Free events at Ulysses Festival of the Arts 2014

Ulysses Festival of the Arts brings a month of arts and cultural events to Charlotte, starting March 20th, 2014. The events take place in a variety of venues and encompass everything from dance and music to visual arts and film. Some of the events are free and some have an admission fee. You can all of the events on the Ulysses Festival Facebook page. Just click on “events” and you’ll find all the details.

I’m listing just the free events here, but make sure to check out that Facebook page to see them all. In this list below, follow the links for more details.

• Festival Kick-off: Thursday, March 20th, 5:30pm to 8pm, 7th Street Public Market. Free performances by the North Carolina Dance Theater, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Opera Carolina & UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture Jazz Trio.
• Display of ArtVee Mobile Eco-Studio by Jason McDonald and featuring an installation by Samantha Hill: Thursday, March 20th, 7pm to 9pm, McColl Center for Visual Art. Fall 2013 Environmental Artist-In-Residence Jason MacDonald’s mobile installation entitled, A Way From Home is built from a reclaimed industrial container and environmentally conscious elements such as a rainwater collection system and beds for various native and edible plants. The mobile studio will ultimately reside in the Brightwalk community and serve as a site for future art happenings and installations by subsequent Environmental Artists-In-Residence.
• Bayou Blue: Film screening and conversation with filmmaker and McColl Center Artist-In-Residence Alix Lambert: Thursday, March 20th, 7pm to 9pm, McColl Center for Visual Art. In a poverty-stricken area of southeastern Louisiana, 23 men were murdered between 1997 and 2006. Local police departments had great difficulty finding the perpetrator, at least in part because Hurricane Katrina put great demands on them around 2005. This documentary by McColl Center Artist-In-Residency Alix Lambert reconstructs the events and reveals some of the least attractive aspects of this mysterious swamp region: the poverty, the racism, the drug problems, the ever-present environmental pollution, a lack of coordination between the various agencies involved, and the reasons behind this monster remaining at large for so long.
• Lecture: No Longer Just a Dream: Tuesday, March 25th, 6pm, Harvey B. Gantt Center. Dr. Charles Davis will be speaking about recent sites on the national mall in Washington, DC: the Martin Luther King Memorial and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
• Gospel Shout!: Thursday, March 27th, United House of Prayer for All People, 2321 Beatties Ford Road. Shout Bands are a United House of Prayer original, and they have their roots right in this area. The music of these high-energy trombone-led bands is something you ought to experience. There will also be a capella singing. Come early, starting at 6pm, and get a soul food dinner at the church cafeteria for $10.
• Rise for Freedom: April 3: Biddle Hall, Johnson C. Smith University,7pm; April 4: Fellowship Hall, First Baptist Church, Matthews, 7pm; April 5; Chapel, Sharon Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, 7pm. A new production of African-American composer Hailstork’s one-act opera that tells The John Parker Story. The English-language opera takes place in Ripley, Ohio in 1860, and tells the story of John Parker, a freed slave who risks his own freedom to help slaves escape bondage in Kentucky. A moving tale of heroism and self-sacrifice as told by our country’s leading African American composer.
• “McColl and Response” with Jazz Art Initiative: Thursday, April 17th, 6pm to 8pm, McColl Center for Visual Art. Jazz Art Initiative is a Charlotte non-profit whose mission is “connecting the cultural community and developing an audience for jazz through quality education, performance, and musician support.” Jazz Arts Initiative Youth Ensembles will play an Ode to Civil Rights. Join us for an evening of Jazz as musicians explore the era and share interpretations on classic hits of what is often considered America’s only true original art form.
• Ulysses Dance Project 2014: A Symphony of Brotherhood: Sunday, April 6th, 6:30pm, Patricia McBride & Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Center for Dance. The evening includes works by choreographers and faculty from North Carolina Dance Theatre, including an excerpt from Dwight Rhoden’s Innovative Works premiere Sit In Stand Out. Winthrop University in collaboration with Queens University, Johnson C. Smith University, Caroline Calouche & Co., and Moving Poets are all performing. Take your experience one step further by participating in Dancers @ Heart. Dancers @ Heart participants have the unique opportunity to create a dance work along with the professional staff of North Carolina Dance Theatre, and participants will present their work as part of the Ulysses Dance Project 2014. The performance will be followed by a talk back with special guests from the Levine Museum of the New South. For more information or to register for Dancers @ Heart, contact the Education & Outreach Department of North Carolina Dance Theatre at 704-372-0101 ext. 2767. Donation suggested for attendance at the Ulysses Dance Project 2014 performance. Participation in Dancers @ Heart is free.