Poland’s Zuzanna Dyrda serving as visiting faculty, artist

Zuzanna Dyrda, from the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Poland, is teaching two classes in the College of Arts + Architecture. She also is serving as the 2023 McColl Center Visiting Artist-in-Residence, an annual shared residency program with the McColl Center.

“I wanted to come to Charlotte to gain experience in teaching at an American university,” said Dyrda, who is the first exchange scholar/artist participating in a partnership between the Department of Art + Art History and Poland’s Geppert Academy. “When I learned about this opportunity, the collaboration between our two schools, I got very excited. Living and working in another country allows me to enrich technical skills, polish my foreign language skills and most importantly learn about different living, thinking and teaching styles. The students at UNC Charlotte are great – creative, open-minded and enthusiastic about learning new things.”

This semester, Dyrda, who earned an MFA degree in graphics in 2013 and a doctoral degree in printmaking from the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in 2017, is teaching two classes at UNC Charlotte: Topics in Print Media and Thesis 1 and 2 with graduating seniors, which will lead to a BFA exhibition.

She also serves as the McColl Center Visiting Artist-in-Residence through an annual partnership between the center and the Department of Art and Art History.

“I spent the last month on the conceptual research for the project I would like to do here at McColl Center,” said Dyrda. “I’m rotating around subjects such as trash, environmental awareness, waste-people-future etc., as these aspects became visible to me when I arrived in the U.S. as a great challenge for the society here. My work will probably incorporate movement/performance as well as engagement of the local community in the process. But the details are still in the process of production together with the wonderful McColl team.”

The Department of Art and Art History’s relationship with the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design was established by professors Maja Godlewska and Marek Ranis, who are alumni of the academy. The Wrocław natives have built a strong relationship between UNC Charlotte and their alma mater, bringing two exhibitions from the academy to UNC Charlotte galleries and leading a group of Charlotte art students to Wrocław for a study tour. In 2009, the two institutions developed a formal student exchange program; thus far, three students from Charlotte have studied in Poland and two from Poland have come to Charlotte. This semester, print media student Caroline Wingerd becomes the fourth UNC Charlotte student to attend the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design.

Associate Professor of Print Media Erik Waterkotte is a visiting professor at the Geppert Academy, this spring. He will teach a printmaking class focused on intaglio, relief, and mixed graphic techniques for graduate students and a special topics course that he will devise as visiting faculty.

“I am thrilled for this opportunity to teach and research in Wrocław,” Waterkotte said. “Poland has a rich history in fine art, especially in the graphic arts/printmaking. I am excited to visit the unique architectural and natural spaces of Poland. I am looking forward to seeing works by renowned Polish artists like Zdzisław Beksiński and Magdalena Abakanowicz, and I am excited to discover and meet new artists at the Academia and in the region.”

Photo: Zuzanna Dyrda, left, with student in Print Media class at UNC Charlotte.