College of Arts + Architecture

An interdisciplinary team from UNC Charlotte has received a $29,000 Research Grant in the Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the project, “Arts-based social mobility: Exploring cultural capital in Charlotte, N.C.”

Students in Professor Heather Freeman’s animation class have created short animated videos that encourage personal hygiene to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The students’ advice was drawn directly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and addresses topics such as proper hand washing, maintaining six feet of distance, disinfecting surfaces and caring for someone who is sick.

Dareion Malone ’13 is the Union County Public Schools 2020-21 Teacher of the Year. He is the chorus teacher at Marvin Ridge High School in Waxhaw.When Malone’s corporate job was eliminated in the 2008 economic downturn, he decided to return to school to pursue his first love, music.“That was always my initial choice,” he said in a 2018 interview for CoA+A Community. “I was discouraged from studying music for my first degree because of low teacher pay.” He had instead studied business administration.

Two graduate students in the University’s School of Architecture were accepted to the Center of Leadership Development in Built Environment Sustainability, a nine-month program to support research and professional training activities sponsored by Louisiana State University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Macau and the American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers.

Not deterred by social distance, Musical Theatre students came together virtually to share the gift of music.

The College of Arts + Architecture has launched a virtual gallery to  celebrate graduating seniors in applied art.The first exhibitions, featuring work by illustration majors, opened on April 20. Other exhibitions feature work by students majoring in graphic design and 2-D and 3-D studio art. All exhibitions will remain online through the summer.

On April 23, Andrew Hartley, the Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare Studies in the Department of Theatre, will have his 23rd book, “Impervious,” published.Hartley is an internationally respected Shakespeare scholar and an expert, in particular, on Julius Caesar. Outside of academic circles, though, he is better known as A.J. Hartley—or in some cases Andrew Hart—a New York Times best-selling author of mystery, thriller and fantasy novels for children and adults.

Lee Gray, architectural historian and senior associate dean for academic advising in the College of Arts + Architecture, has published his 200th article for Elevator World magazine, a leading international trade journal for the vertical transportation industry. Gray began writing a monthly column in 2003.

Faculty from the College of Arts + Architecture (CoA+A) will lead the online discussion, “Schools Respond to the Pandemic,” hosted by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) at 4 p.m., Friday, April 3. This discussion is part of a series presented by the ACSA as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak called “Pivot to Online Learning.”

The College of Arts + Architecture (CoA+A) honored its 2020 Distinguished Alumni on Friday, March 13, during a ceremony in the Anne R. Belk Theater in Robinson Hall. The event was the college’s sixth annual ceremony to recognize the accomplishments of alumni who demonstrate in their work the core themes of the college’s vision: professionalism; global perspective; environmental engagement; connectivity with community; collaboration; and the emergence of new ideas, skills and practices.