An exhibition of mixed media artwork by Leslie Pearson. View artwork by Leslie at her website.

Opening Reception:
Friday, September 28,2012
6-8pm

411 N. Front Street
Wilmington NC, 28401-3910

For additional information call 910-362-7431.  Mailed materials will not be returned unless additional return postage is provided.

A parking deck may seem like an unlikely place to find original paintings, photographs, sculptures and other works of art, but Cape Fear Community College’s new Hanover St. parking deck offers just that.

The first floor of the college’s new 1,200-car parking deck at the corner of Third and Hanover St. will include over 2,000 square feet of art gallery space and will be known as Hanover Art Gallery.

The public is invited to attend the grand opening of the parking deck and Hanover Art Gallery on Friday, March 30 at 3:00 p.m. The event is free and will feature a juried art show featuring work by CFCC students in painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, metals and sculpture.

The gallery’s unique location was chosen as a creative solution designed to meet an ordinance set by the City of Wilmington and fulfill a need from the CFCC Humanities and Fine Department. The ordinance requires that parking decks include some storefront-type  space at the street level. Up until now, there was no dedicated space for student artwork other than in the college library and in classroom building hallways.

“Having a professional gallery space for student artwork is very exciting. We have some incredibly talented students. The facility will allow student work to have much greater exposure,” said Frank Carter, chair of CFCC’s Humanities and Fine Arts Department.

In the future, the college plans to make the gallery space available to other artists who wish to rent the space for their own exhibits. In addition to the main gallery space, there is also an office, storage room and small kitchenette for catering.

Opening the gallery is the first stage of transforming the college’s property on the 700 and 800 blocks of N. Third St. to a home for CFCC’s growing humanities and fine arts department.  The parking deck is located directly across from the site of the college’s much anticipated Humanities and Fine Arts Center.

“Having the art gallery across the street from the humanities classroom building and performance hall will really help boost the overall visibility of the program,” Carter said.