Exhibitors who wish to apply for exhibit space at the Stone Center must first read the following information before submitting an application.
Mission Statement
The galleries at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History are dedicated to the enrichment of visual culture on campus, in the community and throughout North Carolina. The gallery program supports the Stone Center’s commitment to the critical examination of all dimensions of African American and African Diaspora cultures through its active education program and through the formal exhibition of works of art and other items.
The Brown Gallery is a non-profit making institution at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is open to the public. The gallery is committed to researching, exhibiting and interpreting, for the purpose of study, education, and enjoyment of objects, activities and documents and other materials.
Mandate Statement
The Stone Center’s mandate is to promote interdisciplinary inquiry, as well as focused examinations from various interdisciplinary and disciplinary perspectives. Therefore, the Brown Gallery will recognize no restrictions as to the nature of its research and programs relative to period, medium or content approach of the art or artists or exhibitors. The cultural scope of the gallery will focus primarily on African American art and artists and those from Africa and the African diasporas but will not exclude art and artists from other parts of the world.
Purpose
The Stone Center gallery and other exhibition spaces are intended to promote the pursuit of knowledge; the critical examination and understanding of art, culture, and community; and to support the broader mission of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Stone Center Galleries will observe all professional and ethical standards as defined by the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History concerning its programs, staff, governance and fiscal management consistent with the guidelines established by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Office of Academic Affairs.
The following functions describe the program of the Brown Gallery:
Research
Stone Center galleries are responsible for all objects committed to its care and will take all reasonable steps to ensure
- (for the purposes of education and communication) their identification and interpretation, and
- (for the purposes of preservation) their safety, security and conservation of objects entrusted to the gallery.
Display
- The gallery will present three to four exhibitions annually.
- The programs of the Brown Gallery shall strive to represent and serve a broad range of audiences and cultures.
- The gallery will introduce the public to a broad spectrum of art forms and traditions, with selections from historic, contemporary and emerging periods.
- The gallery will display and promote work by artists at varying stages of their careers, including student and emerging artists as well as professionals.
Interpretation & Education
- The Brown Gallery will support exhibitions with publications, lectures, symposia, and workshops.
- The Brown Gallery will work with other departments and agencies to offer education programs for various audiences.
Promotion
- The Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery and Museum is responsible for the promotion and publication of research relating to its programs.
- The Brown Gallery will establish effective public information channels with all of its publics including artists, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students, faculty, staff and administrators, the surrounding community, media and donors.
- The gallery will use special publications, evaluations, outreach programs, interpretive programs, news releases, and promotional materials as channels to communicate with its identified publics.
Exhibitions and Displays Specifications For Exhibitions Not Sponsored Wholly or In Part By the Stone Center
The Stone Center seeks to maintain a consistent set of standards for all exhibitions and displays within office and public spaces of the building. In general all exhibitions in the Stone Center should address some aspect of our mission, or the mission of the gallery and as described in the Galleries Mission Statement.
Please use the following specifications when proposing exhibitions or displays in any part of the building. These guidelines refer to all exhibitions or displays that are not sponsored solely or in part by the Stone Center. Specifications and guidelines for Stone Center-sponsored exhibitions are available from the Center’s Administrative Office.
Decisions on exhibitions are generally made within a month of the submission of your proposal.
- All exhibitions or displays in the Stone Center, including those mounted in office spaces and public spaces are the responsibility of the Exhibitions and Art Committee. The Committee makes recommendations to the Director of the Stone Center.
- Written proposals are required from groups interested in using the exhibition areas, and should be submitted well in advance to a member of the Stone Center’s Public Relations officer. (Please note: the Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery and Museum is reserved for Stone Center-initiated or co-sponsored exhibitions only). Proposals may be submitted by e-mail, fax, or mail.