North Carolina Central University News August 9, 2012 NCCU Art Museum Celebrates Hispanic Heritage in Opening Exhibit The North Carolina Central University Art Museum will host the first exhibition of the fall 2012 season, Colores, from Aug. 25 through Sept. 21. The exhibit, which runs during part of Hispanic Heritage month, will feature critically acclaimed North Carolina-based Latino artists Eduardo Lapetina, Gustavo De Los Rios, Jose Manuel Cruz, Luis Ardila, Olid Garcia and Oscar Ortiz. The exhibition recognizes the contributions of Hispanic populations in enriching the state and strengthening cultural and economic ties to Latin America and beyond. The artists hail from Puerto Rico and several South American countries, including Argentina and Colombia. Chapel Hill-based painter Eduardo Lapetina is largely self-taught and has developed a technique that involves pouring, splashing, dripping and scratching. Applying layer upon layer, he creates sensuous and turbulent surface textures that have been shown regionally. Gustavo De Los Rios uses the human figure as a point of departure to explore how bodies intertwine, forming complex relationships. His work was juried at Raleigh's Artspace. Jose Manuel Cruz says there are times when his art shifts at different levels. Some works are culturally implemented, while at other times the process of improvisation overwhelms with the intricacies of paint application. Mint Hill artist Luis Ardila produces paintings that use symbolism as a key aspect of his iconography. Divine inspiration is the only means to decode the multi-faceted symbols that, for Ardila, hold the real key to interpretation. Sculptor Olid Garcia creates female shapes by molding, twisting and carving pieces of clay. Primarily interested in capturing a woman's energy, grace and complexity, she creates forms that are abstractions of the female human figure, containing hollow spaces and often depicting a single image. The work of Monroe-based artist Oscar Ortiz has graced calendars, greeting cards, CDs, magazines and posters. His most recent project was illustrating the children's book The Poet Upstairs, by Judith Ortiz Cofer. Rafael A. Osuba of Artist Studio Project is curator of the exhibition. The NCCU Art Museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call the museum at 919-530-6211. Founded in 1910, North Carolina Central University was the first publicly supported liberal arts college for African-Americans. Today, this dynamic campus has a diverse student body of 8,300 enrolled in academic programs including law, biotechnology, library science, business, nursing, education and the arts. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-520-0593 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2012meeting-form.html for the October 21-23, 2012 HBCU Library Alliance 5th Membership Meeting and the Photographic Preservation Pre-Conference in New Orleans, LA. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.