Panel & Reception: Why Are Walls Talking?

October 10, 2018 - 7:00 PM to October 11, 2018 - 6:59 PM
UNC Charlotte Center City

Director of Galleries Adam Justice will lead a panel discussion with four muralists from the Charlotte community – Garden of Journey, Dammit Wesley, and Arko & Owl. This event is collectively presented by three Charlotte arts entities: UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture, Sphere Series, and Southern Tiger Collective, which has brought these mural artists together under the umbrella of the Talking Walls mural festival, taking place October 10-13 in and around the city of Charlotte. Please register below.

Talking Walls offers the community an opportunity to consider unique ways mural and graffiti artists convert public space into creative enterprises, as well as the evolving definition of what art is. What used to be dismissed as disposable street art is now considered legitimate artwork. The panel will debate how this changes the way we contemplate graffiti and murals and how it changes the expectation for the artists. How does the ephemeral nature of the medium undermine any long-term attempt to institutionalize it? More importantly, mural art offers another view of our constantly evolving visual culture. How do artists use visual language to communicate in non-institutional settings? How do they construct an image to reach a broad, diverse public that changes dynamically and organically? How does their artwork on the street impact, enhance and or bring together communities? Do mural festivals, and an infusion of public art, do more than just beautify cities?

The event begins at 7:00 pm in the lecture hall at UNC Charlotte Center City and is followed by a reception in Projective Eye Gallery, where two Talking Walls murals have been created. 

This event is FREE, but registration is required to receive free parking.