2017 exhibitions and events The alliance behind KEEPING WATCH on Habitat offers events through April

Jennifer Angus Renwick Wonder

KEEPING WATCH on Habitat
Feb. 24-April 27
Opening reception, Feb. 24, 6-8 p.m. 

Projective Eye Gallery at UNC Charlotte Center City

Curated by Director of Galleries Crista Cammaroto, the KEEPING WATCH on HABITAT exhibition presents the work of artists who ask us to contemplate our separation from nature and our longing to immerse ourselves in the sustenance that nature provides. Photographers Byron Baldwin, Cynthia Cole, Deborah Triplett, Meredith Hebden, Micah Cash and William Wylie have created diptychs that speak to the relationship between nature and the man-made environment. Delicate sculptural works by Natalie Abrams, mounted to walls on both sides of the gallery, will frame these photographic dichotomies. Both abstract and evocative, they represent the largest surrounding parcels of conserved land on the southern and northern edges of the Charlotte area: Anne Springs Close Greenway and Latta Plantation Nature Preserve.

Jennifer Angus’s insect installations, wrapping around the gallery entrance, recall Victorian wallpaper and remind us that smaller creatures also play an important role in the ecosystem. Weaving folklore and science, Heather Freeman’s colorful digital prints of native wildlife will hang in the Center City building lobby, while the front window case will present collaborative work by Madison Dunaway, Caleb Roenigk and Terry Thirion, creator of the “Disappearing Frogs Project.”

A significant focus for KEEPING WATCH on HABITAT is to break down the wall between the natural environment and the built environment by bringing the natural world inside the gallery. In monthly rotations, artists Jennifer Angus, Shaun Cassidy and Alison Donohue will create temporary floor installations using materials found in nature.

Sustainability Salon
March 3, 7-9 p.m.
UNC Charlotte Center City

Artists are agents of change. Robert Bush, president and CEO of the Arts & Science Council, moderates a panel discussion with artists and curators whose art amplifies messages of environmental concern. Reception at 7 p.m., panel at 8 p.m. Presented in partnership with the Carolina Raptor Center. Registration is required. Please click here to register.

Mechanical Eye Exhibit
March 13-29
Opening reception, March 13, 5-7 p.m.
Projective Eye Gallery at UNC Charlotte Center City

The Department of Art & Art History and Rowe Galleries present Mechanical Eye, March 13-29, with an opening reception Monday, March 13, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Mechanical Eye features the work of Rob Carter, McColl Center for Art + Innovation/UNC Charlotte Artist-in-Residence, and students in Associate Professor of Art Jeff Murphy’s Video Art course.

Each year the UNC Charlotte Department of Art & Art History partners with the McColl Center for Art + Innovation to provide a special educational experience for students through hosting a shared Artist-in-Residence. The McColl artist joins a UNC Charlotte faculty member to teach a spring semester course, culminating in an exhibition in Rowe Galleries, as well as events and activities at McColl.

Working in a variety of media, including video and photography, Rob Carter often explores historical developments in agricultural science and human relationships to the natural world. His new video piece, Catawba, focuses on Cowans Ford Dam and Lake Norman and will be the centerpiece of the Rowe exhibition.

Uptown Gallery Crawl
March 23, 6-9 p.m.
Projective Eye Gallery at UNC Charlotte Center City

The Projective Eye Gallery joins other local art venues for the Uptown Gallery Crawl. Hop on a trolley bus and check out artist Shaun Cassidy’s new earthwork installation in our gallery, then see exhibitions at The Mint Museum, Harvey B. Gantt Center, Sozo Gallery, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, and more.

Tree Campus USA Day
April 5, 10:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
UNC Charlotte Main Campus

Join the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, Facilities Management, and community partner TreesCharlotte for a day devoted to trees. Learn how to plant and care for trees; plant a grove of new trees; take a guided walk through the Van Landingham Glen to learn about the trees on our campus.

Campus Cleanup
April 12, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Motorsports Building and Belk Plaza
UNC Charlotte Main Campus

Science Café
April 12 at 5:30 p.m.
UNC Charlotte Center City

The Charlotte Area Science Network presents a Science Café discussion with Meredith Hebden, Van Landingham Glen manager for the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens and botanic/floral art photographer. See her work in the Projective Eye Gallery. Reception at 5:30 p.m., talk at 6 p.m.

Carolina Raptor Center presents 
Backyard Habitat Festival: What’s living in your backyard?
April 1511-4 p.m. 
Carolina Raptor Center 

Home is where the habitat is. Create a wildlife habitat right in your own backyard. From 11-3pm, browse vendors and non-profits that can help you enjoy the great outdoors while learning how to make your environs more friendly to creatures of all kinds. Build a bug hotel, become a pollinator in our pollinator game, feed wild birds, make a seed bomb, and learn how to attract migrating butterflies. Our speaker at 3 pm will tell you step by step how to create your own certified backyard habitat. You’ll even take home some of the tools. Part of the NC Science Festival. www.ncsciencefestival.org

UNC Charlotte Earth Day Festival
April 19, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Belk Plaza, UNC Charlotte Main Campus

Film Screening: Nature Matters
April 22, 5:30 p.m.
UNC Charlotte Center City

The College of Arts + Architecture with the Arts & Science Council and the N.C. Wildlife Federation present an Earth Day screening of the film Nature Mattersas part of KEEPING WATCH on HABITAT. Join us for a reception before the film and a talk-back afterwards with KEEPING WATCH on HABITAT photographers Micah Cash and Cynthia Cole, Margaret Brantley of the Catawba Lands Conservancy, and Angel Hjarding of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.

5:30 p.m.  Reception
6:00 p.m.  Screening
6:45 p.m. Discussion