Paintings, photos exhibit starts Jan. 7

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UNC News Service

CHAPEL HILL -- Large paintings and photographs of the Norwegian Arctic and Antarctica will make up a free public exhibition Jan. 7 through May 31 at UNC.

The display at the FedEx Global Education Center, at the corner of McCauley and Pittsboro streets, will be accompanied by a free public concert at 7 p.m. Feb. 23, also at the center.

"We'll use this exhibit as a foundation to discuss global climate change and how our region may be affected over time," said Laura Griest, manager of global events and exhibitions, referring to evidence of melting at the polar ice caps. The exhibition will follow the current United Nations conference on climate change.

The exhibition of 20 large artworks, "Ice Counterpoint," will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays. Some of the artworks in the exhibition are 12 feet long, Griest said.

The mixed media exhibition includes photography, videography and environmental sound recordings by Brooks de Wetter-Smith, the James Gordon Hanes Distinguished Professor of music at UNC, and paintings by Carrboro artist Nerys Levy. The works were inspired by trips to Antarctica and the Norwegian Arctic in recent years.

"The transformation of the polar regions will have a great impact on the rest of the world, and North Carolina will be particularly affected," de Wetter-Smith said. "Highlighting the regions through art, music and academic discussions will help us all better understand the causes and consequences of these changes and will encourage us to proactively work for positive solutions."

The Douglass Hunt Lecture Series of the Carolina Seminars at UNC, a sponsor of the exhibition, commissioned a musical composition by Terry Mizesko, a trombonist and composer with the North Carolina Symphony, for the Feb. 23 reception. The piece will be performed by de Wetter-Smith on flute and local musicians Jonathan Bagg (viola), Jacquelyn Bartlett (harp) and Florence Peacock (soprano). Arctic audio, images and video will be integrated into the performance. Then de Wetter-Smith will perform a flute composition illustrating narration and images from his 2006 Antarctica trip.