New website for events and performances at UNC Charlotte

UNC Charlotte’s College of Arts + Architecture has just rolled out a new welcome mat to University City – online. Arts.uncc.edu provides a single place for us to learn about 100-plus performances and exhibits by talented students, faculty and visiting artists. “We want to be the resource for people who are interested in hearing great music or seeing interesting theater or viewing challenging artwork,” explains Meg Whalen, communications director for the College of Arts + Architecture.

This website focuses on the community

The college already has a website, but much of its content serves the college’s 1,200-plus students and faculty. As a result, people seeking information about upcoming shows often could not find it.
“We decided we needed to create a website that was strictly for our events and exhibitions and particularly for our highest profile, most engaging events and exhibitions,” Whalen said.
The resulting website provides that showcase. The site also has information that campus visitors often crave – including where to park and how to find the venue. The “Buy tickets” link is front and center on every page, though many shows are free.

You’ll want to know about great events like these

With just a glance at the homepage you’ll quickly learn about some of the biggest shows coming in the next few weeks. Among the performances and exhibits highlighted on the current homepage are:

• Art Faculty Biennial Exhibition: Panel and Reception – Sept. 9 – This show will feature the works of two dozen faculty members. You’re also invited to attend the free reception on Sept. 9, where faculty members share perspectives and insights as artists both within and without the academic world.
• Stories and Music from the ‘Violins of Hope’ – Sept. 11 – Readings, music and a reception for author and interim Music Department Chair Dr. James Grymes. The event will feature Grymes reading from his new book, with performances of related music throughout the evening. A book signing and reception will follow. “Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour,” tells the remarkable stories of violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust and recovered and restored by Israeli violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. Academy Award-winning composer John Williams calls Grymes’s book “a work of research and scholarship that forms one of the most moving chronicles in the history of Western music.”
• A “Faculty and Friends” performance by the Faculty Brass Quintet – Sept. 23 – Think the Canadian Brass, but with less jokes (tickets $9; $5 seniors).

Website tools will keep you up to date

That these three shows take place in a three-week span might seem unusual. But consider that the university will present more than 100 shows through next May. The busiest performance months are October and April, Whalen says. Fall theater performances include “The Merry Wives (Oct. 23-Nov. 2) and “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” (Nov. 12-16).
The website has several tools to make sure you hear about these great shows and get your tickets.
The website’s simple navigation tools will link you to a full calendar of events (fall semester, for now) plus the on-line ticket office, descriptions of each venue, nearby parking and directions / maps.
A cluster of icons on each page invite you to connect more directly via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram plus subscribe to an e-newsletter on upcoming activities.

Begin exploring now!

UNC Charlotte’s College of Arts + Architecture has rolled out the welcome mat. They invite you to click, explore, reserve and go. Start here: http://arts.uncc.edu