UNCW to host ArtsFest 2023 featuring performances, art showcase

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The University of North Carolina Wilmington has announced that ArtsFest 2023 will take place on Saturday, March 25, with events running from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Open to the public, events include:

• Readings presented by the Creative Writing Department
  • Graduate readings will run from 12 to 12:30 p.m. in Beckwith Recital Hall at the Cultural Arts Building, located at 5270 Randall Drive,
  • Undergraduate readings will take place from 3 to 3:30 p.m. in Beckwith Recital Hall,
  • Ekphrastic readings will occur from 6 to 6:30 p.m. also in Beckwith Recital Hall.
• The Film Studies Department will present Master of Fine Arts screenings from 1 to 1:30 p.m. and 5 to 5:30 p.m. in Beckwith Recital Hall.
• The Music Department will perform from 11 to 11:30 a.m. and 2 to 2:30 p.m. in Beckwith Recital Hall. From 1:30 to 2 p.m., they will perform a pop/rock ensemble in the Cultural Arts Building parking lot.
• The Department of Theatre will present original dance performances from 4 to 4:30 p.m. in the Cultural Arts Building lobby.
• From 7 to 8 p.m., the Department of Theatre will present student lab shows in the Cultural Arts Building’s SRO Theatre.

In addition to these events, the university will also be hosting the “4th UNCW PRINTFEST: Large Scale Woodblock Printmaking Extravaganza” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the parking lot of the Cultural Arts Building.

“The event is a daylong public printmaking showcase presented outside of the Cultural Arts building on the campus of UNCW,” stated the release from the university. “Using a two-ton construction paving roller and an unlikely press bed – the parking lot of the Cultural Arts building – a team of artists and volunteers will be printing largescale woodcuts throughout the day. A range of artists from across North Carolina will carve a design into wood, which will then be inked and printed before a live audience. The theme of the woodcut designs this year is based on the work of local non-profit, The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. There will also be plenty of hands-on printmaking activities for attendees of all ages.”

The prints created during the event will also be for sale during the event, with a percentage of the proceeds going to The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

Following this event, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., the “Archived PRINTFEST Exhibition” will be open in the Cultural Arts Building Art Gallery. An artist talk and reception will additionally be held.

For more information, please visit the University of North Carolina Wilmington website.

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