College of Arts + Architecture

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.

The Department of Dance will host the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance (CADD) on Thursday and Friday, April 9-10. CADD is an egalitarian community of scholars and artists committed to exploring, promoting and engaging African diaspora dance as a resource and method of aesthetic identity. CADD was founded at Duke University; UNC Charlotte Assistant Professor of Dance Takiyah Nur Amin is one of the group’s original members.

The UNC Charlotte meeting of CADD includes two free public events.

A team of six UNC Charlotte students, led by faculty members Mona Azarbayjani from the School of Architecture and Michael Walter from the Department of Chemistry, will compete in the “People, Prosperity and Planet (P3) Student Design Competition for Sustainability” held by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Alexandria, Va., April 11-12.

The School of Architecture Master of Urban Design program will present the symposium “Visualizing the Smarter City” from 1 to 6 p.m., Thursday, March 26. Registration begins at noon.

The three-year initiative KEEPING WATCH enters its second year with “KEEPING WATCH on WATER: City of Creeks.” Events begin with an exhibition opening on Friday, March 27, at the Projective Eye Gallery at UNC Charlotte Center City.

The Department of Art + Art History and Rowe Galleries will host exhibitions by guest artists Jon Swindler and Amanda Lee, with UNC Charlotte students, Wednesday, March 11, through Tuesday, March 31.

Paul Krynski, a Master of Architecture/Master of Urban Design student from Charlotte, is the first recipient of a new scholarship/internship program established by the School of Architecture in partnership with C Design, a local architectural, interior design and planning firm.

This new program will provide a paid internship plus a tuition scholarship for a full year to one UNC Charlotte student annually. Rising fifth-year (Bachelor of Architecture) students and graduate students are eligible to apply for the award.

Guest artists Khalid Hill and Ricardo Foster Jr. will take the stage along with student and alumni actors for “The Purple Flower & Other Plays,” an innovative production of African-American short plays. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 18-21, and 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 22, in Robinson Hall’s Belk Theater.

Although awarded best new play by Crisis magazine in 1927, Marita Bonner’s Harlem Renaissance masterpiece “The Purple Flower” rarely has been seen on stage and was never performed during her lifetime. 

University City Partners, UNC Charlotte and Mecklenburg’s parks department have launched a partnership that may lead to innovative new parks both here and across the county. Graduate urban design students also will benefit as they take on the challenge of adding recreational space to an already living, vibrant community, said José Gámez, associate professor of architecture and urban design.

The Rowe Galleries will host exhibitions by two faculty members from the Department of Art and Art History.

David Brodeur, associate professor of graphic design, has the show “Semantics, Semiotics & the Second Amendment.” It takes a critical look at some of the issues surrounding the gun culture in the United States.