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Bardo Arts Center Blog

Explore upcoming events, experiences, and opportunities!

David Skinner, Pink Flood, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches.

2021 School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial

Every two years, the WCU Fine Art Museum offers full-time and adjunct faculty in the School of Art and Design the opportunity to share their artwork with the University community through the Faculty Biennial exhibition. For this year’s Biennial, each faculty member contributed work that connects with the University’s 2020-2021 campus theme of Water.   

Tekki Lomnicki in Code of the Freaks

Code of the Freaks

Code of the Freaks presents a radical reframing of the use of disabled characters in film. Using hundreds of clips spanning over 100 years of moviemaking, and a cast of disabled artists, scholars and activists, it’s a scorching critique of some of Hollywood’s most beloved characters. This revelatory documentary investigates the power of movie imagery to shape the beliefs and behaviors of the general public toward disabled people, and of disabled people toward themselves.   

Picture Character Official Promo Image

SouthArts Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers

Although the Hall will be closed to the public, we are offering a streaming documentary film series featuring opportunities to meet various members of the film crew through a virtual post-film Q and A experience. The films are part of the SouthArts Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers and will be available to watch on any device, including your TV through a Roku and more. Further information, including ticketing details, coming soon!  

Lonnie Holley in his studio in 2018

Thumbs Up for Mother Universe: Stories from the Life of Lonnie Holley

Filmed over 20 years, Thumbs Up for Mother Universe, tells Lonnie Holley's story, revealing how one man's instinct to create has enabled him to succeed against all odds - a journey from garbage dumps and prison camps, to festival stages and The Met.  

Carolina Social Justice Book Club

Carolina Social Justice Book Club

We’re excited to announce the launch of the Carolina Social Justice Book Club from the WCU Belcher College! This online community is open to anyone at WCU and beyond. It is a place for individuals to connect with each other and enjoy a selection of books that increase awareness and understanding of different social justice topics. There is no cost to participate – you just have to get a copy of the book to enjoy.   

Resounding Change: Sonic Art and the Environment Installation View

WCU Fine Art Museum Excellence in Exhibitions Award

The Museum's exhibition, Resounding Change: Sonic Art and the Environment, received the Gold Award from the Southeastern Museums Conference "Excellence in Exhibitions" competition in the under $25,000 budget category! The Gold award is the highest honor an exhibition can receive in each category.   

Bernadine George, Pot, ceramic, 4 x 5 x 5 inches, Gift of Lambert Wilson

Cultivating Collections: Ceramics

Over 80 works make up the Museum’s ceramics collection and range from functional wood-fired porcelain and sculptural stoneware to a multi-piece earthenware installation. While the first clay works entered the University’s art collection in the 1980s and 1990s as part of the Art Department’s artists-in-residence program, the ceramics collection got a kickstart in 2005 when Founding Director of the WCU Fine Art Museum, Martin DeWitt, began making strategic purchases from regional artists and WCU students.   

Above: Jane Culp, Narrow Earth Trail, watercolor and pencil on paper, 1993, 22 x 30 inches, Gift of the Artist

Cultivating Collections: Paintings

The WCU Fine Art Museum’s paintings collection contains over 180 works in oil, acrylic, watercolor, enamel, and gouache created from 1950 to the present. To engage students in the process of reviewing the Collection, the Museum’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Carolyn Grosch, worked with her Exhibition Practicum class to develop, Cultivating Collections: Paintings. Students selected works to display, interviewed artists, wrote labels, and evaluated strengths and opportunities for the paintings collection.  

Libby Fleet, Diner, Graphic Design

BFA Portfolio Exhibition 2020

Experience work by graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts students from the WCU School of Art and Design. This exhibition highlights their comprehensive course of study at Western Carolina University and serves as a preface to their forthcoming careers as professional artists.  

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