for a chance to hear the women, whose first exhibit together has been on display at the Ackland since December.
(01/17/06 5:00am)
Giggles, Play-Doh, scraped knees, finger paints and sticky Popsicle remains soon will find a home in a rather unusual place.
As of March 7, the bustling shopping and dining center that is Franklin Street will be home to a new resident: the Kidzu Children's Museum - formerly the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Children's Museum.
The museum's first exhibit will feature Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are," which will allow children to dress up like "wild things," sail a pretend ocean and slide into a bowl of chicken soup with rice.
The nonprofit museum will move into 105 E. Franklin St., the former home of Laughing Turtle Home gift and apparel store, until a larger, more permanent home for the museum is found.
"I think we're going to be great for downtown," said Jonathan Mills, museum co-founder and president of its board of directors.
The museum's executive director, Cathy Maris, said bringing children to Franklin Street will "affect the spirit of the community."
Maris said Franklin Street is a great place for a children's museum because other family attractions are located on or near the street, such as the Ackland Art Museum, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and the Chapel Hill Museum.
There are also shops, restaurants and other businesses close by, as well as bus routes that make it easy to visit downtown Chapel Hill, Maris said.
And unlike some museums with roped showcases and hands-off policies, the children's museum is an interactive place where families learn by playing, which Maris said is becoming a popular attraction.
"This is a time when a lot of children's museums are emerging," she said.
"We're a part of a larger phenomenon."
Mills and Maris both said they hope University students will be interested in volunteering at the museum.
For more information on how to get involved, e-mail info@kidzuchildrensmuseum.org or contact Tina Clossick at 360-1059.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/13/06 5:00am)
The Ackland Art Museum continues its legacy at UNC this semester with exhibits highlighting family ties and individual achievement.
The museum's "Family Legacies" exhibition, which features the work of one mother and her daughters, will run until March 26 and is a continuation of a series from last December. Another exhibit, "Window to the Collection: Dean Walker, A Curator's Legacy," is a memorial exhibition for the late curator of the museum who died in October.
Barbara Matilsky, curator of exhibitions at the Ackland, said she feels that the contrast between the two exhibitions showcases the diversity of art available at the museum.
"It offers people a contrast because one is really contemporary and dealing with mixed media, issues of identity," Matilsky said.
Maria Bleier, director of communications, said displaying a wide array of art is an important aspect of the museum.
"The key for the Ackland overall is we're a teaching museum and we try to display the broadest range possible of art for use by the students here at the University," she said.
Artists featured in the "Family Legacies" exhibition are scheduled to visit the Ackland on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23.
"We're really excited; it's a mother and her two daughters," Bleier said. "They're all internationally known artists and all happen to be related. They all work with found objects but in very different ways."
The exhibition also gives museum visitors the opportunity to create their own art through found objects.
"In the exhibition itself we have a display case of objects so people can create their own mixed media assemblage," Bleier said. "It's kind of just a fun way to experience the exhibition and try your hand at it."
Bleier said the hope of the display is that audiences will find the works thought-provoking and be inspired to go out and create their own work.
The other featured exhibition commemorates the life of the late Dean Walker, curator of the Ackland from 1983 to 1990.
Timothy Riggs, curator of collections at the Ackland said the exhibition helps to highlight Walker's artistic tastes.
"I hope viewers will come away with some sense of the eye and the mind that brought these objects into the collection," Riggs said.
"These objects bring to mind his personality. If you didn't know him you might be able to draw some conclusions about who he was."
The museum is labeling pieces acquired by Walker in memoriam.
"What we're trying to do is commemorate one part of his activity, while he was here, the things that came to the Ackland because he was here," he said. "And I think that they do reflect his distinctive eye for excellence."
Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(09/16/05 4:00am)
A new challenge grant for $5 million will help provide a stable source of funding for the Carolina Performing Arts Series.
(09/12/05 4:00am)
Local galleries, eclectic art museums and funky-creative centers flung opened their doors and dished out wine, cheese, jazz and their most appealing visuals Friday night.
(08/29/05 4:00am)
Following a six-week makeover, the Ackland Art Museum reopened its doors last week, complete with a new exhibit and a host of plans for the future.
(07/21/05 4:00am)
Ackland in midst of summer vaction, will return in August
(04/11/05 4:00am)
Strolling through the Pit in a Carolina blue sweater and loafers, Milton Cooke looks the part of any average UNC student — only his gray hair sets him apart.
(01/11/05 5:00am)
Nov. 15 — University officials named an executive director for the arts Friday, ending a months-long search for an individual to oversee fund-raising efforts and facilities operations in the campus arts community.
(11/18/04 5:00am)
When a new president takes office, he inherits the shortcomings of the previous administration.
(11/15/04 5:00am)
University officials named an executive director for the arts Friday, ending a months-long search for an individual to oversee fund-raising efforts and facilities operations in the campus arts community.
(10/19/04 4:00am)
Employee Forum to host fall community meeting
(09/23/04 4:00am)
University officials took another step toward the destruction of West House on Wednesday despite strong opposition from the building's supporters.