Enlarge

Posted: June 11th, 2012 Liz Bertrand

“A little bit off the beaten path” is the way Director of Galleries Crista Cammaroto describes the location of UNC Charlotte Center City's Projective Eye Gallery but she could have just as easily been describing the art inside.

The gallery housed in this strikingly modern building located at 9^th and Brevard streets is dedicated to presenting interdisciplinary and multimedia works – including digital art, sound space installation, and video – created by nationally and locally known artists. On Sat, June 2 the College of Arts + Architecture of UNC Charlotte invited kids and their families to explore the latest exhibition, “Concurrent Rhythms,” and create their own artwork at a special event called “Art in the House.”

“We're a gallery that geared up when a lot of the galleries were closing uptown,” says Cammaroto. She has been eager to find ways to connect with the community through outreach events since assuming her position at the helm of UNCC's gallery system last July. While opening nights have been popular “happenings” with music, art, and food, she wanted to find other ways during the run of a show to engage people with the art.

Keep Reading

Posted: June 5th, 2012 Liz Barrett

The 2011-2012 Front Porch Grant Program came to a close last month with a celebration and sharing of stories amongst the 24 grant recipients. It was another successful year as organizations used up to $2,500 to build relationships across differences in the community. Both Above and Beyond Students and Supportive Housing Community (formerly St. Peter's Home/McCreesh Place) shared their program stories with the group at large.

With it's second year of funding from Front Porch, Above and Beyond Students, strengthened relationships between the Latino and African-American students at Eastway Middle School through their after-school program "Sewing Our Way To Stisterhood" in which the girls learned to sew and quilt. Together the diverse students created 25 dresses that a local church will take to an orphanage in Jamaica on mission trip in July. Through the shared experience of learning and creating a new craft, the young women were able to create new relationships and build trust across their cultural differences as well as give back to those in need in another country.

Keep Reading