MAX on the move this spring

The UNC Charlotte Mobile Arts & Community Experience (MAX) will be in two residencies this spring in the Charlotte area. From Friday, April 8, through Monday, April 18, MAX will be on the front lawn of the McColl Center for Art + Innovation on North Tryon Street. Beginning Saturday, April 30, MAX will be in east Charlotte on the property of Aldersgate, a continuing care retirement community on Shamrock Drive, for an entire month of activity.

MAX is a hybrid performance venue/community gathering space that can accommodate everything from circus arts to a neighborhood association meeting.

During the 10-day residency at McColl Center, MAX will be set up as a performance stage and will serve as a public rehearsal space for Assistant Professor of Theatre Carlos Cruz and the members of the “Nouveau Sud, Nouveau Cirque” project. Cruz, who is an artist-in-residence at the McColl Center this spring, received an Arts & Science Council 2014 McColl Award to support the creation of “Nouveau Sud, Nouveau Cirque” (“New South, New Circus”). Cruz has spent the last two years working with members of diverse Charlotte communities, including African American and Latino communities, to develop a unique movement language and program that bridges different cultural expressions. The final creation period has occurred during his artist residency at McColl Center. “Nouveau Sud, Nouveau Cirque” will premiere Thursday, April 28, at the Booth Playhouse in the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

On April 30, MAX will serve as the mainstage for the International Sandwich Festival, a community food celebration presented by Aldersgate at 3800 Shamrock Drive. The day-long festival will feature performances by bands and dance troupes, including two UNC Charlotte student dance ensembles and the UNC Charlotte Jazz Combo, from noon to 7 p.m.

Following the International Sandwich Festival, MAX will be transformed from a performance stage to a community classroom. From Monday, May 2, through Friday, May 27, MAX will serve as the site for daily community programming that ranges from gardening classes to arts workshops to multilingual literacy readings for children.

All MAX programs and performances are free and open to the public.

MAX was designed and built in partnership with Boxman Studios, a Charlotte-based company specializing in transforming shipping containers, and funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The College of Arts + Architecture launched MAX in April 2015 with appearances at Levine Center for the Arts in uptown Charlotte and a week of programming on the UNC Charlotte main campus.