While much of the buzz goes home with UNC’s students for the summer, the lull presents the perfect opportunity to explore local museums, galleries and makerspaces, uninterrupted by classes or crowds and with no shortage of events.
Sitting on the edge of UNC’s campus and housing over 20,000 artworks, the Ackland Art Museum — one of Chapel Hill’s most prominent art institutions — will be hosting exhibitions and events all summer.
The Ackland’s ongoing special exhibition, “Arranged,” curated by Peter Nisbet, the museum’s deputy director for curatorial affairs, presents modern and contemporary paintings that the museum has acquired in recent years.
Tours, drawing sessions and live performances based on the exhibition are scheduled until the exhibition closes on Sept. 1.
Allison Portnow Lathrop, head of public programs, said that the Ackland offers several opportunities for student engagement, both during the school year and over the summer. Incoming students can register for an Ackland student membership, which comes with several benefits, such as access to not only extra programs, but a community on campus.
“It's a great place to pop in and cool down — see some art that will be lovely and life-changing,” she said.
For students interested in hands-on learning while classes are out, The ArtsCenter in Carrboro offers seasonal classes through its ArtSchool in mediums from ceramics to textiles to dance and everything in between.
“There's really something for everybody, but we've realized recently that actually, we don't think we have quite as much of a foothold in the student community as we'd like to,” Rachel Nunn, the associate director of the ArtSchool, said. “And so to try and work on that, we've started offering student rush pricing.”
The new student rush pricing grants students 50% off the price of ArtSchool classes. Nunn said that all students need to do is bring a valid school ID to the ArtsCenter prior to the start of the class.
