Ackland Events

Twilights on the Terrace: Warm Evenings and Watercolors
2022-08-12 17:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Enjoy a warm summer evening downtown with art-inspired crafts — and local craft beer — at this month’s Twilight on the Terrace!
Craft Beer and Art-Inspired CraftsSee Alexis Rockman: Shipwrecks, then pick up a paintbrush and experiment with watercolor on the Ackland’s Terrace while enjoying a local beer and snacks from Craftboro Brewing. Share and tag your photos with #acklandpARC for a chance to take home your own watercolor kit (while supplies last)!
Artist/Business Meet and Greet
Join the Ackland and the Downtown Chapel Hill Partnership for a meet and greet for artists and downtown businesses. Artists, learn how you can connect with downtown businesses, including restaurants, cafes, bookstores, hotels and more to showcase your work. Business leaders, find an artist to partner with your business for 2nd Fridays.
Galleries open ’til 9 p.m. with free admission!Also new on view: Houseguests: American Art from the Art Bridges Collection Loan Partnership, with stunning works visiting the Ackland from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Hanes Visiting Artist Talk: Alexis Rockman
2022-08-25 18:00 | Hanes Art Center Auditorium (Room 121), 121 East Cameron Avenue, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join us for an artist talk with Alexis Rockman, part of the UNC Art & Art History Department’s Hanes Visiting Artist series. The talk is presented in connection with the Ackland Art Museum’s current exhibition Alexis Rockman: Shipwrecks.
Free and open to the public. The talk will be held in the Hanes Art Center Auditorium, Room 121.
An endowment established in 1983 through the generosity of Nancy and Robin Hanes supports the Art Department’s Visiting Artist Series. This important program brings both established and emerging artists to campus to discuss their work in public lectures and to offer individual critiques to our M.F.A. students. The Hanes Visiting Artist series greatly enriches both our academic programs and our outreach to the wider community. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Acktoberfest: Art, Beer, and Cheese Pairings
2022-10-14 17:00 - 21:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join us for “Acktoberfest,” an evening of art-inspired beer and cheese pairings, plus exhibition tours and still-life drawing stations, all in celebration of our current exhibition Drawn to Life: Master Drawings from the Age of Rembrandt in the Peck Collection at the Ackland Art Museum.
Tasting boards designed by The Cheese Shop (Carrboro, NC) will feature a selection of cheeses with connections to the drawings on view. Both boards and a la carte cheeses to take home will be available for purchase.
Local craft beers that pair well with the cheeses (and art!) will be available from Craftboro Brewing (Carrboro, NC) at a cash bar, with additional non-alcoholic offerings for sale.
Exhibition curator Dana Cowen will lead mini-tours of Drawn to Life throughout the evening, with a special look at the works that have been paired with the cheeses and beers.
At a still-life drawing station designed by University Florist (Chapel Hill, NC), try your hand at sketching from a gorgeous seasonal arrangement.
The admission is free. Food and drinks will be sold separately during the event by our vendor partners.
This project was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Fall 2022 Semester Revue
2022-12-01 14:00 - 15:30 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
SEMESTER REVUE | ART&
Student Research & Responses to the Collection
Each semester, the Ackland Art Museum works with thousands of UNC-Chapel Hill students through courses and internships. The Semester Revue offers a glimpse into the quality and variety of the students’ research, projects, and performances. Come learn about the collection and see it anew through their short, dynamic presentations.
This semester, the Semester Revue features presentations by students in English 208: Reading and Writing Nonfiction: Encounters with Art and Objects (Julia Ridley Smith, MFA), Comparative Literature 260: Landscape: Reimagining the Natural World (Dr. Janice Koelb), and American Studies 371: LGBTQ Fiction and Film from 1950 to the Present (Dr. Michelle Robinson).
Free, no ticket required. Cookies and coffee will be served. Drop in any time!

Artist Workshop with Sheila Gallagher
2023-02-03 13:00 - 17:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
ART-MAKING WORKSHOP
This hands-on art-making workshop will be led by Boston-based artist Sheila Gallagher. Gallagher will lead participants in a collective hands-on art-making project that uses some of the processes of her plastic landscape paintings like her work Plastic Lila (right), which is currently on view at the Ackland. We’ll create pieces of a plastic landscape based on North Carolina native flora selected by the North Carolina Botanical Gardens.
No experience necessary! Drop in and make art with us!
PLASTIC COLLECTION
Help us collect plastic materials to use in the workshop between now and February 3. Please drop off the following materials to the Ackland Lobby, Wilson Library Lobby, the Campus Y Lobby, or Morrison Art Lab on South Campus. We need:
• Plastic containers such as yogurt containers, sour cream cups, diaper genies, shampoo bottles, pretty bottle caps, moisturizer tubes (MUST BE RINSED OUT)
• Small plastic objects like dead plastic pens and markers, old credit cards, recycled plastic plates and recyclable containers, plastic laundry baskets, plastic bread tabs, etc. Look for unusual colors or images (look for #PP also #HDPE)
• Reusable water bottles. (Not regular plastic ones in vending machine. Please no plastic drink bottles, Gatorade etc.)
• Some medical components and dental items (plastic picks, dental floss holders, old toothbrushes)
• Various toys (birthday party junk, old Lego, etc.), perler beads
The event is presented in partnership with Arts Everywhere, the North Carolina Botanical Gardens, the Campus Y, and UNC Library and made possible by a grant from Art Bridges.

2nd Friday ArtWalk
2023-02-10 17:00 - 21:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join us for this month’s 2nd Friday ArtWalk evening hours as we explore two new exhibitions at the Ackland: Good Object / Bad Object and Laurel Nakadate: Ten Performances from 365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears.
The evening will feature:
– the debut of a three-day sound installation by Lee Weisert, Both Man and Beast and the Creeping Thing, presented in connected with Good Object / Bad Object (on view Feb 10-12)
– mini-tours of Laurel Nakadate: Ten Performances from 365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears led by Lauren Turner, Associate Curator for Contemporary Art and Special Projects, at 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 p.m.
– a premiere of a behind-the-scenes video on how Good Object / Bad Object was put together will be shown on the hour at 6, 7, and 8 p.m.

Lecture-Demo with Artist Elizabeth Alexander
2023-03-02 18:00 - 19:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join us for an unconventional artist talk with Boston-based multimedia artist Elizabeth Alexander. Alexander, whose work Spit Cake (2014) is on view at the Ackland as part of the Art Bridges Collection Loan Partnership, will talk about her work as she demonstrates the various techniques used to create her delicate cut-porcelain sculptures. Audience members will be able to see the stages of crafting sculptures from found porcelain dishware into evocative works that comment on the deterioration of domestic space.
Free tickets are required for this program, as space is limited. See below!
This program is presented in connection with Houseguests: American Art from the Art Bridges Collection Loan Partnership and made possible thanks to a generous award from the Art Bridges Foundation.
Elizabeth Alexander is an interdisciplinary artist specializing in sculptures and installations made from deconstructed domestic materials. She holds degrees in sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy, MFA, and Massachusetts College of Art, BFA. Her work has been exhibited across the country at institutions including the Museum of Art and Design, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Southeast Center for Contemporary Art, the Nasher Museum at Duke University, and the Currier Museum, and is included in permanent collections at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, AR, Fidelity, and the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC. She is currently an Associate Professor and Sculpture Department Coordinator at Montserrat College of Art.
In addition to her sculpture Spit Cake on view at the Ackland through May 14, local audience members can see Alexander’s work and you did not even know enough to be sorry on view at the North Carolina Museum of Art, as well as in an upcoming exhibition at Cassilhaus in Chapel Hill.

Artist-Led Workshop with Elizabeth Alexander
2023-03-03 15:00 - 16:30 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In this hands-on workshop, explore the concept of creative excision — extracting or removing information to create new meaning — while learning more about how visiting artist Elizabeth Alexander employs the technique in her own works. Alexander, whose porcelain work Spit Cake (2014) is currently on view at the Ackland, will lead participants in a variety of excision processes in different media during this free workshop for UNC students. Materials will be provided; no experience necessary.
Free and open to current UNC students. Space is extremely limited. CLE credit will be offered.
Presented in connection with the Art Bridges Collection Loan Partnership.

Artist Conversation: Art / Science / Music / Math
2023-03-31 15:30 - 16:30 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join us for a lively conversation between visiting artist Kelsey Brookes and composer Allen Anderson about the intersections of art, science, music, and math.
Brookes is a former scientist whose work One Pointed Attention 2 (2014), a large-scale painting based on the Fibonacci sequence, is on loan to the Ackland through the Art Bridges Collection Loan Partnership program.
Anderson’s compositions are often multimedia and interdisciplinary, responding to artworks or the natural environment. In addition to the spoken conversation, Anderson will debut a short musical composition written in response to Brookes’s painting on view in the Ackland’s galleries.
Tickets are free, but space is limited. Register below!

Presented in connection with the Art Bridges Collection Loan Partnership and the North Carolina Science Festival.

Guided Tour: Exploring Connections Between Art & Science
2023-04-06 13:30 - 14:00, 2023-04-13 13:30 - 14:00, 2023-04-20 13:30 - 14:00, 2023-04-27 13:30 - 14:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Meet in the Ackland’s lobby for a guided conversational tour that reveals the interplay between art on view and science! The tour will be 30 minutes in length. All ages welcome and tickets are free, but space is limited to 15 participants.

Rengetsu and Nantenbō: Calligraphy and Context
2023-04-15 09:00 - 16:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
*This event is sold out. Please contact acklandrsvp@unc.edu to join a registration wait list. Thank you!*

A one-day symposium considering the two artists of Lotus Moon and Nandina Staff, open to the general public and scholars alike. The symposium will look at the work of artists Ōtagaki Rengetsu and Nakahara Nantenbō from multiple perspectives, including Japanese Buddhism, the materiality and functions of the work, the role of literature, and the aesthetics of calligraphy. This symposium celebrates gifts from Ray Kass and Jerrie Pike, organized by the Ackland Art Museum from an initial concept by Professor Stephen Addiss (1935-2022).

The symposium is free and open to the public. Registration is required as space is limited.

9:00 to 9:30: Registration and refreshments
9:30 to 9:45: Welcome – Katie Ziglar, Director, Ackland Art Museum
9:45 to 10:30: Prologue – The Odd Couple – Peter Nisbet, Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs, Ackland Art Museum
Collecting and Collaborating: Stephen Addiss and the Mountain Lake Workshop – Ray Kass, Artist and collector, Christiansburg, VA
10:30 to 12:00: Rengetsu’s Waka Poetics: Collaborations and Convergences – Melissa McCormick, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Japanese Art and Culture, Harvard University
Journeys Through Space and Time: The Multiple Dimensions of Rengetsu and Nantenbō Calligraphy – Paul Berry, Independent Scholar, Kyoto, Japan
12:00 to 12:30: Discussion and Questions
12:30 to 2:00: Lunch
2:00 to 3:30: The Art of Rengetsu and Nantenbō in the Buddhist World of their Time – Patricia J. Graham, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas
Communities of Practice: Social Relations and the Functions of Art in the Careers of Rengetsu and Nantenbō – Morgan Pitelka, Bernard L. Herman Distinguished Professor, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
3:30 to 4:00: Discussion and Questions
4:00 to 5:00: Exhibition viewing.
This symposium has been made possible by the Ackland’s Ruth and Sherman Lee Fund for Asian Art and by the Carolina Asia Center.

Image Credit:
Left to right: Ōtagaki Rengetsu, Japanese, 1791-1875, Waka Poem: “The Blood…” (detail), early 1860s, hanging scroll; ink, color, and tarnished silver flakes on textured paper, mounted, overall: 55 × 12 1/4 in. (139.7 × 31.1 cm), Gift of Ray Kass ’67 (’69 MFA) and Jerrie Pike in honor of Burl Ives, 2022.18.13; Nakahara Nantenbō, Japanese, 1839-1925, Staff, with Inscription: “Speak – Nantenbo! …” (detail), 1920, hanging scroll; ink on paper, mounted, overall: 81 1/8 × 19 11/16 in. (206.1 × 50 cm), Gift of Ray Kass ’67 (’69 MFA) and Jerrie Pike in honor of Mountain Lake Symposium and Workshop, 2022.18.22

Ackland Presents: Poetry at the Arboretum
2023-04-15 10:30 - 13:30 | Coker Arboretum
This April commemorates the 120th anniversary of Coker Arboretum. In connection with this celebration and the Ackland Art Museum’s exhibition Lotus Moon and Nandina Staff, the Ackland will host a free, drop-in poetry writing program on the arboretum’s central lawn. Visit any time from 10:30am – 1:30pm to enjoy the serene landscape and the pleasure of crafting poetry to hang amongst the blossoms. Your hanging poems will remain displayed in the gardens through April 24.

Lotus Moon and Nandina Staff: the Art of Ōtagaki Rengetsu and Nakahara Nantenbō (on view March 31 – June 11, 2023) showcases around fifty calligraphy scrolls produced by two nineteenth-century Japanese masters of the form. Visit ackland.org to find other opportunities to engage with the exhibition, including a public symposium running concurrently on April 15 and an April 14 poetry open mic night during the 2nd Friday ArtWalk, with special guests and poetry displays from Piedmont Laureate Dasan Ahanu, Carrboro Poet Laureate Liza Wolff-Francis, and members of the NC Haiku Society.

Reception for Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South - Hosted by Triangle Friends of African American Arts
2023-04-30 14:00 - 16:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Please join us for a reception, hosted by the Triangle Friends of African American Arts, to celebrate the Ackland’s upcoming exhibition, Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South. This special afternoon will include light refreshments, an introduction to the exhibition, spotlight discussions, and self-tour guides.
Including forty-four works by twenty-eight artists – largely drawn from the Ackland’s permanent collection — Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South explores the work of creators from the Southern United States, long overlooked and now considered major names, including Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, Nellie Mae Rowe, and Mose Tolliver. The themes of Life, Spirit, and Matter emerge from the subject matter, the materials used, and the artists’ own accounts of their ideas, efforts, and struggles
We will also be giving away a copy of the companion publication, The Unfinished Business of Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South, to an attendee at the event.
Parking on campus is open to the public on weekends. We recommend looking for parking in Swain Lot or Porthole Alley. Please click here for a map of university parking lots. There is also plenty of Town of Chapel Hill parking lots near the museum. Parking is free on Sundays.
We hope to see you at the reception!

2nd Friday ArtWalk: Congrats, Grads!
2023-05-12 17:00 - 21:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Planning for a graduation weekend filled with fun and celebration? The Ackland is the perfect place to add to your itinerary! Join us Friday, May 12, as we stay open until 9:00 p.m. for an evening of music, art, and Carolina camaraderie.
TRACK MEET by THE BEAT LAB
A dynamic live beatmaking showcase hosted by the UNC Beat Lab that brings together local beat makers to create an extraordinary fusion of art and music. Witness the intersection of creativity as talented producers craft mesmerizing beats in real-time, inspired by the artwork on display at the Ackland.
ART ACTIVITIES
Discover the Ackland’s collection by exploring the galleries with self-guided tours and an art-themed photobooth. Find out about Ackland Art Museum Memberships – the perfect gift for a new grad. Shop for mementos at the Ackland Museum Store, plus receive 25% off all graduation cards tonight only!
CRAFT BEER (and COOKIE!) BAR by BMC BREWING
Enjoy a craft beer and homemade cookie from the pop-up cash bar by BMC Brewing (Pittsboro, NC). BMC (aka Bite My Cookies) Brewing makes all their beer on site at their brewery with locally sourced ingredients and even bakes cookies using flour processed from spent grain obtained during the brewing process. Find out more on their website: https://bmcbrewing.com/.

2nd Friday ArtWalk: Wine, Food, and Local Art
2023-06-09 18:00 - 21:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
For this very special 2nd Friday ArtWalk, the Ackland has partnered with Melanated Wine and the Underground Collective to curate an evening of wine, food, and local art connecting with and celebrating the Museum’s current exhibition Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South.
WINE & FOOD EXPERIENCE by MELANATED WINE
Prepare your taste buds for a sensory journey featuring exquisite wine, food, and art pairings selected by renowned local winery Melanated Wine. The $25 Wine Experience ticket includes four wines from Melanated Wine that have been carefully chosen to complement specific artists or artworks, plus delectable dishes from the talented Chef Anevia from Triple A Catering:

– Red Blend (Cabernet Franc/Syrah) paired with Spiced Beef Crostini
– White Blend (Unoaked Chardonnay/Riesling) paired with Caramelized Onion & Brie Tart
– Blackberry Wine paired with Sweet & Spicy Meatballs
– White Sangria paired with Bruschetta

Each wine and food pairing will be accompanied by a detailed informational sheet, guiding you through the unique flavors and stories behind each selection. Additional a la carte options will be offered at the event, including single servings of the delightful food for $10 per dish as well as a selection of wines available by the glass, with prices varying based on the type of wine. A table menu will be provided, so you can make your perfect wine selection.
Wine Experience tickets are available now for pre-sale (scroll down to purchase!). Only a limited number will be sold on-site. Don’t miss out on this remarkable opportunity to celebrate Black art and creativity while savoring the finest wines and delicious bites provided by Melanated Wine and Triple A Catering.
ART & CRAFT VENDORS with THE UNDERGROUND COLLECTIVE
In addition to the Wine Experience, the Underground Collective is proud to curate a pop-up of unique art and craft vendors with a creative twist that will enhance your experience of the current exhibition Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South. Vendor offerings will be directly connected to the art of the African American past, present, and future. Music will be provided by DJ Mayor.
The Underground Collective (UGC) is a creative agency that offers event curation, event planning and production, cultural branding, and project management to clients seeking to create cultural connections and deepen community engagement. Dedicated to all things socially conscious in Hip-Hop culture and the community, UGC has raised social awareness through the cultural arts for over 10+ years, collaborating with various partners across North Carolina. UGC has a proven track record of quality programming, effective partnerships, and dynamic campaigns that center on the artistic contributions of communities of color.

"Unsettled Things" Study Day
2023-06-17 13:00 - 16:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Register for a special opportunity to participate in a Study Day with scholars of The Unfinished Business of Unsettled Things, the publication that accompanies the Ackland’s current exhibition Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South. Laura Bickford, Michael J. Bramwell, Bernard L. Herman, and Lauren Turner will each lead short gallery discussions about individual works of art in the exhibition, expanding on what we might learn from looking closely at objects as well as how the study of this group of southern artists allows us the opportunity to push the boundaries of what constitutes American art.
Participants should add free tickets for each of the four individual sessions they’d like to attend. Space is very limited for each session.
This project was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Work-in-Progress Film Screening: "Minnie Evans: Draw or Die"
2023-06-17 17:00 - 18:15 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join us for a special work-in-progress screening of the forthcoming documentary Minnie Evans: Draw or Die (dir. Linda Royal). The documentary explores the life and work of Eastern North Carolina artist Minnie Evans, whose work is featured in the Ackland’s current exhibition Unsettled Things: Art from an African American South (on view through July 2, 2023). Following the screening, we will hear from director Linda Royal, producer Olympia Stone, anthropologist Elizabeth M. Penton, and Wayne Evans, great-grandson of Minnie Evans.
This project was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
SOLD OUT: Please email acklandRSVP@unc.edu to reserve a spot on the waitlist.
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ABOUT THE FILM
This is the story of Minnie Evans (1892-1987) whose artistic mastery of a lifetime of visionary dreaming is now recognized on a world-wide stage by art collectors. Born in 1892 in rural coastal North Carolina at a time of racial oppression of her community, Evans worked for decades as the gatekeeper of Airlie Gardens on Wrightsville Sound, NC. In the small wooden gatehouse, she produced hundreds of paintings and drawings. She gave her pictures to people who admired her work, and eventually hung them up near the gatehouse, selling them for a tiny fraction of what her work brings at art auctions today. Working with simple crayon and pencil, Evans’ unique drawings combine exquisitely colored forms and elements of nature and spirituality into her own awe-inspiring creations. Read more on the film’s website.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Linda Royal, (fka Booker) received a Certificate in Documentary Studies from Duke University in 2005 and started By the Brook Productions. Her documentaries “STRAWS,” “Bringing It Home,” and “Love Lived on Death Row” have won awards at U.S. and international film festivals and reached audiences globally through educational use, community screenings, corporate office events and in-flight entertainment. With her films, Linda has coordinated engagement and impact campaigns to address domestic violence, restorative justice and environmental policy in addition to educating thousands of students nationwide about single-use plastic pollution. Her first documentary project featured folk artist Clyde Jones and she’s grateful to honor Minnie Evans with a new documentary film to recognize her as one of the greatest self-taught artists of the twentieth century.
Olympia Stone’s documentaries have been showcased nationally on public television and have won numerous festival awards. Olympia’s films probe the motivations and personal histories of extraordinary artists as a way of providing insight into their work. Aldwyth: Fully Assembled is Olympia’s eighth film. Her other films include portraits of Richard Estes, Elizabeth King, James Grashow, and David Beck. Olympia’s first film, The Collector: Allan Stone’s Life in Art (2007), chronicles the obsessive collecting of her father, a New York art world gallerist whose habits and prescient scouting shaped his life and the lives of many in his artfully cluttered orbit.
Elizabeth M. Penton, PhD, A native of Wilmington, N.C., Liz has been teaching non-Western art and Anthropology at the college level for over 30 years. She took three degrees in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with her dissertation work on Paleolithic cave paintings. A lifelong interest in art and culture, and visionary art in particular, has kept the works of Minnie Evans near the top of her mind. In 2020 she partnered with the Cameron Art Museum to engage in a disciplined analysis of the forms of Evans’ drawings and paintings. Her forthcoming manuscript, Minnie Evans (1892 – 1987): A Beautiful Light, addresses the artist’s complex use of perspective and showcases the artist’s own words with the objective of elevating her oeuvre to its rightful place among the world’s famous visionary artists. Liz is also on the production team with Linda Royal of By the Brook Films, creating a new documentary film on her life and works.
Wayne Evans is the great-grandson of Minnie Evans, who spent much of his formidable years living in Minnie’s home. After 20 years of working with the special needs population in the New Hanover County School District, Wayne is now a Foster Care Administrator with fifteen years of experience working with a team of professionals in his district for a National Healthcare Company. His work ensures that all required records are in state compliance with North Carolina Foster Care State Regulatory policies. Wayne currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. In his free time, he enjoys reading comics, fantasy fiction novels, especially the writings of Anne Rice and other similar authors, visiting his son, and spoiling his grandson, Jaden.

2nd Friday ArtWalk: Georgie Nakima Installation Reception
2023-08-11 18:00 - 21:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join the Ackland in celebrating Georgie Nakima’s new installation, Pantheress, in our ART& space.
Georgie Nakima is a North Carolina-based multi-disciplinary artist with a focus on public art and the relationship between 2D and 3D space. Georgie’s formal background in life sciences and research inspires her to bridge the network of ecosystems into her work both literally and figuratively, reminding us of the intersectionality of our shared world. This work is rooted in Afrofuturism as an offering to affirm the intergenerational connection and testimony of the Black Diaspora.
During tonight’s 2nd Friday ArtWalk, we will be celebrating with colorful summer drinks, and an assortment of playful popcorn flavors from The Mad Popper. Nakima will be onsite at 7 p.m. to meet and greet.
Join us for a fun and vibrant evening honoring Georgie Nakima and welcoming the the installation to our community.
RSVP is required. Each person RSVPing may claim a drink ticket (non-alcoholic or alcoholic); ID will be checked at the bar.

WOW Sip 'n' Vision
2023-08-21 17:30 - 20:30 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join UNC WOW for an immersive exploration of Ackland Art Museum after-hours, exclusive to UNC students. Create your own art with friends and discover campus performance groups while exploring this campus treasure, and the treasures found within.
There will be materials for memory boxes and friendship bracelets, as well as music and refreshments. The Ackland will also have resources for touring the art collection and information about their student membership program.
RSVP with Heel Life here!

2nd Friday ArtWalk: Student Edition!
2023-09-08 17:00 - 21:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Curious about what your campus art museum offers? Join the Ackland for an evening highlighting the ways students at UNC-Chapel Hill can get involved at the Museum.
The Ackland will be open until 9 p.m. for tonight’s 2nd Friday ArtWalk. With information on the various resources available to students at the Ackland, an opportunity to sign up for our free student membership, a button-making station, and guided gallery tours led by the Ackland Student Guides, there are many ways to engage! Visitors are also encouraged to explore the Ackland’s special exhibition, Reform to Restoration: French Drawings from Louis XVI to Louis XVIII (1770-1830).

The 9th Annual Symposium of the Art Student Graduate Organization - “The Ways We Attach Ourselves”: Affect, Agency, and Emotion in the Visual Arts
2023-09-15 17:30 - 2023-09-16 16:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Please reserve your space at the event here.
The symposium will be held in-person at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on
Friday, September 15th at 5:30 – 7:30 PM and Saturday, September 16th from 9:00 AM-
4:00 PM. Presentations will be followed by a Q&A session and are open to a general audience.
Affect theory in art highlights the power of art to evoke intense emotions and bodily sensations
influenced by social, cultural, and historical factors. It recognizes that our bodies actively
participate in the affective encounter with art, generating physical responses that contribute to the
experience. This approach explores how art can transform emotions, challenge interpretations,
and provoke new perspectives, examining the aesthetic strategies artists employ to evoke
affective responses in viewers.
Drawing inspiration from the insightful work of Lauren Berlant and Sarah Ahmed, this year’s
symposium delves into the captivating realm of affect, agency, and emotion within the visual
arts. Our objective is to embrace an affective approach that illuminates the emotional and sensory
dimensions of art, showcasing the profound transformative potential inherent in encounters with
artworks. ASGO cordially invites you to immerse yourself in art on a deeply visceral and embodied
level, transcending mere intellectual analysis and embarking on an exploration of the boundless
affective possibilities offered by artistic experiences.
Please reserve your space at the event here.

2nd Friday ArtWalk: Acktoberfest
2023-10-13 18:00 - 21:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join us for a special Friday the 13th edition of Acktoberfest, our second annual celebration of the arts and tastes of the season. Spend a lighthearted evening kicking off spooky season with friends — look for “haunting” art, take part in mini writing workshops, and sample a selection of ciders and specialty cheeses from local makers.
Food and Drinks
Cheese and art pairings from The Cheese Shop (Carrboro, NC) and ciders on tap from Bull City Ciderworks (Durham, NC), both priced a la carte.
Experimental Writing
Visiting Writer A. Kendra Greene leads three mini writing workshops exploring ideas of shadow texts and erasure at 6, 6:30, and 7 p.m. Drop in to explore ideas of invisibility and the unknown during these interactive sessions. Read an excerpt aloud — if you dare?? — at our outdoor open mic at 7:30 p.m.
Art Exploration
Explore the galleries with guided looking prompts for the spooky season and a chance to see what’s new on view at the Ackland.
Library Pop-Up
How do authors represent the invisible? Leaf through a collection of books from UNC Libraries that explore ideas of invisibility, erasure, and ephemerality.

2nd Friday ArtWalk: "Step This Way" Interactive Performance
2023-11-10 19:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
“Step This Way” is a site-specific performance featuring live music and dance by Mark Gabriel Little and Maura García. The performance takes place on and around the pARC, an interactive playful installation designed and created by The Urban Conga on the Ackland’s Terrace. Throughout the performance, elements of the composition and choreography will shift based on a predetermined pattern and depending on how audience members interact with the space. The performance will loop and restart throughout the evening, with new sets beginning at 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., and 8:30 p.m.
“Step This Way” transforms the seemingly unrelated elements of the Museum and the surrounding areas into a unifying performance experience, with music and choreography that change as the environment and the people within it change throughout the duration of the piece. “Step This Way” celebrates place, the arts, and the capacity that we have to listen to, relate to, and beautifully respond to one another.
Free and open to the public. No tickets needed.
“Step This Way” is supported by a Grassroots grant from the Orange County Arts Commission and a gift from Allen Anderson and Tama Hochbaum. Technical support has been given by PlayMakers Repertory Company. The program is presented as part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro 2nd Friday ArtWalk.
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UNC-Chapel Hill Students can receive CLE credit for attending this performance. Scan the QR code at the event.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Maura García (non-enrolled Cherokee/Mattamuskeet) is a dancer, dancemaker, entertainer, facilitator, thought leader and artistic director. From theater stages, to nightclubs, to museums, to conferences, to universities, to private events, to site-specific outdoor performances, Maura’s powerful work transforms time and space. At the root of all of her endeavors is the desire to heal and create more space for joy in the world.
As an artistic director, Maura collaborates with Indigenous and POC artists to realize multi-media performances, interactive dance experiences and community arts projects. Her narrative driven work uncovers stories hidden by colonialism and reflects the power they have to change our realities. As a human and as a creator, Maura works to uplift Indigenous cultural values, perpetuate ancestral knowledge and actively respect the living earth.
Maura is an international touring artist and shares her work with the world via specially-designed commissions, repertoire performances, multi-day residencies and longer-term community programs. Her performances have been presented throughout North America. Learn more on her website.
Mark Gabriel Little is a composer, singer, and musician based in Chapel Hill, NC. His work builds on a deep foundation in Negro musical traditions and incorporates elements from many other musical traditions including Indigenous southeastern woodlands of North America, Caribbean, West Africa, Classical European, and East Asia. Throughout his career, he has balanced producing boundary-breaking compositions with live performances as a solo act, in a band, or accompanying other performing artists. Commissions include a choral piece for the Maura Garcia Dance Company (Charleston, South Carolina) and an experimental symphony, “Fracking Music!” for the Ackland Art Museum (Chapel Hill, North Carolina). In his collaborations, MGL bridges visual and performing arts with an unconventional sound and music vocabulary. In addition to his portfolio of commissioned work, MGL writes and performs electric soul songs as MGL & The Rev. Hear some of Mark’s music on his website.

Lecture-Demonstration with Maura García and Mark Gabriel Little
2023-11-12 14:00 - 15:30 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Join choreographer/dancer Maura García and composer/musician Mark Gabriel Little for an interactive lecture-demonstration that extends the creative experience of their commissioned immersive performance Step This Way, which will be performed on Friday, November 10, 2023 from 7-9 p.m. during the 2nd Friday ArtWalk. On Sunday, November 12, Dancer-musician duo García and Little will return to the Ackland to lead an interactive event that looks at their creative process, discusses their artistic practices, and encourages participants to ask questions and try out elements of their techniques.
Free and open to all ages. No experience necessary. Space is limited, so please register for a free ticket.
“Step This Way” is supported by a Grassroots grant from the Orange County Arts Commission and a gift from Allen Anderson and Tama Hochbaum. Technical support has been given by PlayMakers Repertory Company. The program is presented as part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro 2nd Friday ArtWalk.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Maura García (non-enrolled Cherokee/Mattamuskeet) is a dancer, dancemaker, entertainer, facilitator, thought leader and artistic director. From theater stages, to nightclubs, to museums, to conferences, to universities, to private events, to site-specific outdoor performances, Maura’s powerful work transforms time and space. At the root of all of her endeavors is the desire to heal and create more space for joy in the world.
As an artistic director, Maura collaborates with Indigenous and POC artists to realize multi-media performances, interactive dance experiences and community arts projects. Her narrative driven work uncovers stories hidden by colonialism and reflects the power they have to change our realities. As a human and as a creator, Maura works to uplift Indigenous cultural values, perpetuate ancestral knowledge and actively respect the living earth.
Maura is an international touring artist and shares her work with the world via specially-designed commissions, repertoire performances, multi-day residencies and longer-term community programs. Her performances have been presented throughout North America. Learn more on her website.
Mark Gabriel Little is a composer, singer, and musician based in Chapel Hill, NC. His work builds on a deep foundation in Negro musical traditions and incorporates elements from many other musical traditions including Indigenous southeastern woodlands of North America, Caribbean, West Africa, Classical European, and East Asia. Throughout his career, he has balanced producing boundary-breaking compositions with live performances as a solo act, in a band, or accompanying other performing artists. Commissions include a choral piece for the Maura Garcia Dance Company (Charleston, South Carolina) and an experimental symphony, “Fracking Music!” for the Ackland Art Museum (Chapel Hill, North Carolina). In his collaborations, MGL bridges visual and performing arts with an unconventional sound and music vocabulary. In addition to his portfolio of commissioned work, MGL writes and performs electric soul songs as MGL & The Rev. Hear some of Mark’s music on his website.

Crafty Hour: Paired Portraits at Craftboro Brewing
2023-11-30 18:00 - 20:00 | Craftboro Brewing, 101 Two Hills Dr. Unit 180, Carrboro, NC, 27510, United States
Head to Carrboro’s Craftboro Brewing for an evening of art-inspired fun and local beer. Bring a partner for a lesson in making Paired Portraits, presented in connection with the Ackland’s current exhibition The Outwin: American Portraiture Today.
You and your partner — could be a spouse, a friend, or even a first date! — will take turns making portraits of one another as Ackland teaching artist Allison Tierney (MFA ’15) shares techniques for successful portraits. No experience necessary!
Tickets are on a sliding scale: $0 – $15 per person/$0 – $30 per pair. Please register for both participants in the pair when purchasing your Ticket for Two below! All materials included with ticket price; Craftboro beers and non-alcoholic craft beverages sold separately at the event.
The Outwin: American Portraiture Today has been organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The competition and exhibition are made possible by the Virginia Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Endowment, established by Virginia Outwin Boochever and sustained by her family. The Ackland’s presentation is supported in part by Caroline and Arthur Rogers.
Organized by:

Holiday Arts Market
2023-12-08 17:00 - 21:00, 2023-12-09 10:00 - 16:00 | Ackland Art Museum, 101 S. Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
The Ackland’s Holiday Arts Market, presented in partnership with Downtown Chapel Hill, will be held Friday, December 8 from 5-9 p.m. during the 2nd Friday ArtWalk and Saturday, December 9 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Purchase handmade holiday gifts both Friday and Saturday. Come for the gifts and enjoy music from Chapel Hill School of Musical Arts at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.
Handmade gifts from local artists include statement jewelry from Bold Standard (shown in bottom left of image); upcycled bags and jewelry from Calico Creates; jewelry from Pflora Metal Arts (shown in top right of image); prints, cards, and calendars from Ellie Snow (shown in bottom right of image); gemstone and wire jewelry from Creations by Guido; cyanotype nature prints on paper and textiles from Legacy Prints and Paper (shown in top left of image); colorful jewelry from Suijin Li, and fused art glass from Jennifer Strickland. While you’re here, explore The Outwin: American Portraiture Today.
