The Department of Art & Art History hosts an opening reception for its 60th anniversary show, Generations: 60 Years – 21 Conversations. On view October 8-November 8, this exhibition celebrates 60 years of accomplishment in the visual arts, marking the start of art-based research at UNC Charlotte and honoring the oldest of the programs in the College of Arts + Architecture.

In 1964, the acclaimed North Carolina painter Maud Gatewood was hired to create a new program, and over the next decade she developed courses and hired colleagues, spearheaded the design of an arts building and its facilities, and sustained dialogue with institutions such as the Mint Museum and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Both the department and the university have grown dramatically in the intervening years, as more than 3,000 alumni have graduated from the visionary program Gatewood founded.

In recognition of this momentous milestone, we will fill the galleries of Rowe Arts with 85 works that bear witness to the past and consider what may come. Curated by Professor of Art History Jim Frakes, Generations: 60 Years – 21 Conversations draws works by alumni and current faculty of the Department of Art & Art History into thematic and visual conversation with the contributions of 21 "legacy" faculty.

The resulting generational display signifies both the passing down of knowledge from one group to the next, and also the recognitionthat new growth is made possible atop ground prepared by those who come before.