UNIVERSITY GAZETTE | June 21, 2006 | The University of North Carolina

The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold a combined open house and public hearing from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 27, in the cafeteria of Grey Culbreth Middle School. The purpose is to discuss the widening of South Columbia Street from Purefoy Road to Manning Drive.

DOT representatives will be available to answer questions and receive comments on the project. The opportunity to submit written comments or questions will also be provided.

A map and materials detailing the proposed improvements for the project are available for public review at the Town of Chapel Hill’s Engineering Department in Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

For more information or to comment, call Jamille Robbins at 715-1595 or e-mail jarobbins@dot.state.nc.us.

Indicator Species presents "The Hardest Question Ever" — a shadow puppet play about prisons and violence — on June 27 at 7 p.m. in the Forest Theater.

In addition to the show, there will be family music presented by Donovan Zimmerman and Jimmy Magoo and information tables.

A discussion will follow the half-hour performance. Indicator Species is a Pittsburgh-based group of teachers, artists and activists who work on prison issues.

A young wife experiences a public wardrobe malfunction in the early 20th century; her husband anticipates a scandal. Instead, the spectacle stirs the passions and devotion of two onlookers, who become his new lodgers.

And thus begins PlayMakers Repertory Company’s 2006-07 season, with the Oct. 4 opening of “The Underpants,” a farce by Carl Sternheim, adapted by actor/comedian Steve Martin.

Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays With Morrie;” by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom; Nov. 15 - Dec. 10;

“The Illusion,” by Pierre Corneille, adapted by Tony Kushner; April 11 - May 6, 2007.

Season tickets are on sale now. Refer to the PlayMakers web site for more information about the individual plays and for ordering information: www.playmakersrep.org.

It’s not just the exhibits at the Ackland Art Museum that are fresh this summer. There are also events galore, and they are planned to appeal to a broad spectrum of visitors. New exhibitions, now on display, are:

“Up Close and Personal: Portraits of the Artist.” On view through Sept. 24, portraits by and of artists are showcased, spanning 300 years, and in such diverse media as paintings, sculpture, assemblage, prints, drawings, photographs and media.

“Books in Costume.” For this summer exhibition, Kim and Rosie Batcheller share their collection of works by the Sobota family with the museum. The unique book creations combine innovative binding techniques with whimsical designs — through Sept. 10.

Lunch with One: one hour, one expert, one work of art ( July 20 and Aug. 17; 1:10 - 2 p.m.).

Yoga in the Galleries. These sessions (June 27, July 25 and Aug. 22 at 12:10 p.m.) will be held in the Asian art gallery of the museum and will be followed by optional tours of some of the main pieces in the collection. Cost is $5.

“Up Close and Personal” Book Discussion Series. Join museum staff and faculty in uncovering connections between fiction and themes or works in the “Up Close and Personal” exhibit (June 21, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”; July 19, “The Marble Faun”; Aug. 23, “Leaves of Grass”; 6 - 7:30 p.m.).

Art after Dark: 2nd Fridays at the Ackland. The Ackland stays open until 9 p.m. on its second Fridays series with refreshments, live jazz and evening art viewing (July 14 and Aug. 11). Bring the kids from 7 to 9 p.m. on July 14 for story reading in the galleries.

Open Drawing Session. On Aug. 19 from 10 a.m. to noon, the community is invited to draw in the galleries.

This will be a monthly event on third Saturdays. Bring your own supplies, and Ackland staff will moderate and introduce a work as inspiration each month.

On June 19, the University began a project to restore the stone walls on Raleigh Street alongside the UNC system president’s house.To ensure the safety of pedestrians and vehicles, the walls will be removed and rebuilt. Four trees that are in declining health will also be removed.

The wall restoration requires the closure of Raleigh Street from Franklin Street to the service entrance to Spencer Residence Hall. The project is scheduled for five weeks, depending on weather and other contingencies.

During the road closure, bus routes A, U, RU, NU and FG will be affected. Information on changes to the bus routes and schedules can be found at www.townofchapelhill.org/transit.

The UNC Libraries Media Resources Center’s Digital Media Lab is closed for the summer for renovation. Six new editing stations will be added and the lab’s interior will undergo a complete makeover before reopening in the fall semester. During the renovation the MRC will still continue to lend equipment.

For other campus locations that have digital media equipment available to faculty and students — either for check out or in-house use — see www.lib.unc.edu/house/mrc/mrclab/digital_resources.html.

The annual Fourth of July celebration returns to Kenan Stadium with entertainment and a fireworks display on July 4.

Local dignitaries will provide an official welcome as performers take the stage from 7 to 9:25 p.m. Performers this year include Nashville’s Last Man Standing (7 p.m.) and Chapel Hill’s own Lo-K-Shun (8:15 p.m.).

The fireworks display is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. In the event of rain, the fireworks show may begin earlier than scheduled. Fireworks are only visible from inside the stadium.

Use gates 5 and 6, which will open at 6:30 p.m. on Kenan’s south side for stadium seating.

Both lower and upper levels will be open. Alcohol is prohibited, as well as coolers, outside containers and food items.

Children’s activities and entertainment will be located near the gate entrances. Stadium concessions will also be available.

The Stone Center will be the host for the first of a two-day, free Internet broadcast on June 26: The 12th Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute and Videoconference on Minority Health.

The first session, at Carolina, will be a two-hour discussion on race-based medicine. It will begin at 2 p.m.

The second videoconference will be a two-hour session on tobacco use initiatives at historically black colleges and universities. It will be broadcast from Morgan State University in Baltimore at 2 p.m. on June 28.

Both sessions can be viewed over c-band satellite, on the Internet and at the originating sites. For broadcast information, see www.minority.unc.edu/institute/2006.

The School of Public Health Minority Health Project is one of the sponsors of the conference.

Summer concert series offers free music, movies

On June 25 Chapel Hill Wallace Parking Deck Plaza is the place for families to gather. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., musicians will perform, including Michael Holland, Adam Price, Randy Bickford, Joe Romeo and David Nahm. The concert will be followed by a movie on the deck, too. In case of rain, the concert will be held at Schoolkids Records.

Haj named producing artistic director

PlayMakers Repertory Company at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has appointed Joseph Haj as its new producing artistic director. He will begin work on July 1.

Haj, a 1988 graduate of UNC’s master of fine arts professional actor training program, has theatrical credits across the United States and abroad.

He has guest-directed three times for PlayMakers, a nonprofit professional theater company based in UNC’s dramatic art department, a part of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Tufts memorial set for July 8

A memorial service for longtime University employee Rut Tufts will be held July 8.

The 1 p.m. service will be at the family church, The Chapel of the Cross, on the UNC campus.

All are invited to attend the event to celebrate the life of Tufts, who died at 59 after a fall last month in Washington, D.C.