Spotlight Series: Makin' Cake Program

SARAH BELK GAMBRELL CENTER FOR THE ARTS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

QUEENS UNIVERSITY OF CHARLOTTE

WELCOME TO THE

SARAH BELK GAMBRELL CENTER FOR THE ARTS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT With it’s opening in February 2020, the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement became a hub for transformational cultural education, experiences, and engagement for our students, faculty and staff, and the greater Charlotte community.

The Sarah Belk Gambrell Center is home to the acoustically gorgeous, 995seat Sandra Levine Theatre, the intimate 150-seat Kathryn Greenhoot Recital Hall, two visual art galleries, eight classrooms, and myriad practice rooms and workspaces for students. Gambrell is the cultural and creative center of campus and is home to academic, visual, performing and literary arts programs, including design and music therapy.

THE MISSION OF THE GAMBRELL CENTER

The Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement is a dynamic arts destination for our community and students to share in diverse cultural experiences. The Gambrell Center facilitates creative scholarship through interdisciplinary collaboration and offers a vibrant gathering place for educational exploration. Queens demonstrates its commitment to this mission by presenting world-class performances, conversations, and exhibitions, showcasing exemplary faculty and student works, and providing an inspiration for design, creativity, and artistic expression.

SARAH BELK GAMBRELL CENTER STAFF

Laura Kratt, Executive Director Kristof Leopold, Technical Director Megan Triplett, Operations Manager Liz Ball, Patron Services Manager Scott Brower, Media Specialist Amanda Mullen, Media Specialist Jane Wiley, Media Specialist

704-337-2466 www.arts.queens.edu thearts@queens.edu

The Gambrell Center team programs and manages the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center, provides shared leadership of Arts at Queens and production services to events across campus.

ARTS AT QUEENS: SPOTLIGHT SERIES presents

MAKIN’ CAKE Friday, October 25, 2024 7:30 p.m.

Sandra Levine Theatre

For most of human history, baking required patience, resources ... and luck.

Ingredients were scarce and expensive; chemistry was fickle; and the chain of procedures required days. When our nation began experiencing abundance for the first time, most Americans couldn’t afford basic cake ingredients.

Makin’ Cake is written and performed by Dasha Kelly Hamilton, author, poet laureate, and creative change agent. Kelly Hamilton cuts into a cake, revealing what its history and ingredients can teach us about race, class and equity in America.

Written & Performed by Dasha Kelly Hamilton On-Stage Bakers Keilen Smith Karina Cooper Exclusive US Representation Siegel Artist Management LLC - www.siegelartist.com

The Connected Campus is supported, in part, by WFAE, the Infusion Fund and its generous donors.

Dasha Kelly Hamilton is a writer, performance artist, curator, and facilitator.

Ultimately, she's a creative change agent, leveraging the creative process toward human and social wellness.

Her nonprofit, Still Waters Collective, initiated literary arts programming for 20 years, creating platforms for thousands of voices to be honored and heard. The organization continues to partner on impact projects, including a creative leadership fellowship.

Dasha has written for national, regional and local magazines; produced three collections of poetry; recorded four spoken word CDs; published two novels and one collection of personal vignettes; has work included in several anthologies; and performed in the last season of HBO's Def Poetry Jam. Her stage production, Makin' Cake, is touring nationally.

Dasha served as an Arts Envoy for the U.S. Embassy to teach, perform and facilitate community building initiatives in Botswana and the island of Mauritius. She was also an artist in residence in Beirut and Toronto. Dasha has been an adjunct professor at Mount Mary University, Alverno College, Bryant & Stratton, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a recruiter and mentor with University of Wisconsin’s First Wave Scholars Program. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University, an MA in Marketing Communications from Roosevelt University and a BS in Public Relations from Illinois State University.

Dasha is former Artist of the Year for the City of Milwaukee and the city’s 11th Poet Laureate. She has been named a 2020 national Rubinger Fellow and 2021-22 Poet Laureate for the State of Wisconsin. In 2021 she earned a National Laureate Fellowship award with the Academy of American Poets. This year she will serve as the endowed Social Justice Chair for Milwaukee Area Technical College.

Keilen Smith is a husband, nephew, brother and father of two. He's a yard driver at Old Dominion Freight Company and a roller coaster enthusiast.

Karina Cooper is the ower and chef of La Dolcekca Bakery Cafe, specializing in international pastries and located on Montford Drive in Charlotte.

Cakes for the reception are provided by

LA DOLCEKCA BAKERY CAFE ladolcekabakerycafe.com

980-938-5143 Special thanks to: The League of Women Voters is a peoples' organization that has fought since 1920 to improve our government and engage all Americans in the decisions that impact their lives. We operate at national, state and local levels through more than 800 state and local Leagues, in all 50 states as well in DC, the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong. We never endorse or oppose political parties or candidates, but we are political. Formed from the movement that secured the right to vote for women, the centerpiece of the League’s efforts remain to expand participation and give a voice to all Americans. We do this at all three levels of government, engaging in both broad educational efforts as well as advocacy. Our issues are grounded in our respected history of making democracy work for all Americans. Learn more at: goleaguego.org

Join us this fall for “The Connected Campus” – a brand new creative ecosystem of events at the Gambrell Center that explore perspectives on democracy and encourage us all to take a deep dive into the founding principles of our country.

Events include concerts, lectures, panel discussions, art exhibitions, and maybe some cake! Most events are free. We hope to see you at the Gambrell Center this fall!

Supported, in part, by WFAE, the Infusion Fund and its generous donors.

https://www.queens.edu/arts/connected-campus/

Celebrating a century of Broadway magic from Hammerstein to Hamilton, Some Enchanted Evening is a jazz-steeped sojourn exploring a bevy of the American Songbook’s most enduring hits from the golden age to today, combining timeless music and dance. Led by 33-year-old Emmy-nominated trumpeter and crooner Benny Benack III, the performance features the lavishly gifted singer and social media sensation, Stella Cole and North Carolina tap dance phenom, Jabu Graybeal.

Through master classes, workshops, lectures, panel discussions and other activities with visiting Spotlight Series artists, students learn from world-class arts professionals who are tops in their field.

At Queens, we believe that no matter what degrees or skills are sought, a well-rounded education includes the arts. Elevating the student experience is a central goal of Arts at Queens and we invite the community to join us!

WELCOME. SUPPORT. LIFT UP. ARTS AT QUEENS ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP Tickets sales only cover a fraction of the cost of the programs and daily operations of the Gambrell Center. With your annual membership, outstanding concerts, plays, readings, exhibitions, and educational programs will continue to grow. During the 23-24 season, our members make it possible to provide two residencies, hands-on learning experiences and workshops for students attending Queens and the Charlotte Mecklenburg school system.

Won’t you become a member?

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING ARTS AT QUEENS MEMBERS GUARDIAN Sally and Brian Bridgford Sandra Levine Sam and Carolyn G. McMahon BENEFACTOR Georgia and Bill Belk Kathy and Peter Browning Alexandra E. Butler Joye D. Blount and Jessie J. Knight Siu Challons-Lipton and Jordan Lipton Dr. & Mrs. Herb Clegg Daphne Glorian-Solomon and Eric Solomon Audean and Berkley Godehn Jerry and Gaile Greenhoot Barbara Karro and Bill Gorelick

Tamea Price Harriet Seabrook

Claudia and Andy Heath Barbara Laughlin Kathy and Bill McCollum Susan McConnell and Josephine Hicks Susan and Bob Salvin Emily Seelbinder and Lydia Edsell Ann and Michael Tarwater Sandi O. and Ben Thoman Will and Dorothy Trotter Dorothea West and Jim Levesque

PATRON Natascha Bechtler G. Peter Macon Kathy and Bill McCollum M. A. Rogers Mary Claire and Dan Wall

This listing is current as of 9.1.24

Thank you to our Season Sponsors: is sponsored, in part, by WFAE and the Infusion Fund and its generous donors Multi-million Dollar Commitment City of Charlotte $1.5 million and above Bank of America C.D. Spangler Foundation / National Gypsum Company John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Trane Technologies $600,000 - $1 million Albemarle Foundation Atrium Health Barings Duke Energy Honeywell JELD-WEN, Inc. LendingTree Foundation Lowe’s Companies, Inc. Novant Health Red Ventures Truist $300,000-$600,000 Ally Financial The Centene Charitable Foundation Childress Klein Properties Coca-Cola Consolidated Deloitte EY The Gambrell Foundation Moore & Van Allen PwC Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. Rodgers Builders Wells Fargo Up to $300,000 Fifth Third Bank Foundation For The Carolinas Deidre and Clay Grubb Leslie and Michael Marsicano Jane and Hugh McColl Nucor Corporation PNC Bank Premier, Inc. Jane and Nelson Schwab

Charlotte Concerts Legacy Fund

BE A PART OF THE SHOW! The Sarah Belk Gambrell Center’s Patron Services staff sincerely hopes you enjoy your concert experience tonight! If you have any feedback you would like to share, watch for an audience survey next week or reach out anytime to thearts@queens.edu!

Our staff is comprised of Gambrell employees, Queens University students working as event staff and box office employees, AND valued community volunteers! If you love the arts and want to get more involved in the events and programming at Queens, please consider joining our volunteer usher team! There are a wide variety of opportunities to help with our goal of providing excellent service to all of our audiences; ticketing, greeting, directing and assisting arts patrons attending events, concerts and recitals at the Gambrell Center…plus you get to see some great performances too!

Please reach out to the Gambrell Center at 704.337.2466 or thearts@queens.com for more information!

QUEENS.EDU/ARTS | 704.337.2466