McColl Center

For this edition of Artist Unscripted, we sat down with Spring 2026 Artist-in-Residence Kandy G Lopez to talk about process, persistence, and the evolution of a practice rooted in representation, experimentation, and curiosity.

Originally from New Jersey and raised in South Florida, Lopez reflects on the unexpected path that led her to art - from dance and theater to painting, fibers, printmaking, and beyond. Throughout the conversation, she speaks candidly about learning through experimentation, embracing failure as part of the process, and the importance of continuing to challenge herself across materials and mediums.

Known for her large-scale portraits that elevate Black and Brown subjects through both grandeur and vulnerability, Lopez discusses how her work pushes back against historical depictions of marginalized bodies while creating space for humanity, dignity, and power. What began as painting eventually expanded into fiber-based works almost accidentally - through material experiments, motherhood, and a desire to keep learning.

Lopez continued that spirit of exploration at McColl Center, experimenting across studios and processes while developing new work in fiber, painting, and print. At the core of the conversation is a belief that art is less about innate talent and more about commitment: showing up consistently, staying curious, and allowing yourself to evolve.

As Lopez shares near the end of the conversation: “Once you understand where you go wrong, you understand how to get to the next thing.”

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About the series:

Artist Unscripted is a new video series that invites you into artists’ studios for relaxed, candid conversations. Each episode features a sit-down between an artist and our Marketing Director, Makeia Carrier, offering an unscripted look at process, practice, and the realities of making art work.

Kandy G Lopez on Representation, Material, and Persistence For this edition of Artist Unscripted, we sat down with Spring 2026...

For the third Reveal of The Contemporaries: Year 2, McColl Center became the site of Who All Over There?, a living, immersive performance and community activation by Charlotte-based multidisciplinary artist Dammit Wesley Dammit, Wesley.

The evening unfolded as both exhibition and performance. Music, movement, and community blurred the line between audience and subject, artwork and environment. Cyanotype tambourines - each stretched with images of figures from Wesley’s community who you see in this behind the scenes video - served as the commissioned works for The Contemporaries, extending the experience beyond the event as objects to take home. Surrounding these were a series of paintings drawn from past Boileryard Brunch gatherings at Camp North End - recurring community events that form the backbone of Wesley’s creative world.

Many of the individuals depicted were present in the space, invited alongside Contemporaries members. For some, this marked the first time seeing themselves reflected in the work. That moment of recognition - of encountering your own image within a historic gallery setting - collapsed the distance between art and life, bringing the work fully into the realm of lived experience.

The energy of the evening echoes iconic artworks like “The Sugar Shack” by Ernie Barnes, where movement, rhythm, and the expressive force of Black joy take center stage. Here, that lineage is not quoted directly, but felt - activated through the bodies, gestures, and relationships present in the room.

In Who All Over There?, Dammit Wesley positions art not as a static artifact, but as a way of being - one rooted in community, celebration, and self-representation.

We are honored to have hosted this experience. McColl Center serves as a vessel for artists to expand the boundaries of their practice, where the work extends beyond the object and into lived experience.

Documentation by @‌mrlo__ Jalen A. Marlowe

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