Marriott Art Collection
The UNC Charlotte Marriott Hotel & Conference Center officially opened its doors, March 31, 2021, and includes a 490-piece art collection, with works by faculty, staff and alumni of the College of Arts + Architecture.
The UNC Charlotte Marriott Hotel and Conference Center opened in March 2021 on the University campus. The hotel has 226 guest rooms, a full-service restaurant and bar, and a 132-space parking deck situated on a four-acre site along the LYNX Blue Line at the intersection of North Tryon Street and J.W. Clay Boulevard. Among its distinguishing features is a 490-piece art collection that features original work by faculty, staff, students and alumni of the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture.
Curated by Denise Joseph of NINE dot ARTS, the collection expands across the hotel’s main lobby levels, guest rooms, and hospitality and presidential suites. A number of pieces can also be found throughout the new conference center. “Honoring a narrative around Charlotte’s history as well as the bright and vibrant future of this place remained top of mind throughout the curatorial process,” Joseph said.
NINE dot ARTS is a nationally recognized, award-winning art consulting and curating firm with client art experiences now installed in 35 states and four countries. Joseph worked with the then Department of Art & Art History Chair Lydia Thompson to connect with artists from the College. Learn more about the pieces, below.
"Sampled Spaces Series" (2021)
Thomas Schmidt is Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary 3D Art in the Department of Art & Art History. His work explores the integration of digital technology with a range of analog media.
-
"Sampled Spaces Series" (2021), Cast porcelain, 43.5" h x 72.5" w x 3.5" d
"Derived from casts or ‘samples’ of a single crumpled sheet of paper, this work aims to heighten and give permanence to this everyday material. Whereas traditional tile pattern often highlights themes of mathematical perfection and order, this work instead aims to interject a sense of chance and randomness. As an ongoing series produced from only four plaster molds, each composition is unique, with the topography at times continuous, at times interrupted. Collectively, as these panels multiply, they begin to produce a topography more reminiscent of the landscape than that of our notebooks."
"The Writing on the Wall" (2020) & "Copper Flecks" (2020)
Summer Savin is a Charlotte-based artist and entrepreneur. For over 20 years, she has worked as a decorative painter, utilizing her extensive product knowledge to create effects with layered color on canvas and lucite. Summer runs the decorative art business Stand Out Creative Design.
-
"The Writing on the Wall" (2020), Acrylic, gold leaf, on 1/4" Lucite
"The name for this piece came to me as I was adding the finishing touch of magenta and red. The gold pattern resembles something that would be found in a prehistoric cave. The markings were created to note the passage of sunrise and sunset on a wall or rock. My favorite aspect of this piece is the way the magenta, turquoise, and red seep through the heavy gray texture. This unplanned detail gives the work added excitement and interest."
-
"Copper Flecks" (2020), Acrylic, metallic paint, on 1/4" lucite, 24” x 36”
"Copper Flecks reminds me of when the sun hits the ocean and sparkles with flashes of light. Moments where the light is dancing on the water and creating flashes of white and copper. The blues and greens of the water deepen with the movement of the waves. The sun creates copper flecks of flashing light."
"Beneath an Angel's Oak Wings" (2020)
Stephen Manuel Garza, from Concord, NC, received his B.F.A. in Art with a concentration in Photography from UNC Charlotte in 2020. Garza has been included in various significant exhibitions and in publications including “Arriving 2020” on Lenscratch and The Photographer’s Forum Magazine in 2018.
-
"Beneath an Angel's Oak Wings" (2020), Digital Photography, 16” x 20”
"The Angel Oak Tree is a place that inspires serenities and evokes a sense of bliss to those beneath its branches. This tree is estimated to be 300 to 400 years old, possibly the oldest Live Oak tree east of the Mississippi River. It features hanging branches that often swoop to the earth and back up again, imitating angel wings. The renowned wilted branches and the overall size of the tree are what gives it the name Angel Oak."
"Of the Trees and Creeks" (2021)
Maja Godlewska is Associate Professor of Painting in the Department of Art & Art History. Her work has been shown internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions.
-
"Of the Trees and Creeks" (2021), Acrylic inks on polyester monofilament mesh, 30' x 15' x 3"
"In my work I focus on the landscape, ideas of wilderness, pristine nature; the outdoors inspire my paintings and installations. I look at the landscape as a phenomenological space, a fabric of our memories and longings. Of the Trees and Creeks is inspired by the tall trees and streams of Charlotte, where I have been based, and where the work was created. The hilly Piedmont region of North Carolina is crisscrossed by shadowy and mysterious stream gullies. They are filled with a tangle of trees, vines, and various blooming herbs, home to many mammal and bird species, insects, and spiders. They are wild gardens of Charlotte, buzzing with life and bird song. On summer nights they sparkle with fireflies. Once buried under the concrete, many are now being gradually uncovered as part of a growing city greenway system."