Art becomes a community effort in 2009

This article was published in the 2009 Year in Review issue of The Daily Tar Heel.

Industrial progress, collage artists, mural painters and abstract expressionists all graced Chapel Hill with visual art in 2009.

Here is a look at some of the best the community had to offer.

Ackland exhibits

The Ackland Art Museum had a variety of works on display this year.

“All of 2009 has been really a wonderful year,” said Emily Kass, director of the museum.

After wrapping up its 50-year anniversary celebration in January, the museum also hosted an exhibit about industrial progress, collage artist Aldwyth’s retrospective, an Asian art exhibit honoring Sherman Emery Lee, Cuban cinema posters and abstract expressionist art.

“We were able to show things that for many people were new, because they haven’t been up in so long,” Kass said, about the year’s exhibits.

The shows involved both new acquisitions, such as Seymour Lipton’s Sentinel II, and pieces from the museum’s existing collection.

UNC alumnus David Craven donated 16 colorful 1960s and ’70s Cuban posters, many from cinema advertisements, to the museum. These were displayed in the fall.

“The open-endedness to the images is surprising because it contradicts what you would have seen in Russia, China and Vietnam,” Craven said of the posters in an August interview.

Student art

In 2009, students continued to create art and even had a new venue to display it.

The Artery, a student-run gallery for student art, opened in early November.

On Friday, the Artery will hold a student holiday print and art sale from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at 137 E. Rosemary St.

In 2008, the Ackland received a $1.25 million grant to support their educational efforts, which allowed them to bring on new staff and expand programs in 2009.

Kass said the number of students visiting the museum with their classes has grown from 7,500 last year to 10,000 this year.

“We’ve really expanded our academic program department,” she said.

Community art

Chapel Hill muralist Michael Brown was busy this year, raising money and restoring some of his murals around town.

Meg McGurk, assistant director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, has helped with the campaign to save the murals.

“They have been around for 20 years now and just about everyone that you talk to has a favorite,” she said in an August interview.

Chapel Hill also installed several sculptures as part of the Sculpture Visions series.

The Public Arts Commission of Chapel Hill also hired artists to create a community art project using pictures and memories from local residents.

The finished work “Our Stories, In Focus” was displayed at various locations around Chapel Hill.



Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.