On Thursday, Oct. 10, the Department of Art & Art History welcomed Chancellor Shannon L. Gaber and a multitude of alumni, current and legacy faculty and staff, students and members of the local arts community to celebrate the department’s 60th anniversary.
The momentous occasion took place in Rowe Arts, where “Generations: 60 Years – 21 Conversations,” an exhibition curated by Associate Professor of Art History Jim Frakes, remains on view through Nov. 8. Eighty-five artworks, meticulously organized across all three galleries in Rowe, tell the story of the visual arts at UNC Charlotte through a range of disciplines and mediums. Frakes spent years of research on this project, diving deep into the history of the school and reconnecting with generations of faculty and alumni through interviews.
“I know it looks back 60 years, but in my heart of hearts, it looks forward,” Frakes said.
60 Years of Art History
The history of the visual arts program at UNC Charlotte begins with Maud Gatewood, who’s piece “Drive-In” (on loan from Atkins Library) is displayed at the top of the stairs overlooking Rowe’s lobby. It is one of Gatewood’s 16 works that the University owns. In 1964, Gatewood was hand-picked by Bonnie Cone to develop an academic arts program and spearhead the design of an arts building .
One of North Carolina’s most significant artists, Gatewood graduated from UNC Greensboro and received a Fulbright grant to study art in Austria prior to connecting with Cone and Charlotte. Gatewood spent summers at Black Mountain College near Asheville, home to an interdisciplinary collection of world-renowned artists. And the college influenced, in part, the design of the Rowe Building — a Bauhaus-style, interdisciplinary studio. Frakes noted that the early days of UNC Charlotte were like the Wild West, a time of rapid unchecked growth, which allowed Gatewood to craft a unique curriculum at the college.
Gatewood left Charlotte in 1973 and worked as an independent artist for the rest of her life. She would return for a semester in 1982 as a visiting artist. During this time, she met and mentored UNC Charlotte student Ann Carter ’82.
Across the hallway from Gatewood’s “Drive-In” is a painting Carter created specifically for the “Generations” exhibition. The abstract piece, Frakes explains, pays homage to her mentor in a new style. Throughout the exhibition, specially selected works by Charlotte arts alumni are displayed in tandem with pieces created by their mentors in a cross-generational array that tells the story of the department’s growth.
“The show is about alumni — the sense of connection, possibility and accomplishment, but also that they belong to something worth remembering and that continues with future students,” Frakes said. “We need to support that continuity. We can’t forget it.”
Crafting an Event Generations in the Making
The concept for the “Generations: 60 Years – 21 Conversations” exhibition initially started as a way to research and reconnect with alumni. The research process rolled into 2020 and became a sort of pandemic project for Frakes and his partner, UNC Charlotte Associate Professor of Painting Andrew Leventis. One night, they devised the idea of bringing all the retired professors back to campus to display their work alongside their students’ work.
Frakes began reaching out to the original art faculty who — despite being decades removed from the University — were full of stories. The project grew until it eventually included current faculty and their students. With a full continuum of Charlotte artists in front of him, Frakes created throughlines that formed the foundation of his upcoming book that tells the history by featuring the conversational quartets of artists.
“[I began] pairing a legacy and a current faculty member, and the history [of the department] became richer and richer from my perspective,” Frakes said. The resulting exhibition features 20 ‘legacy’ faculty, 30 current faculty and 44 alumni, each invited by a faculty member.
UNC Charlotte has had more than 3,000 arts alumni since 1964. Some have worked in major cities such as Paris, New York and San Francisco. Others established their artistic careers closer to Charlotte as business owners, gallerists, curators and designers of local galleries. Some became educators, teaching at colleges and universities and inspiring the next generation at the K-12 level. When compiled into a 60-year story, even an art historian like Frakes was impressed.
“It’s amazing that from the beginning, UNC Charlotte was a platform for so much going on in the art world,” he said.
Continuing the 21 Conversations
These pieces do not just serve as a history lesson; each of them relate to a larger, timeless conversation. From the environment to racial oppression, Frakes grouped the art to highlight how these issues influenced art when it was created and how they represent conversations that must continue to be had.
The event also pushes the boundaries of an exhibition from a technological standpoint. Frakes worked with Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Sami ShiriDevich to create an AR experience within Rowe Arts galleries. Visitors can download the Artivive app and hold their phone up to a work of art to reveal details about the artist and more. All of this serves as a way to further immerse attendees into UNC Charlotte’s rich arts culture.
“If you want to understand the place you live, you have to engage with its visual arts,” Frakes said.
As Charlotte continues to “Shape What’s Next,” Frakes encourages members of the community to remember where they came from and pay homage to the artists that shaped the first 60 years of Charlotte’s art history.
“If you’re a student on campus who is interested in art or certainly if you’re thinking about doing an art field, this is a great opportunity to come see what you are joining: the legacy, the trajectory and the people,” Frakes said.
