Coming up Jan. 28: An array of art, culture for free

Here’s what you can see, completely for free, on Saturday, Jan. 28 (and if you’re nervous about parking uptown, skip to the bottom):

▪ A mirror. McColl Center’s “The World is a Mirror of My Freedom” will have opened just the day before, though the exhibition’s been in the works since summertime. It’s a response, says the McColl, to “the increasingly visible, lawful violence against Black bodies in Charlotte and the United States.” Five current or alumni artists-in-residence have work in the show: Marcus Kiser, Jason Woodberry, Shaun Leonardo, Dread Scott, and Charles Williams. (One highlight mentioned by staff: A provocative Dread Scott piece involving a flag will be included.)

▪ New x 4. Four new shows at the Gantt Center: much-talked-about artists Jordan Casteel with “Harlem Notes” and Alison Saar with “The Nature of Us” – and both plan to be on hand Jan. 28 – plus Zun Lee’s “Father Figure”; and the four-artist “The Future is Abstract.”

▪ Molten glass and women. As in a demo of glass-blowing, out of a mobile studio on Levine Avenue from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and an artists-and-curators talk, both connected to “Fired Up,” the first American-art-museum show of contemporary women glass artists. That’s at the Mint – and also available to peruse that day.

▪ Behind-the-scenes peeks at an artist’s thought and a family’s choices. At the Bechtler, “Summing It Up At The End” serves up 45 choices of his own sketches by Alberto Giacometti described as “an artist reckoning with his mortality (and) his life’s work.” Also there: “The Bechtler Collection: Relaunched and Rediscovered.” Want to know how and why the Bechtler family collected what they did, who they were close to (Joan Miro, for one), and how the pieces fit together? (Or, if you’re starting out, want to just get a glimpse at pieces by Warhol and Picasso?) Try this.

▪ Free admission to the Levine Museum of the New South (its opening of “K(NO)W Justice, K(NO)W Peace” has been delayed, so that will not be on view); and the Charlotte Museum of History.

▪ A musical petting zoo – yes, you read that right – at the Matthews Community Center (by the Symphony Guild) and an African dance class at First Baptist Church-West in West Charlotte. Elsewhere around town: activities at places from Ballantyne’s Community House Middle School and Free Range Brewing in NoDa to the Carolina Raptor Center in Huntersville and Wing Haven in Myers Park, and free admission to the Charlotte Museum of History.

Parking: Try this, from Center City Partners: http://www.charlottecentercity.org/transportation/parking/ You can adjust it to show garages or surface lots or both, and prices (and some have a “live” count of spaces available), plus B-Cycles. Here’s another to try: http://www.bestparking.com/charlotte-parking/.

Other venues for other days: If you’re not uptown often, take a look here, so you can locate other places you might want to try later: http://media.charlotteobserver.com/static/images/graphics/arts_map_interactive/arts_map.html

It’s all part of the Arts & Science Council’s third “Connect with Culture Day.” More info: artsandscience.org.

This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Coming up Jan. 28: An array of art, culture for free."