UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture

A huge thank you to our incredible alumni who joined CoA+A students for an inspiring panel discussion during their NYC Spring Break Field Study! ?? Hosted by alumnus Sean Gallagher '00 at Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), the event gave 32 students an inside look at professional life in NYC. Gallagher, along with other alumni panelists, shared their career journeys and answered questions about working in the arts, design, and performance industries. Panelists included: ?? Chris Watts '09, a full-time interdisciplinary visual artist working between painting, installation, sculpture, and film. ?? Jeremy Foil ’05, an art director based in NYC, working in feature film, streaming platforms, and live events. ?? Dan Allegrucci ’98, Executive Director of Experience Design at JPMorgan Chase, delivering products that reach over 80 million customers. ?? Brandy Brown, a NYC-based dancer, choreographer, and activist who is currently an apprentice with the Isadora Duncan Dance Company and in her final year at the Martha Graham School’s Advanced Studies Program for Performance. We’re so grateful for their time, insights, and inspiration! ??

Dance students and faculty are back from the 2025 American College Dance Association's Mid-Atlantic Conference, held March 6-9 at the College of Charleston! ?? Supporting dance in higher education since 1973, ACDA's primary focus is to sustain and promote the talent and creativity of university dance departments. The conference included opportunities for performance, workshops, panels, and dance classes taught by instructors from around the region. Assistant Professor Ashley L. Tate taught two classes at ACDA and presented a new work performed by dance students Riley McGowan, Jada Leverette, and Kaitlyn Bego. Associate Professor Kaustavi Sarkar serves as the Regional Director for the Mid-Atlantic region, where she was in charge of running regional membership meetings at the conference. In addition, she presented an adjudicated solo performed by dance student Amara Kranz. Her piece, entitled "Straight," is about resilience in trying times. She also co-presented a research panel called "What About the Gaze?" with fellow panelists from the Indian dance community. What an inspiring weekend! We are proud of our students and faculty for representing UNC Charlotte with so much creativity and passion for dance.

Architecture professors Emily Makas and Greg Snyder led a group of 11 architecture students on a tour along the Civil Rights history trail over spring break. The trip, which graduate student Joel Fudge describes below, ended in Atlanta, where the faculty/student team installed their exhibition about architect Phil Freelon at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History. "Container/Contained," created by Makas and Snyder with architecture students, will be on view there through June! "On our trip, we visited Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery, all of which are in Alabama," Joel explains. "While there, we visited the Civil Rights Institute, the Birmingham County Jail, where MLK Jr. was imprisoned, and the 16th Street Baptist Church, where an incident of racial terror had occurred. We also walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where John Lewis, MLK Jr., and others marched from Selma to Montgomery. We visited Memphis, TN, and went to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was assassinated. We also toured the I AM A MAN PLAZA, a memorial dedicated to the Sanitation Workers who went on strike during the 1960s, which brought Dr. King to Memphis. All in the efforts for equality. Lastly, we ended our trip in Atlanta, where we visited the home of Dr. King. We saw the church he grew up in (Ebenezer Baptist Church), his and Coretta Scott King's burial site, the King Center, which is across the street from the church, and lastly, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The trip was a really emotional but impactful experience. It truly put into perspective the freedoms that we all are so lucky to share and have, but also the work and the memory of the history it took to gain these freedoms and to preserve them for our future."

“Dr. Will Campbell (professor of saxophone) was such an inspiration and guided me to be the best musician I could be in jazz and classical playing. I asked him to treat me like a performance major, and he pushed me to do some really great things as a soloist, concert, jazz, and small ensemble member. He is the kindest and most giving man I’ve had the privilege to know.” ?? Today, we're spotlighting alumnus Ed Harper – Bachelor of Music in Music Education '13 – who currently works as the Band Director at Concord High School in Concord, NC! In addition to teaching concert band classes, he teaches beginning piano and music appreciation, directs the Marching Spiders, Basketball Pep Band, and the Jazz Ensemble. He is especially proud of the beginning band program he launched for students in grades 9-12 who missed joining band in middle school. Originally from Cinnaminson, NJ, Ed’s love for music was nurtured by his childhood experiences, including hearing music constantly at home and being inspired by his elementary music teachers. His journey led him to UNC Charlotte, where he found mentors who guided and supported him, including Dr. Will Campbell, Professor of Saxophone, and Dr. Fred Spano, Associate Professor of Music Education. Ed credits them with helping him grow both as a musician and an educator. ?? One of Ed’s most significant education experiences came during student teaching, when he had the opportunity to work with Blair Smith at J.M. Robinson High School in Cabarrus County. “Teaching his bands was like driving a Cadillac, but he gave me the keys on day one and he let me drive every day, all day, so I could figure out what needed to be done. All of those experiences played a big role in the who, what, where and why I teach music.” ?? His advice to current students: “The work ethic you exhibit now is an indicator of how successful you will be in your future. If you put in the work now, it sets you up to push harder and strive for the highest in everything you do in your life.” Check out more spotlights on our amazing alumni! ?? https://lnkd.in/eg7jDGkd

Architecture and urban design students in Kyle Spence's Community Planning Workshop visited Deep Roots CPS Farm in northwest Charlotte yesterday ?????? The farm tour, where students learned about the farm's programs and its mission of environmental stewardship, sustainability, and education, was part of an 18-month project that Spence is leading. Funded by a Gambrell Fellowship, “Roots of Change: Community-Engaged Planning and Sustainable Agriculture in Charlotte” will involve student researchers from three different classes over three semesters. Through data collection methods, including workshops and participatory action research, the project will examine the economic, social, and environmental implications of urban farming and develop planning solutions for Deep Roots CPS Farm's expansion.

Theatre students, alumni, and staff are currently involved in the Children's Theatre of Charlotte's production of "Tiara'a Hat Parade," running now through March 9! ?????? Adapted for the stage by Paige Hernandez, "Tiara'a Hat Parade" is a heartwarming mother-daughter story based on the book by Kelly Starling Lyons. Congrats to all involved on a great run so far! ?? Theatre student Kat Fletcher is the assistant lighting designer ?? Visiting Assistant Professor Margarette Joyner designed the costumes ?? Alumnus Gbale Allen '15 is the wardrobe supervisor Spirited Tiara loves modeling hats from her Momma's shop, bringing joy to all their customers. But when a new store opens in town and threatens the family business, Tiara sets out to turn things around. This touching story shows how one small gesture can impact an entire community. Learn more about the production at https://lnkd.in/gWiQ-87T! ?? Photos courtesy of Children's Theatre of Charlotte

"I'm fixated on the everyday people who nevertheless held onto their music as a way to hold onto their hope." Professor of Musicology Jay Grymes was recently interviewed in the Knoxville News Sentinel about his award-winning book, "Violins of Hope: Violins of the Holocaust ? Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour." Grymes will present a book talk in Knoxville this weekend. "Grymes' dedication stunned me during our hour-long discussion about his book," writes Knox News reporter Allie Feinberg. "His gradual ascent to becoming an award-winning Holocaust storyteller is a master class in empathy, using a mutual love of music to connect with people who have vastly different life experiences from his own." "As a scholar, I'm living in this big world of very weighty scholarship and everything's lengthy and very rigorous," Grymes told Feinberg. "The fun of it is gathering knowledge at a high level and figuring out how to distill it down ... in a way that's digestible to the nonspecialist without making it trite." Acclaimed film composer John Williams called Grymes's Violins of Hope book “a work of research and scholarship that forms one of the most moving chronicles in the history of Western music.” Grymes is currently completing a new book about a Jewish civil engineer and musician who led one of the most successful partisan units in the guerilla war to liberate Ukraine from Nazi occupation during World War II. "You talk about classical music in Europe during the middle of the 20th century and it doesn't take long to stumble upon musicians who were suppressed by the Nazi regime. What I keep going back to with Violins of Hope and with subsequent projects, is more of communal music making," he told Feinberg. Read the full Q&A ?? https://lnkd.in/eu4qMUne

Congratulations to Professor of Directing Robin Witt, who has directed an acclaimed new production at Chicago's Steep Theatre ?? A review in Stage and Cinema calls the production of David Harrower's "A Slow Air" as "riveting as it is touching" and praises Witt's "discerning and sensitive direction." The Chicago Tribune writes, "If you go, expect a slow burn but plenty of flames, from which it becomes increasingly difficult to look away," adding that the actors are "excellent here under Robin Witt’s careful direction." Professor Witt’s research is the directing of new plays from the UK as well as the resurrection of lost and forgotten plays from the inter-war years. She has helmed many US premieres of contemporary plays with the focus on introducing international playwrights to American audiences. "A Slow Air" premiered in Scotland in 2011 and is about a 2007 terrorist attack at Glasgow airport. Witt regularly directs in Chicago, where she is a member of both the Steep Theatre and Griffin Theatre. Pictured: Kendra Thulin and Peter Moore in “A Slow Air." Photo by Joseph Chretien-Golden.

"While I am an active mover, maker, and performer in the communities that I exist, I also strive to live an integrated dance life in which everything I do relates to my career, degree, and creative practice" ?? Today, we're spotlighting alumna Caitlyn Swett – Bachelor of Arts in Dance '13 – who is a Dancer, Musician, and the Managing & Development Director at Culture Mill in Saxapahaw, NC! Caitlyn’s career has spanned dance, music, and arts administration. She co-founded Triptych Collective, an experimental dance group in Charlotte, and later helped launch On Site/In Sight, a dance festival in Winston-Salem. She has also worked with Helen Simoneau Danse, Neighborhood Theatre, and Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance. ?? Since 2016, Caitlyn has been a part of Paideia, a group of sound artists and movement practitioners, and in 2018, she began making music with the band Streak of Tigers. Her sound work has been featured in Culture Mill’s "Eclipse" (Carolina Performing Arts, 2022) and "a bird you must not miss" (American Dance Festival, 2022). ?? Caitlyn remains deeply connected to UNC Charlotte’s Department of Dance. “I adopted some very special mentors, both faculty and students, from the department. These people have shaped the way I view, learn, teach, and create dance.” Check out more spotlights on our amazing alumni! ?? https://lnkd.in/eg7jDGkd

It was so fun being a part of the Charlotte Museum of History's Bridgerton-themed Queen Charlotte Ball ?? Faculty, staff, and students from our costume shop showcased some beautiful pieces as part of the ball! Check out some of our featured pieces! ??♀? Costume Lab Manager Christina Beam reimagined, designed, and constructed the 18th-century wedding dress that Charlottean Peggy Alexander wore ? Student Astrid Reed-kennedy presented her research and renderings of 19th-century dresses for Bridgerton-type characters ?? Visiting Costume Design Professor Margarette Joyner created period European-style outfits using African fabrics ?? Production Manager Hali Hutchison-Houk contributed costumes she designed for UNC Charlotte's 2017 production of "The Children's Hour"