UPDATES: Unfortunately, due to Hurricane Florence, several of Lonnie Holley’s scheduled events and class visits had to be canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience, but hope to reschedule his residency visits at some point during the academic year. Please check back soon for more information.
Lonnie Bradley Holley, sometimes known as The Sand Man (born February 10, 1950, in Birmingham, Alabama), is an African-American artist and art educator. Inspired to create, Holley made other carvings and assembled them in his yard along with various found objects. In 1981, he brought a few examples of his sandstone carvings to Birmingham Museum of Art director Richard Murray. The BMA displayed some of those pieces immediately and Murray introduced him to the organizers of the 1981 exhibition “More Than Land and Sky: Art from Appalachia” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Soon his work was being acquired by other institutions, such as the American Folk Art Museum in New York and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. His work has also been displayed at the White House
The New York Times wrote, “In terms of genre, Holley’s music is largely unclassifiable: haunting vocals accompanied by rudimentary keyboard effects, progressing without any traditional song structure — no choruses, chord changes or consistent melody whatsoever.”
Lonnie Holley “All Rendered Truth (Looking For All)”
Be sure to mark your calendars for all the related Artist-in-Residence events the week of September 9-14.
Public events are indicated with ***
- Monday, Sept. 10, 12:00 – 1:00 PM | WHUP On-Air Interview (FM 104.7)***
- Monday, Sept. 10, 3:30 – 6:30 PM | AMST 902 Class Visit
- Tuesday, Sept. 11, 11:00 AM | Southern Folklife Collection Visit
- Tuesday, Sept. 11, 3:30 – 5:00 PM | AMST 485 Class Visit
- Tuesday, Sept. 11, 5:00 PM | Graduate Student Happy Hour at the Love House
- Wednesday, Sept. 12, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM | Duke University Center for Documentary Studies Visit
Thursday, Sept. 13, 11:00 AM – 1:45 PM | “Placements” Walk with ARTS 290 Class VisitThursday, Sept. 13, 2:00 – 3:25 PM | FOLK 370 Class VisitThursday, Sept. 13, 3:30 – 4:45 PM | AMST 201 Class VisitFriday, Sept. 14, 10:00 – 11:00 AM | John Bowles First Year Seminar Class VisitFriday, Sept. 14, 6:00 PM | 2nd Friday ArtWalk at the Ackland Art Museum featuring a concert and public talk with Lonnie Holley***
Open Office Hours with Lonnie Holley will be held in Greenlaw 329. To schedule, please contact blherman@email.unc.edu:
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 1:00 – 3:00 PMWednesday, Sept. 12, 4:00 – 5:00 PMFriday, Sept. 14, 11:45 AM – 1:45 PM