Coming Soon?
by Adam Carlin, Derek Toomes, Irvin Maldonado, and Trey Vanterpool
September 20- October 1, 2022
Reception: Thursday, September 22nd, 6-8PM
Coming Soon? is a socially engaged art project that uses techniques in speculative design and science fiction to creatively democratize visions for the future. Underrepresented communities in Downtown Greensboro, NC, are invited to collaboratively imagine how vacant properties can better serve their constituents in ways that are practical, conceptual, poetic, or futuristic. Coming soon signs for these fictional spaces are then placed in front of the empty properties, positing a potential future that is written by communities whose voices are often left out of the conversation.
Adam Carlin is a curator, educator, administrator and social practice artist. He is currently the Director of Learning & Engagement at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY. He is also co-Director of the artist project, the Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum, a decentralized museum that explores the intersections between contemporary art practices and southern Jewish life. Carlin was previously the Director of Community Engagement for UNC Greensboro’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and Director of UNCG’s off-campus contemporary art center Greensboro Project Space. Other notable projects Carlin co-Founded and co-Directed include Creek Colleges, an organization that created schools on the banks of rivers, lakes, and creeks that are going through active restoration and Some Thing Spacious, an experimental project space in Oakland, CA that focused on participatory art practices. He received a BFA from California College of the Arts and an MFA in Art and Social Practice from Portland State University.
Carlin’s practice draws from a variety of histories and lineages. From community organizing principles defined in the civil rights era; to the expanded field of sculpture; to the contemporary canon of socially engaged arts. But first and foremost his practice draws from that which is right in front of him. He makes both permanent and ephemeral projects that are created in context to the external environment, be that a community, a history, a situation, a place, or a person. The projects act as platforms for these constituents to tell their stories, to express their own creativity, and to contribute to a collective idea or action. Some of his personal works often take the form of institutes as artworks which grants artists the power to not only create institutions of their own but to radically reimagine institutional practices in order to counter systemic inequalities that are embedded into the tradition of the arts. Working simultaneously as a curator, educator, administrator, and socially engaged artist, Carlin’s artistic projects have taken the forms of schools, colleges, museums, departments, and various other institutions whose qualities he has co-opted as a container for participatory projects for the public.
Derek Toomes is an artist based in Greensboro and Raleigh, NC. Derek is drawn to the iconic imagery of popular culture, as he is equally interested in societal location as a culture inundated by imagery. His sourcing as well as appropriation of images allows Derek to create work that is aesthetically and anthropologically situated within culture, while also commenting on that culture.
He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Interior Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Irvin Maldonado
Irvin Maldonado is a Latine artist currently based in Greensboro, North Carolina, passionate about the creative process and visualizing communication. With an educational background specializing in fine arts, he employs photography, graphic design, and video to produce work that inspires viewers.
Trey Vanterpool
Trey Vanterpool is a North Carolina based artist with a focus on graphic design, printmaking, and web design. Trey’s personal work explores topics of food justice and how food can function as a way of understanding the people around you.
