Paperhand Puppet Intervention: The Audience
(photographs of Paperhand Puppet Intervention taken at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Forest Theatre)
Paperhand Puppet Intervention: Backstage
(photographs of Paperhand Puppet Intervention taken at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Forest Theatre)
Paperhand Puppet Intervention "The Beautiful Beast"
(photographs of Paperhand Puppet Intervention taken at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Forest Theatre)
Campus Stillness
Exams ended on Friday. Fall commencement concluded this past weekend. Stillness wafts through campus.
(photograph taken on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill)
About Face
The black and white photographs of people depicted on the side of UNC's Hanes Art Center evolved from a student project tied to the university’s water theme. It stems from artist JR's Inside Out: The People's Art Project, a global participatory art project that collectively is aimed at changing the world. As such, each participant shares a portrait that makes a personal transformative statement about identity.
(photograph taken at Hanes Hall off of Columbia Street at UNC, Chapel Hill, NC)
That's the Ticket
Seeking UNC vs. Duke University football tickets hours before the game. UNC prevailed 66 to 31. Most points ever scored against Duke.
(photographs taken on the corner of Franklin and Columbia streets in Chapel Hill, NC)
Friends in High Places
“As soon as you try to describe a close friendship, it loses something.”
Smith coached the basketball team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 36 years — from 1961-1997. In addition to his record wins and personal character, he was regarded as a desegregation advocate who lead by example. He recruited the university’s first African-American scholarship basketball player, Charlie Scott, in the late 1960s. Smith passed away on February 7th in Chapel Hill.
(photographs of the Scott Nurkin (2015) Dean Smith mural in progress were taken off of Smith Level Road and US 15-501 in Chapel Hill near the Orange/Chatham county line. Nurkin is known for signature murals around town including Greetings from Chapel Hill which can be seen off of Rosemary Street near Colombia Street in downtown Chapel Hill.)
UNC Gymnastics: No Place Like Home
Stills captured from the seats at UNC's victorious meet against the William & Mary Tribe on Saturday, February 7th at the UNC Carmichael Arena. The team's first home meet since January 9th began with the vault, on to uneven bars, next balance beam, and culminated with floor exercises accompanied by music thundering from the arena's speakers. Catch the Tarheels next weekend when they take on No. 9 Georgia at 1 pm February 14 in Carmichael Arena on UNC's campus.
(photograph taken at UNC Carmichael Arena off of South Road in Chapel Hill)
Chapel Hill: Guiding Picasso
Age and ability are a moot point. The Ackland Museum offers affordable hands-on art workshops for those who lean into pencils or pastels, sculpture or still life. The image above captures the Drawing for Tweens program for 10- to 13-year-olds. An instructor demonstrates techniques using the museum's collection as the classroom.
(photograph taken at the University of North Carolina Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill)
Chapel Hill: Pulitzer Prize Winner Junot Díaz
"Stop smoking crack. For real. Cut-the-[expletive]. Immigrants ain't even on the top ten. Yeah, how about the fact that my nephews have been on military duty non-stop for ten years? How about the fact that we as a country seem like we can't spend six months not at war? Or the fact that our economic elite have basically immiserated the majority of the nation? Or that there's less financial aid for students than there is financial aid for oil companies? (cheering from crowd). Like, c'mon. These issues have real bone-breaking effects on those being victimized. But on those who mobilize them, they're nothing more than obfuscation; obfuscation of their own elitist economic promise." Junot Díaz is candid. Especially when it involves immigration in this country and the government's prioritization of the issue.
Clad in a hoodie and jeans, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author spoke and gave a reading at "An Evening with Junot Díaz" Saturday at UNC's Memorial Hall as part of Hispanic Heritage month. Throughout his talk he alternated between pontificating on Latino issues, and joking with the audience, often in slang as characteristic of his writing. The audience embraced him, even those who had not read his work.
Junot is arguably one of the most acclaimed Latino writes of his generation. He is best known for his books The New York Times bestseller, This Is How You Lose Her, and his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The Dominican Republic-born, New Jersey-raised author also is an activist on behalf of the Latino community -- critical of immigration policy in the United States.
Like Junot, his characters are honest and uncensored. He often writes in the "you" when his narrators speak, weaving cultural Spanglish phrasing. One student, discernibly an admirer of his work, politely questioned his cultural authenticity -- for example, the use of colloquialism. Junot's response was lighthearted and, not surprisingly, blunt:
"The thing is this, right, it's that here is the joke. The joke is that it is fiction. It is ALL a gimmick you guys. This isn't me pretending to be me. In other words the thing is a [expletive] lie. How can there be claims of authenticity?...The best way for folks to think about it is that it is already an act of fiction."
Booya!
(photograph taken at UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill)
Along for the Ride
Spotted this British beauty on UNC's campus this week. The Carolina blue Morris Motors vehicle in pristine shape was on view and in tow in a lot near the Carolina Inn. Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company that was subsequently incorporated into larger corporations. The Morris brand name remained until 1984 when British Leyland’s Austin Rover Group shifted its focus to the popular Austin brand.
Railroad stations often used these vehicles for luggage and petty shipments, hence the name "station wagon." Typically those with wood trim in the rear portion of the car were referred to as a "woodie." In the 1960s & 1970s, California surfers were drawn to Morris vehicles because they were cheap and could cram a bunch of people and surfboards making the "woodie" the vehicle most commonly associated with a surfer.
(photograph taken near West Cameron Avenue & Ransom Street in Chapel Hill)
"Cool in General" Allison & Preetha
Someone on Main Street catcalls from a car. Allison (left), 20, looks over her shoulder and simpers. She and Preetha (right), 21, seem to have shared many of these goofy moments. They were suite-mates at UNC-CH freshman year, and have remained close friends. "I couldn't get rid of her," Allison quips.
Preetha, who is from Connecticut, studies environmental health science and volunteers at the Carrboro Farmers' Market. Allison, who is from Charlotte, is studying communications-English-history. But that was not her original choice.
P: "Alison wanted to be a director. She knows a lot about tv shows. A lot of recommendations. Told me new shows I should try. She got me watching Fringe and I love it."
A: "I forgot! TV and movies are essentially all I talked about...Preetha volunteers an impressive amount as you can see by her shirt (reads Carrboro Farmer's Market). Very involved in the community and I admire her immensely.... Preetha is sweet. The base of sweetness."
P: "Allison is funny and a REALLY good storyteller."
When they first met they were more reserved than they are today, Allison remarks. What made them less reserved? "College. You widen your horizons," she says, then adds, deadpan: "Plus we're both really cool in general."
(photograph taken on Main Street between Lloyd & Rosemary streets in Carrboro)
Portal to Campus
Stretching the wall of the Carolina Coffee Shop (Franklin Street), these images spring from Michael Brown's mural "Parade of Humanity" (1997). The idea for the piece originated from the pageant of people who stroll through the alley to and from the University of North Carolina campus. The mural depicts Brown's friends and local curiosities. Brown has painted 19 other murals near downtown Chapel Hill. See Towering Shades of Blue and Herculean Men in Carrboro for images of his wok. The mural is located through Porthole Alley from 138 East Franklin Street to campus.
(photograph taken off of Franklin Street in Chapel Hill)