"Shimmer" art walk to light up Chapel Hill, Carrboro

Tonight is going to be lit.

“Shimmer: The Art of Light,” a new art exhibition that uses various aspects of light, will transform Chapel Hill and Carrboro into a unique art walk. 

Meg McGurk, executive director of Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, said although "Shimmer" features a variety of art forms, light will be incorporated in all of its pieces.

"It’s lit up from projections on buildings. It’s lit up installations," she said. "Some of the art is interactive and includes performance art. So light is the element that all of the art pieces will have.”

The 20 locations on the walk will each feature different selected artists from across the country, each with their own interpretations of light. 

Belinda Haikes will have one of her pieces projected on the side of the Ackland Museum.

She said she is inspired by the current exhibit of Hans Hofmann’s work in the museum.

“My piece takes Hans Hofmann’s theory of push and pull by using rectangles and shapes, and I’ve created a four-minute landscape kind of thing,” she said. “So it’s based on geometric shapes that I’ve used to express an interactive experience.”

She also said she wants to give the impression of tying the outside of the Ackland to the exhibit on the inside.

“One of the things about this piece that I like, which you may not realize it, is it actually mirrors one of his murals, where it pulls directly from his works,” she said. “It’s like this little game if you pay attention, and you stay for the whole four minutes, you’ll be rewarded with this moment of seeing this assimilation of Hans Hofmann’s work on the exterior of the building. 

"It’s like I’m giving you a little sneak peak at the possibilities of Hans."

Participating artist Carter Hubbard, who uses plastic mesh from tea bag manufacturing and other materials to illuminate her work, said the show will be the first of its kind in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area.

“It’s outside of the town’s normal Friday Artwalk, and it will put the two cities on the map," she said.

Hubbard also said it will give people the opportunity to see a collaboration between two communities.

"It will bring attention to things that are going on and sort of elevate what the two cities are doing together culturally,” she said. “It's an interesting thing to go to for visitors and people who live there, like seeing their backyard in a different way.”

McGurk said attendees can find maps of the different participating venues and businesses along the normal route of the 2nd Friday Artwalk. She said the event will be a unique experience for those looking for art in a different environment than typical art shows.

Though the event takes place outside, McGurk said participants should come enjoy the beauty of light through art that "Shimmer" provides.

“It’s the time of the year where we are cold and encapsulated in the dark of the winter, and we are going to light up downtown to make something phenomenal."

@maggsmouat

arts@dailytarheel.com