TICKETS: $15 + TAX/FEES
SANDRA LEVINE THEATRE
Sponsored by: The Gambrell Foundation
In anticipation of his latest troll creation being installed in Charlotte, Thomas Dambo sheds whimsical insight into his life, career, and rise to becoming the world’s best-known recycle art activist through stories, images, and videos.
Dambo is considered the world’s leading recycle artist, and is internationally known for his art installations, most notably his giant troll sculptures. From a young age, Dambo’s parents instilled the value of recycling and sustainability. His clever mind saw the opportunity to use free recycled materials to build tree houses, games, and artistic creations right from his imagination.
Dambo’s book Trash, Trolls and Treasure Hunts will be available for purchase during the event.
Doors will open at 5pm for attendees to experience the exhibit “ROOTED: Exploring Our Connection with Nature” in the Gambrell Center’s Salvin Atrium and Galleries.
Immediately following the 6:00pm artist talk with Thomas Dambo, audience members are invited to move into Greenhoot Recital Hall for a free screening of “A Man Named Pearl,” which tells the inspiring story of self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar. It offers a message that speaks to respect for both self and others, and shows what one person can achieve when he allows himself to share the full expression of his humanity. The film’s Director, Scott Galloway, Meg Fencil of Sustain Charlotte and Maya Espinosa of Black Girl Environmentalist will join us for a post-screening discussion of the film.
This collaborative Connected Campus event is produced by Charlotte Is Creative and The Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement, in partnership with The Independent Picture House and sponsored by The Gambrell Foundation. Dambo’s Charlotte troll project is brought to you by a Charlotte-based company (it’s a secret until the Troll is complete) in partnership with Curator Lesli Marshall of Articulation Art.
Through films, art, literature, and lived stories, Earthwise invites participants into deeper engagement with both land and legacy. It is a space for those who believe that ecological understanding is not just science—it’s story, memory, movement, and art.
