The Charlotte Art League wants to be more inclusive. Its new director will lead the way.

1 month ago

On June 1, Jim Dukes became the second executive director of Charlotte Art League. His goal: to make CAL into one of the most diverse and engaged creative studio spaces in Charlotte.

“(We want) Charlotte Art League (to) present and position itself as an inclusive community-oriented innovative arts incubator,” said Dukes, 49. CAL is a nonprofit visual arts organization that offers a mix of working studios, classes and community outreach programs, as well as a public gallery.

Dukes worked in Iraq for five years as a bomb technician for a defense contractor. He suffers from PTSD and partial hearing and eye-sight loss after two blast injuries.

He discovered his love of photography after seeing how veterans used art to heal.

Jim Dukes
Jim Dukes

He joined CAL in November, became the community manager, and then was hired as executive director in March. Dukes and part-time staff members Kate McAlister (assistant director) and

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celebrating art in the time of coronavirus

1 month ago

In 1918, when the world was plagued by the Spanish flu, artists tried to make sense of the world around them. Edvard Munch made lonely self-portraits, while Egon Schiele drew his mentor Gustav Klimt on his deathbed. Photographers captured empty streets and ghostly cityscapes, like Morton Schamberg’s rooftop views from 1917, to hospitals shot by the California photojournalist, Edward A “Doc” Rogers.

With the Covid-19 pandemic still raging on, and the world in quarantine, the online exhibition Life During Wartime: Art in the Age of the Coronavirus hosted by the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, offers a window into what artists are up to right now.

Related: Signs of the times: how Douglas Coupland’s art came to life under coronavirus

By partly featuring artwork made since 5 March, the date the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, it shows how artists have responded to the

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Master photography with this set of online classes

1 month ago
Master photography with this set of online classes
Master photography with this set of online classes

TL;DR: This professional photography online course bundle is on sale for £23.14, saving you 96% on list price.

Honesty hour: do you consider yourself a photographer because you can effortlessly take crystal clear shots with your state-of-the-art smartphone and collection of editing apps? We get it and don’t worry, your secret is safe with us.

If you want to take photos for a living, though, you would need more than a swanky iPhone and a working knowledge of Lightroom. You would actually need to master the art of capturing stunning imagery — the kind of eye-catching photos that attract clients and put food on the table.

SEE ALSO: 8 of the best online career development courses in the UK

The Learn to Become an Expert Photographer Bundle is a 45-hour beginner-to-expert bundle designed to train you to take shots like a

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In Long Beach, some big names in art will open a new space called Compound

1 month ago
Tavares Strachan's neon work, on the facade of Compound, a new arts venue set to open in Long Beach in September. <span class="copyright">(Laure Joilet)</span>
Tavares Strachan’s neon work, on the facade of Compound, a new arts venue set to open in Long Beach in September. (Laure Joilet)

The coronavirus has shuttered cultural institutions across California, some permanently, but in Long Beach, a new art venue with an emphasis on wellness is forging ahead with plans to open this fall.

Compound, a 15,000-square-foot complex with two exhibition spaces, restaurant and outdoor courtyard and sculpture garden, plans to open in late September in the city’s Zaferia district. The nonprofit was founded by philanthropist and interior designer Megan Tagliaferri, who will serve as creative director, and will feature contemporary art exhibitions as well as immersive installations.

Lauri Firstenberg, former director of the noted Los Angeles exhibition space LAXArt, will serve as Compound’s curator and artistic director.

The project has been in the works for more than five years and was in the final stages of

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