College of Arts + Architecture

A capacity crowd of campus and greater community members listened to readings by music historian James Grymes interspersed with poignant Yiddish folksongs and marches during a special event focused on Grymes’ book “Violins of Hope: Violins of the Holocaust – Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour.”  
The UNC Charlotte Office of University Communications extended the reach of the public event, held Sept. 11 in the Belk Theater of the Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts, through an Internet live stream; more than 300 viewed a portion of the live stream.

“Figures in Painting,” an exhibit that showcases artwork from students in the Department of Art & Art History, is on display through Wednesday, Sept. 17, in the Student Union Art Gallery.
The studio course “Figure in Painting” is an intermediate painting class that explores the human form as a vehicle for artistic expression. Students use acrylic paints mixed with a variety of other compatible media to observe and experiment with anatomical structure.

The McColl Center for Art + Innovation will celebrate its 15th anniversary with the presentation of “Arctic Utopia,” a major exhibition of mixed media sculptures, videos and site-specific installations by Marek Ranis, UNC Charlotte assistant professor of art and 1999 McColl Center alumnus.
The exhibit opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, Sept. 19, and it will be displayed through Saturday, Nov. 22.

The UNC Charlotte Department of Music is soliciting suggestions for an exciting name for the University’s new marching band that will take the field in fall 2015. 
Submit suggestions online through 5 p.m., Monday, Sept. 29. The winning name will be announced on Thursday, Oct. 2, during a special ceremony to unveil the design for the new marching band building.

The College of Arts + Architecture, in partnership with the UNC Charlotte Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies, will present “Stories and Music from the Violins of Hope” at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 11, in the Belk Theater of the Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts.
James Grymes, interim chair of the UNC Charlotte Department of Music, will read from his new book “Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour.” There will be performances of related music throughout the evening, and a book signing and reception will follow.

The Faculty Biennial 2014, an exhibition of exemplary works by 25 faculty members from the Department of Art & Art History, is being displayed in Rowe Galleries through Wednesday, Sept. 24. The wide-ranging exhibit features mediums that include ceramic sculpture, painting, digital drawing, video, photography and more that address concepts pertaining to loss, commercialism, violence, memory, history and perception.

The First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal Committee is soliciting nominations for the 2015 award. This award recognizes outstanding scholarship, creativity and/or research among senior full-time faculty members. Each year the University with support from First Citizens Bank presents this award in order to recognize and foster the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and creative endeavors.

Performing artist CarlosAlexis Cruz is the 2014 McColl Award winner. An assistant professor of voice and movement in the College of Arts + Architecture, Cruz received the honor for the project “Nouveau Sud, Nouveau Cirque,” which translates to “New South, New Circus.”

Logan Creech, Klint Mullis and Elrica Metayer, graduates of the Master of Urban Design (MUD) program, recently won two national student design awards in China. Their project “Ribbons: Redevelopment of Xiangmen Historic Area in Suzhou,” received an honor certificate in the third International Landscape Planning and Design Competition, co-organized by the Journal of China Construction and the International Landscape Design Industry Association.

UNC Charlotte’s UrbanEden, built for the 2013 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, placed third in the people’s choice voting for the annual Matsumoto Prize for Modernist residential design in North Carolina.
The Matsumoto Prize is named in honor of George Matsumoto, a founding faculty member at the N.C. State University School of Design (now College of Design) who is well known for many exemplary mid-century Modernist houses he designed across North Carolina.