Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Charlotte artist, activist and community leader Rosalia Torres-Weiner will be visiting the Outer Banks for the Red Calaca Residency with Dare Arts August 2-27.

The residency will comprise an exhibition in the Vault Gallery, four unique workshops for various demographics and a collaborative community installation in The Courtyard.

“My art promotes dialogue around social justice issues and community concerns, and brings together a diverse citizenry through community-based, grassroots collaboration,” said Torres-Weiner. “This residency is a unique opportunity for me to bring all of those things to the communities of the Outer Banks. I love to take the history, vision and character of a community and represent it with my art. I strongly believe in the transformational power of public art and in the use of art as a connector of communities. Over the past 25 years, North Carolina has become my home, and I am so excited for the opportunity to bring my art to the Outer Banks.”

Torres-Weiner’s exhibition Outside! Exploring Color, Patterns and Beauty in Nature will open in Dare Arts’ Vault Gallery on Friday, August 5 during Manteo’s First Friday festivities. The opening reception will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. and visitors can meet the artist and view her work. The exhibit will remain on display through Saturday, August 27.

“Nature has long been a theme in my work, and you will find organic patterns, vibrant colors and natural subjects recurring in my canvases and murals,” said Torres-Weiner.

Workshops for kids, families, teens and adults of all ages will be led by the artist during the residency. Torres-Weiner combines her creative process with community engagement through workshops to raise awareness about issues that are affecting immigrant communities.

On Thursday, August 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. there will be an identity mask workshop where adults and kids aged 12-plus can create mixed media and collage masks that feature important aspects of their personal identity.

A digital art workshop for adults aged 50-plus will be led by Torres-Weiner on Wednesday, August 10 from 10 a.m. to noon. Participants will expand their knowledge of utilizing digital media on iPads to draw and print digital self-portraits.

There will be a puppetry workshop in the Courtroom Gallery on Friday, August 12 from 10 a.m. to noon, which will include a special screening of The Magic Kite film. Kids aged 7-17 will be led through the process of making a shoebox theater and paper puppets.

A $20 fee covers instruction and all supplies for each workshop and pre-registration is required online at DareArts.org/workshops. Scholarships are available for all of the workshops. For more information about a scholarship, email Dare Arts executive director Jessica Sands at DareArtsInfo@gmail.com.

On Thursday, August 11 from 10 a.m. to noon Torres-Weiner will host Arte Callejero (Street Art) outside under the oak trees at Dare County Family Recreation Park in Kill Devil Hills. Participants will be working together to create a chalk art mural. The event is free and open to everyone, but pre-registration is required online at DareArts.org/workshops to get a head count for supplies.

“We are thrilled to welcome Rosalia to the Outer Banks,” said Sands. “The Red Calaca Residency is important to our community because bringing in artists from outside of our area broadens minds. Rosalia represents the Latina and immigrant communities and we want to foster connections with our Hispanic neighbors and be more inclusive in our programming to support and encourage art for all. I am especially excited to see Rosalia work with members of our community on the Collaborative Community Installation in The Courtyard.”

Anyone who is interested in collaborating with Torres-Weiner on the collaborative community installation in The Courtyard should contact Sands at DareArtsInfo@gmail.com or 252-473-5558.

The residency will conclude with a grand opening of a collaborative community installation in The Courtyard on Saturday, August 13 at 10 a.m. Everyone is invited to come out and meet Torres-Weiner along with the Outer Banks artists she will collaborate with on this special project. This event will include a free public presentation and a Q&A with the artist.

This residency is funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and Dare Arts and is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, and TowneBank.

For more information about Torres-Weiner, visit RedCalacaStudio.com and for more information about Dare Arts, visit DareArts.org or call 252-473-5558.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.