McColl Center for Art Innovation

Mccoll Center's nationally acclaimed artist-in-residence program provided space and time to 15 artists to develop their practice, take risks, and explore ideas within the context of charlotte: sharon norwood (savannah, ga); janet loren hill (utica, ny); jackie milad (baltimore, md); edison penafiel (fort lauderdale, fl); barbara schreiber (charlotte, nc); sichong xie (los angeles, ca); william caballero (los angeles, ca); renluka maharaj (boulder, co); ken west (atlanta, ga); cherrie yu (chicago, il); william cordova (miami, fl); rachel eng (pa); irisol gonzalez (charlotte, nc); andre leon gray (nc); and omolara williams mccallister (md).

Mccoll Center mounted four exhibitions during the year: "sonder" (09/17/21 01/09/2022), with fall 2021 artists-in-residence william caballero, renluka maharaj, ken west, and cherrie yu. The exhibit prompts us to consider the complexity and richness of the lives of others through photography. The collective work centers, celebrates, and with empathy makes visible the lives of laborers, family members, black and brown nerds, queer communities, and the stranger passing on the street.artists-in-residence jackie milad, barbara schreiber, edison penafiel, janet loren hill, and sichong xie were exhibited in "conflict point." (may 28-september 5, 2021) conflict point is about how the narratives we believe are true are often controlled by a society's dominant group, leading to social and cultural collisions. There is no greater evidence of this than the prevailing push in contemporary culture to add other voices, recognize missing elements of history, and the movement against single stories because so many experienced the real social and political consequences of being excluded. The artists questioned this concept of the narrative, using their work to add and ask questions about humanity's relationship to the past, the present, each other, and the natural world. During "public questions / private conduct" (february 23-april 10, 2022), artists-in-residence rachel eng, irisol gonzalez, andre leon gray, and omolara williams mccallister presented information that explores complex ideas impacting the contemporary world. When presented with information, we have a choice; we can question our initial positions, learn more, then decide how to conduct ourselves or we can be told how to react. "rumi maki: infinite harmonics of southern alchemy" (february 23-april 10, 2022) was an exhibition by Mccoll Center's inaugural catalyst artist-in-residence, william cordova. Cordova utilized an ethnographic approach as a way to intersect and prod viewers to reflect and relate to one another through the metaphysical strategies taken in the us south and south american as forms of civil disobedience, as forms or resistance, and/or as magical processes that combine unrelated elements for the purpose of transcending.

Each artist-in-residence above participated in a unique and intentional public engagement opportunity, fulfilling our mission to spark creative, relevant, and accessible experiences to an engaged public. for example, william cordova, inaugural catalyst artist-in-residence winter/spring 2022, through a site-specific installation that was both expansive and intimate, illuminated the synthesis of memory, ritual, and mythology to further disrupt, challenge, and reassess definitions of our collective landscape.

Facility: Mccoll Center offers nine subsidized studios for rental to support emerging local artists in their practice. The rental program includes access to communal labs for printmaking, 3d printmaking and laser cutting, digital media, woodworking, and sculpture fabrication. Mccoll Center offers our main gallery, balcony and creative hub spaces in our facility and campus to the general public for event rentals. The range of event rentals varies from rehearsal dinners to corporate meetings. These rentals provide earned revenue while extending our reach to the community. Additionally, Mccoll Center owns five condos in a building behind our campus. The condos provide space for our artists-in-residence to live rent-free during their residencies.there were 32 volunteers at Mccoll Center (board of directors, development committee, programming committee, interns, special events)