UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture

Congratulations to our graduating BFA seniors for a great exhibition reception last Thursday! ?? Students in the studio art, digital media, and illustration concentrations present "Windows" ?? and students in graphic design present "Illuminate" ?? – both on view now through December 9! ? The exhibitions feature work by Steph Asensio, Kimberly Ballinger, Rosemary Bassett, Guillermo Ibarra-Flores, Christopher Franco, Emily Furr, Hannah Grubb, Lily Kuntz, Vivian Nguyen, Julien Pozo, Isabel Pozzo, Zoe Leigh Turner, Suzanne Voigt, Sarah Vojnovich, Madyson Young, Emily Buie, Amelia Bradley, Isabella Hill, Troy Vong Nguyen, Ashton Lucas, Ximena Alvarado, Hannah Alvarado, Takenia Jones, Jessica Franco, Megan Bessette, Hang Le, Sanura Ezeagu, Brianne Schriever, Christi Montes Castro, Ashley Dinning, Ashley Legassie, Mercedes Carrillo, and Taylor Colson. ? ??: @carson.bleizeffer

Congratulations to our music students and their outstanding accomplishments at the North Carolina National Association of Teachers of Singing (NC NATS) Musical Theatre Competition! ?? Held November 15 and 16 at Meredith College in Raliegh, NC, the event brought together talented singers from across the state to audition, receive feedback from a panel of voice teachers, attend a masterclass with a Tony-nominated performer, and perform or attend a concert featuring first-place winners. Twelve music students participated, seven winning or placing in their categories and advancing to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Competition in Winston-Salem next March. Two others earned qualifying scores to join their peers at regionals. Congratulations to our winners! ?? Jasmine Keenan (Dr. Arreola), Jack Richardson (Dr. Arreola), and Reem Nour (Professor Pier) won first place. Julio Hernandez (Drs. DuBose and Hunter), Keilah Jones (Professor Pier), and Jylian Taylor (Professor Pier) won second place. Brooke Smith (Professor Pier) placed third and Charles Kneeshaw (Drs. DuBose and Hunter) and Taylor McNamara (Dr. Gouthro) also advanced to regionals. "We appreciate the department’s continued encouragement in providing opportunities for our students to grow and excel as artists and gain valuable experience and insight," said Christina Peir. "Their hard work, growth, and enthusiasm reflected the spirit of our program, and we couldn’t be more proud."

“Rather than being a goal to achieve, repair can function as a design tool that fosters dialogue about participants’ futures, both in the spaces they now occupy and in those they claim in their narratives of home." An essay by Assistant Professor of Architecture Kyle Spence is included in a series of “Field Notes” published this fall in Places Journal. Founded in 1983, Places Journal is a leading national platform for public scholarship on contemporary architecture, landscape, and urbanism. Spence’s “Repair as a Paradigm for Design and Community Healing,” appears in the fourth installment of the eight-part series, “Field Notes: Repair,” which presents observations by scholars, designers, planners, and activists on the issues they find most relevant in practices of repair, maintenance, and care. In his essay, Spence reflects on the idea of “repair as a design tool,” based on a community-engaged project that he conducted in Apalachicola, FL. Apalachicola is a small coastal town on the Gulf of Mexico that is home to a historic Black community called The Hill. For decades, this fishing village was the oyster capital of Florida and a major national source for oysters, but pollution and climate change and a subsequent moratorium on oyster harvesting have decimated the fishing industry. Apalachicola has since experienced significant economic and population shifts. It was for the 20th-anniversary festival in 2023 that Spence designed and built his Meridian Dome, a giant equinoctial sundial that provided an opportunity for him to explore “what individuals need in order to feel rooted in their spaces” and to “uncover migratory patterns that connect human identity with place,” he wrote. The Meridian Dome arched over a 20-foot world map, with Apalachicola at its center. Visitors to the festival were prompted to identify “migrations, homelands, home – places where you are from,” which they marked with oyster shells and yarn. Spence became interested in solar time and sundials more than a decade ago, when he was living and working in New York City’s Harlem. “Communities like Apalachicola are built on past generations who navigated using celestial bodies as they sought to establish permanence and community, even in spaces marked by colonialism and migration. By convening conversations around these historical phenomena, we can better understand our present-day social environment, helping communities to build their own archives and narratives and fostering a deeper sense of identity and continuity.” Read on ?? https://lnkd.in/ee2pX4hn

Eight dance and musical theatre students got an immersive experience on Broadway last month over fall break! ?????? Led by Tod Kubo, co-director of the Musical Theatre Certificate program and an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Dance, the students took dance classes, met and interviewed industry professionals, toured facilities, and saw three shows in a field study in New York City, October 12-15. A Los Angeles native with a three-decade career as a director and choreographer for national and international tours, Kubo has a vast network of colleagues with prominent New York careers and wants to make that network available to UNC Charlotte students. Every day, the students – Kaitlyn Bego, Chloe Gosline, Grace Killian, Braden Kneeshaw, Izzy Oyler, Josie Perdue, Jasmyn Schettino, and Varsha Singh – interspersed intensive dance classes at Steps on Broadway with high-profile meetings that gave them insights into multiple elements of professional dance life. Marla McReynolds is a former performer (The Color Purple, Chicago, and more) who has become a physical therapist for companies such as Dance Theatre of Harlem and performers in Broadway shows such as Wicked and Hamilton. She spoke to the students about longevity as a dancer – how to avoid injury, dance smarter, and maintain the ability to move their whole lives. Current Back to the Future star Jelani Remy gave the students a masterclass, teaching them choreography from Back to Future, Ain’t Too Proud, and Hairspray. Afterwards, the students saw Back to the Future, did a backstage tour, and were able to meet the cast, who sat on stage with the students for a Q&A following the performance. Musical arranger and composer David Dabbon, whose Broadway arranging credits include Funny Girl and Beetlejuice, coached the students on how to prepare for an audition. Actor Derrick Davis joined them for a meal, where they could pepper him with questions about his roles in Carousel, The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, and Company. On their final day, the students visited New York University’s Langone Campus and the Harkness Center for Dance and Injury Prevention. Students were taught by athletic trainer Lauren McIntyre and received one-on-one consultations to assess their body conditions and identify possible areas of risk. “My heart is so overfull of joy to be able to connect students to these opportunities,” said Kubo. He hopes to continue and even grow the New York program.“

Associate Professor of Dance Tamara Williams has been named the recipient of the 2024 Faculty International Education Award! ?? Presented annually by the Office of International Programs to a faculty or staff member who has demonstrated exceptional contributions to global learning and international outreach, the award honors Williams for her groundbreaking work in bringing global perspectives into the classroom, advancing cultural understanding, and creating opportunities for community engagement through the dance traditions of the African Diaspora. Williams, a native of Augusta, GGA, has spent much of her life immersed in the study and practice of African Diaspora dance forms. Her academic and professional career spans the globe, with experiences that include performing and teaching across various cultural contexts in Brazil, Trinidad, Cuba, and several countries in West Africa. Through her research and teaching, Williams emphasizes the importance of intercultural exchange, which she believes is vital to her work as a dancer, teacher, and community artist. “Engaging with different cultures enriches my creative practice and allows me to share a fuller range of movement traditions with students,” she said. “International education provides transformative experiences that connect students not just to techniques, but to histories, cultures, and communities that are foundational to civic responsibility." Williams is a dance educator, author, and cultural advocate specializing in African-Brazilian dance and its intersections with history, spirituality, and social change. She teaches Silvestre Technique, a contemporary Brazilian dance form, and leads immersive research trips to Brazil, where students study African-Brazilian dance and culture. Her book, Giving Life to Movement: The Silvestre Dance Technique (2021), explores the technique's roots in African-Brazilian culture and its connection to spiritual empowerment. Through her Charlotte-based dance company, Moving Spirits, Williams promotes the African Diaspora’s cultural heritage through dance. In 2021, she co-founded the LAVAGEM! African Brazilian Festival in partnership with her husband, Luciano Xavier, and The Mint Museum. LAVAGEM! is a program of Bloco Afro Ayédùn, an initiative founded by Williams and Xavier that celebrates Black and African heritage and works with communities in the Charlotte area. In the spring and summer of 2025, Williams will travel to Brazil and to Benin to continue research for her next book, "The African Diaspora and Civic Responsibility: Perspectives on Addressing Injustice Through the Arts, Education and Community Engagement," which will be published by McFarland Press. The award will be formally celebrated tonight at the annual International Education Celebration, part of the university’s International Education Week, November 18-22. ??

For the Love of Charlotte - our university, our city and our future. Join the journey ????? bit.ly/FTLOC-2 #FTLOC

We are thrilled our community has joined us in our Department of Art & Art History 60th-anniversary celebrations! We hope you will check out one of the companion exhibitions happening in local galleries! On view now through winter 2024 on the 4th floor gallery, the Mint Museum presents "60 Years." The Mint’s permanent collection has extensive holdings of UNC Charlotte-connected artists, a selection of which is highlighted in this exhibition. The exhibition features artwork by TJ Reddy, Marianne Lieberman, Maud Gatewood, Rod McKillop, Richard Stenhouse, Edwina Bringle, Tom Mason, Roy Strassberg, David Brodeur, and Maja Godlewska. Learn more by visiting The Mint Museum!

“Without access, there is no belonging; without belonging, there is no community.” - Sarah Vojnovich Nontraditional art student Sarah Vojnovich is using her personal experience to help museums improve accessibility, belonging, and community. See how in this Inside UNC Charlotte's featured article! American Sign Language was Vojnovich’s first language. Having been diagnosed at 18 months with profound sensorineural hearing loss, she spent the next 9 years learning to sign, read lips, and even speak before the cochlear implant brought a cascade of new tones to her world. With a communications degree from Wingate University, a paralegal certificate from UNC Chapel Hill, and an associate degree in advertising and graphic design from Wake Tech Community College, Vojnovich will earn a BFA in Photography (with a minor in art history and a certificate in entrepreneurship) this December. But her accomplishments as a student extend far beyond refining her skills behind the lens. She is becoming an ardent advocate for accessibility in the world of visual arts. In the summer of 2022, Vojnovich had an internship at The Mint Museum where she helped conduct an audit of the museum’s operations, programming, and facilities. The lack of resources at the museum for people with low to no vision prompted her to pursue the issue, and the following semester she completed an independent study, evaluating accessibility resources for both vision- and hearing-impaired visitors at 3 museums: the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “As a person with hearing loss, I believe in access for everyone. Accessibility in art is still a problem,” she said. Last summer, she was hired for an internship offered jointly by the Smithsonian Institution, the National Parks Service, and the Institute for Human-Centered Design. Her tasks included designing wheelchair-accessible exhibition layouts, creating various instructional formats for museum docent training on ADA compliance and DEI topics, and updating tactile map icons. Learn more about her time at the Smithsonian (https://lnkd.in/eK9dXHQA)! And don't miss her final thesis project in our upcoming BFA exhibition! "Windows" will be on view in Rowe Galleries Nov 20-Dec 9 with a reception on Nov 21. Photos by Amy Hart

It's opening night of the Department of Theatre's production of "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris!! Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and London’s Olivier Award for Best Play, "Clybourne Park" is a bold play about race, real estate, and the volatile values of each. Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play, "A Raisin in the Sun," this acclaimed work explodes in two acts set 50 years apart. Act One takes place in 1959, as nervous community leaders anxiously try to stop the sale of a home in a white community to a Black family. Act Two is set in the same house in 2009, as the now predominantly African American neighborhood battles to hold its ground in the face of gentrification. Join us tonight, Thursday, November 14 through Sunday, November 17 in the Anne R. Belk Theater! Closed captioning will be available for each performance and the Sunday matinee will be ASL interpreted. Tickets are free for CoA+A students! DIRECTOR: Ron McClelland HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGN: Meredith Magoun PROPS DESIGN: Max Martin SOUND DESIGN: Madison King COSTUME DESIGN: Margarette Joyner LIGHTING DESIGN: Kat Fletcher SCENIC DESIGN: Gordon W. Olson STAGE MANAGER: Rexy Brundige PHOTOS: Amy Hart CAST: Ryan Epp, Jake Johnson, Zack Mahon, Izzy Oyler, Caitlin O'Hagan, Hannah Blair Montgomery, Ansleigh Reid, Destiny Bridgers, N'Zai Davis

We're excited to be working on a new publication with our Ravin School of Architecture! Thank you to all the students who participated in our recent photoshoot! ?? Photos by @miguelsonit