News
Charlotte Magazine
After RNC Melts Away, Artists Working in Ice Grow Something Solid
Michael Solender, October 2, 2020
When Charlotte hosted the Democratic National Convention in 2012, the city’s most provocative public artwork glistened under the skyline in Marshall Park, where a 3,000-pound ice sculpture spelled out the words MIDDLE CLASS. Created by Brooklyn, New York-based art activists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese, the piece melted drop by drop in the early September heat, a naturally kinetic metaphor difficult for passers-by to ignore.
To read more click this link.
WAFE
School Of Good Citizenship Encourages Voices To Be Heard
At RNC -- Virtually
Jodie Valade, August 15, 2020
At first, Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese had grand plans for a way to both make a statement and foster discussion at this year’s Republican National Convention. The artist duo known as LigoranoReese envisioned an enormous one-day workshop somewhere in uptown Charlotte, with an open exchange of free thought and learning. In effect, a classroom.
Maybe even in a schoolhouse made out of ice.
The two artists have experience with ice and conventions. For the 2012 DNC, they brought a massive ice sculpture to Charlotte’s Marshall Park. The words “Middle Class” were spelled out and melted in the North Carolina sun, providing a physical depiction of what might be happening to that socioeconomic status.
To read more click this link.
The Brooklyn Rail
LigoranoReese School of Good Citizenship
Marisa Lerer, August 11, 2020
The 2020 Republican National Convention (RNC) has been riled with abrupt shifts in its planning. Originally slated to take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, it was then moved due to the Trump administration’s initial refusal to comply with the state’s social distancing measures in the time of the severely mismanaged pandemic. Charlotte, despite no longer hosting the RNC, continues to the be the center of activities for LigoranoReese’s—the collaborative of Marshall Reese and Nora Ligorano—latest public art project the School of Good Citizenship, a timely and critical work that reflects on how to be a good citizen and questions the meaning of citizenship in the US itself. The project's shape has shifted substantially, as it was originally conceived to take place in person.
To read more click this link.
Queen City Nerve
LigoranoReese Opens School of Good Citizenship Despite No RNC
Pat Moran, August 3, 2020
The sculpture was like an oasis of calm, a touch of whimsy amid the hustle, bustle, protests and heavy-handed security in Uptown around the 2012 Democratic National Convention. That was until spectators realized that the ice block letters, placed there by Brooklyn-based art-and-activist duo LigoranoReese, spelled out the words “Middle Class,” as they slowly melted in the sun, never to return.
To read more click this link.
Artistic Fuel
A Photography Workshop Teaches How Images Can Spur Social Change
Kay Tuttle, Executive Director of The Light Factory and Dustin Shores Community Engagement Director discuss the Seeing Voices: Community (Un)Heard workshop.
“When you see an image, sometimes it elicits a visceral response. And if you add words to it, it’s probably even more powerful,” Tuttle said. “I don’t know that things would have happened the way they’re happening now without image. That’s what started, hopefully, a change in our society. I think the images staying in our face is really important right now to make a positive change and keep the momentum going.”
To read more click this link.
Counting UP!
What Does Your Ballot Look Like?
Open call to submit art work for the inaugural exhibition of the School of Good Citizenship at the Levine Museum of the New South is now open!
Follow this link to submit works for consideration on Slideroom. Artists must be voting age or older and residents of North Carolina.
No entree fee required.
WBTV features
Workshop instructor Hector Vaca
Photographer Hector Vaca is featured on WBTV. Since the Coronavirus outbreak, Hector has been documenting its effects on Charlotte creating an online photo diary on his Instagram account.
Hector is one of the leaders of the first workshop of The School of Good Citizenship's Seeing Voices (Un)Heard Community hosted by The Light Factory.
Hector along with Julio Gonzalez, de Angelo Dia, and Renee Cloud workshop participants will photograph their communities integrating their imagery with poetry and texts for publication in a zine to be distributed throughout Charlotte during the Republican Convention.
Workshop participation is free. For more details follow this link.