Presented by The Arts at Queens as part of a collaboration with the Charlotte Symphony and its partners, "Changing Places: A Student Colloquium" took place in October 2009 on the Queens campus. The event provided a forum for students from Charlotte-area campuses to present academic and creative work.

The Charlotte region is changing, with new people arriving for a projected population of more than a million by 2010. People are moving here from Mexico, Bosnia, New York, India, California, and many other places, bringing with them their traditions and cultural perspectives. A Levine Museum of the New South exhibit, "Changing Places: From Black and White to Technicolor"®, explores these cultural changes and exchanges. Inspired by this exhibit, the Charlotte Symphony has developed the "Orchestra on Campus 2009" project in partnership with the Levine Museum, The Mint Museum, and area colleges and universities. Through "Changing Places: The Effects of Migration and Immigration on Artistic Expression," the Symphony and its partners have explored how cultural identity is expressed artistically, how changing places influences an artist’s work, how art can facilitate communication among cultures, and how art reinforces or destroys stereotype.

Selected by their professors for their excellent work, students from Queens, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Central Piedmont Community College presented art and academic projects inspired by "Changing Places"—the complex issues of identity and the relationship between culture and art. Students responded to the theme through graphic design, translation projects, music, print making, creative nonfiction, art history papers, and digital photography.   

Colloquium Booklet

In the Spring of 2010, Queens will produce a booklet to commemorate the colloquium. If you'd like to learn more, contact Julie Funderburk, Faculty Arts Liaison for The Arts at Queens.