Two Uptown Cultural Events in One Lively Night
CHARLOTTE – March 14, 2011 – Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) will partner with the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Charlotte Symphony to premiere “2 UpTown,” highlighting two great cultural experiences in one lively night on Friday, March 25, at the Levine Center for the Arts in uptown Charlotte.
CTI is a high-quality, intensive professional development program for teachers involving UNC Charlotte, Davidson College and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS). “Thanks to generous grants from our supporters and meaningful collaboration with our cultural partners, CTI offers a variety of innovative programs to engage and educate teachers and the Charlotte community-at-large,” said CTI Founding Director Molly Shaw. “With ‘2 UpTown,’ CTI connects teachers with Charlotte’s cultural treasures, two at a time.”
“2 UpTown: A Night of Myths and Archetypes” begins at 5:15 p.m. with a tour of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art’s new exhibition “Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology.” The tour is followed by 2 UpTown Talks with speakers from the Bechtler and the Charlotte Symphony in the Wells Fargo Auditorium at 6:15 pm. The 2 UpTown museum tour and talks are free and open to the public. Space is limited, so registration at http://charlotteteachers.org is recommended.
Participants may also purchase tickets to the Charlotte Symphony’s “Light My Fire” reception and concert that night, at 6:45 and 7:30 pm respectively, at the Knight Theater. CTI and the Charlotte Symphony are providing 100 concert tickets to CMS teachers at a special price of $10 (regularly $30); CMS teachers may purchase them by calling the Symphony box office at 704-972-2000 by 5:30 pm March 21.
The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art’s “Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology” exhibition celebrates the artist’s extraordinary appetite for myths and legends as interpreted through her dynamic sculpture, paintings and prints. The exhibition presents 55 works inside the museum and five large-scale outdoor sculptures across the street in The Green park, as well as the “Firebird” sculpture that graces the museum’s plaza. The show provides intellectual inquiry mixed with a sense of provocation, joy and delight.
“Niki de Saint Phalle’s popular ‘Firebird’ sculpture makes a spectacular centerpiece for this 2 UpTown event,” said CTI’s Shaw. Much of the night’s offerings relate to the Firebird and other myths and archetypes. The 2 UpTown Talks include: “Archetypes of Splendor and Redemption” presented by Bechtler President and CEO John Boyer, and “Seduction and Salvation: Fiery Myths and Archetypes in Music” by Meg Whalen, director of community development for the Charlotte Symphony.
According to Boyer, Niki de Saint Phalle explored cultural archetypes from around the globe and representing societies and religions over the centuries. Two iconic motifs trace her personal life and artistic career from her origins as a young painter struggling with a terribly difficult family background to her rise as a confident, adventurous and self-reinventing, creative figure. Whalen’s presentation will explore fire-based myths and archetypes in the music to be performed by the Charlotte Symphony following the 2 UpTown Talks. Examples in the Symphony’s “Light My Fire” concert include the fiery temptress arias of “Carmen,” the magical celebration of Handel’s “Royal Fireworks,” and the mystery and redemption in De Falla’s “Ritual Fire Dance” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird.”
“2 UpTown: A Night of Myths and Archetypes” is sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Belk Foundation, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation and the Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation.
About the Charlotte Teachers Institute
The Charlotte Teachers Institute, a partnership among Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, cultivates content-knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration within and among Charlotte’s public school teachers. CTI’s community events engage and educate CMS teachers and the community-at-large, as CTI and Charlotte’s cultural organizations produce forums for teachers to explore topics through multi-disciplinary lenses. CTI is generously supported by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, the Belk Foundation, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation, the John. S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation.
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For more information, contact CTI Founding Director Molly Shaw, (704) 687-0078, info@charlotteteachers.org
Davidson College Public Relations media contact: Stacey Schmeidel, (704) 894-2798, stschmeidel@davidson.edu
UNC Charlotte Public Relations media contact: Buffie Stephens, (704) 687-5830, BuffieStephens@uncc.edu
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