UNC Charlotte going to the MAX to bring arts to the community

The College of Arts + Architecture will debut its Mobile Arts & Community Experience (MAX), a state-of-the-art mobile facility, on Friday, April 10, in a free, public celebration from 5 to 7 p.m. on Levine Avenue for the Arts. A “MAX Family Day” will follow on Saturday, April 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The college received a three-year, $350,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to support MAX’s design and construction.

Boxman Studios, a Charlotte-based company specializing in transforming shipping containers, partnered in the design and build of the Mobile Arts & Community Experience. It is a hybrid performance venue/community gathering space that can accommodate everything from circus arts to a neighborhood association meeting. Through community-centric programming and a mobile infrastructure, UNC Charlotte will enliven neighborhoods, parks, festivals and other community events with arts and activities that reflect Charlotte’s growing diversity.

As contemporary society embraces the concept of “pop up/mobile/temporary” as a viable format in which to consume and participate (food, drink, retail, services, media, education, and information), a mobile performance and community organizing space is a natural progression, said college officials.

“Increasingly people are looking for fast, fun ways to bring positive change to their communities,” said Susan Patterson, Knight Foundation program director in Charlotte. “The pop-up space will invite residents to engage around arts and community issues, while allowing them to co-create ideas to make their city better and encourage deeper connections.”

The College of Arts + Architecture and two UNC Charlotte action-based research centers, the City. Building. Lab. (CBL) and the Charlotte Action Research Project (CHARP), will collaborate to nurture a vital cultural life and deeper connections across the Charlotte region through MAX’s programming. While this project begins at UNC Charlotte, the goal is to include partners across arts, cultural, government and education sectors to:

• Draw diverse communities and neighborhoods together
• Give voice to artists and arts groups that are underrepresented on the cultural landscape
• Provide neighborhoods and neighborhood leaders a voice in the development and strengthening of their communities
• Bring art to the people and people to the art

In addition to its use for touring productions, MAX will spend extended periods of time in neighborhood settings. CHARP and CBL, in particular, will build on years of scholarly engagement and established relationships in communities in Charlotte, such as Reid Park, where MAX is scheduled to be activated this fall for its initial neighborhood residency.

“The College of Arts + Architecture maintains a mission committed to preparing future cultural and community leaders to who value how important the arts are to all people, wherever they live,” said Ken Lambla, dean of the College of Arts + Architecture. “To engage the vision that the arts are a critical part of all neighborhoods, we have undertaken to design and build a magnet for engaging the local, the unpolished, the hybrid ways in which people express their inherent creative spirit. Our mission is committed to helping our neighbors to connect to the larger cultural landscape by design rather than happenstance. “

Presented by Charlotte Center City Partners, the April 10 launch of the Mobile Arts & Community Experience will include live music and performances by cirque artists, parkour tumblers and students from the UNC Charlotte Department of Theatre.

On Saturday, April 11, the Theatre Department will present a performance of “The Life of that Little Scoundrel Lazari.” Based on a Spanish Renaissance novella, this contemporary commedia chronicles the life of a rogue named Lazari, who survives by means of clever tricks, deceiving his many masters along the way. Music by the UNC Charlotte Student Jazz Combo will follow.

MAX’s next appearance then will be on the UNC Charlotte campus during the week of April 20-24.

All events are free. For more information, visit arts.charlotte.edu.