The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture will be the first museum to present an exhibition about the North Carolina architect Phil Freelon (1953-2019). Created by faculty and students in the UNC Charlotte School of Architecture, Container/Contained: Phil Freelon - Design Strategies for Telling African American Stories opens at the Gantt Center on Friday, October 29 and will remain on view through January 17, before traveling to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.
Philip G. Freelon had a remarkable career of more than four decades designing public buildings with his firm The Freelon Group and later as design director of Perkins + Will North Carolina. In addition to the Gantt Center, his vast legacy includes the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, Emancipation Park in Houston, and the forthcoming North Carolina Freedom Park in Raleigh. Perhaps most notably, he also led the design team for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
“Phil Freelon’s design for the Gantt Center was genius,” said David Taylor, President & CEO of the cultural center. “The building, itself, tells the story of the once-thriving Brooklyn neighborhood which was razed in the 1960s and serves as an homage to that neighborhood and the resilience of the Black community. We are pleased to partner with UNC Charlotte to debut this exhibition.”
Freelon often noted that architecture should be more than a container, that it should help tell the story of and be integral to the content of these public institutions. The culmination of more than two years of research led by Dr. Emily Makas, an architectural history professor and the associate director of the UNC Charlotte School of Architecture, Container/Contained demonstrates the way the buildings and spaces that Freelon designed express African American culture and identity. The exhibition critically examines Freelon’s public work, including museums, libraries, cultural centers, and public parks, and analyzes connections between the forms, materials, and meanings of the projects and the histories and communities they celebrate.
"I have been honored to engage in this examination of Phil Freelon's work on architecture and identity and for our architecture students to have the opportunity to learn about his legacy and share it with the community,” said Makas. “A project like this brings together many partners, and we are excited to work with the Gantt Center for the exhibition premiere and related programming. We are also grateful for assistance from Perkins&Will and for the extensive support from the University in the development of this exhibition."
After Container/Contained closes at the Gantt, it will travel to the North Carolina Museum of Art, opening February 26, 2022.
Pictured: The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture (above left) and Phil Freelon in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (above right).