Visioning a Better World Through Magic

Holding A Bright Untroubled Sky: Visioning A Better World Through Magic at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Curated by Dr. Amy Hale.

Many of us turn to art, magic, and spirituality in times of need, uncertainty, and darkness.

Not only as a place to transmute and transform energies but also as a place to dream and imagine other possibilities into existence.

These days, we need these ancient tools and technologies more than ever before.

We also need to be reminded of the possibilities that exist beyond the limited potential being presented to us by the powers that be and their systems of control and exploitation.

Detail from the large-scale wall mural from *Spell For The Next 6,000 Years*.

I’m heartened to share that in just four days, I will be debuting Spell For The Next 6,000 Years, a participatory installation and collective act of magic-making as a part of a visionary group exhibition opening in Charlotte, North Carolina and curated by Dr. Amy Hale.

I’ll be in Charlotte for the official opening of this exhibition on the 27th of August and will be facilitating a group activation on the 26th from 4:30-6PM, with an activity inspired by my installation.

Please keep reading for more information on this upcoming exhibition. If you have any friends in the area who would appreciate an infusion of magic in their lives, I encourage you to forward this email to them!

Holding a Bright Untroubled Sky: Visioning a Better World Through Magic brings together fifteen diverse, international artists, collaborations, and collectives for an exhibition designed to ignite the senses.

Through game play, interactive digital stations, performance, immersive installations, and thought-provoking visionary paintings and works on paper, the show invites viewers to cultivate their own imaginative capacity.

Magic here is defined as the cultivation of imaginal spaces as crucibles for genuine transformation. The artists assembled hold that artistic practice is also magical practice—one with the capacity to drive actual material change, shifting consciousness and awakening perceptive faculties to help us dream new worlds into being.

Magic suggests a differently enchanted way of approaching the world, inviting deep empathy through understanding the entangled conditions of every being on this planet: human, other-than-human, and even that which is unseen.

Curated by writer and folklorist Dr. Amy Hale, the exhibition asks us not to be afraid to dream, encouraging a new way of seeing and engaging with each other. The first step toward a beautiful new world lies within each of us, and the artists want to help plant those first seeds through inspiring joy, connection, and wonder—helping us all become visionary co-creators of our shared future.

Exhibiting artists: John Abell, Alice Bucknell, CROSSLUCID, Angela Fraleigh, Heather Freeman, Edgar Fabián Frías, Hilma's Ghost, Loni Johnson, Alessandro Keegan, Anna Kenar, Tai Shani, Mark Titchner, Suzanne Triester, and Erik Waterkotte.

Visit Details

Location: Rowe Arts Building Galleries, UNC Charlotte — 9119 University Road, Charlotte, NC 28223
Exhibition dates: August 10 – September 18
Opening reception: August 27, 6–8 PM