Orange County’s Uproar Festival of Public Art announced its juried winner and its people’s choice winner. Both artists will receive $10,000.
The festival, which has been held in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough annually since 2023, wrapped up with an awards party on Saturday, August 23. This year, it featured 60 public works of art in various mediums and sizes. Artists could win either by being selected by the festival’s judges or by winning a public vote.
Mike Roig of Carrboro won the juried contest with his sculpture titled “Swimming in an Ocean of Air.” The large metal sculpture was displayed in the Carrboro Town Hall lawn. It features kinetic elements, allowing it to move in surprising ways.
“Swimming in an Ocean of Air” by Mike Roig (Image via Uproar Festival).
Roig is a metal artist who maintains the Heartworks Studio in Carrboro with his wife Clay Carmichael, who is also an artist.
“I’ve been making art since I was small, it’s what I came in hard-wired to do,” he said on his website. “Working with steel satisfies me in a way that no other medium has. It is tough and durable, yet maleable and open to infinite suggestion. It is heavy and obdurate, and yet can be made to express delicate movements of balance and grace. It can appear earthen and solid, or be polished to light-refracting brilliance.”
You can listen to an audio description of “Swimming in an Ocean of Air” here:
The people’s choice winner is Damian Hoffman with his wooden sculpture “Tiny Houses in the Big Woods.” The piece consists of multiple small treehouses situated at different levels of a handcrafted tree. It was on display in front of The Rookery in Hillsborough.
“Due to my inability to throw away accumulated wood, be it parts of trees or small pieces of lumber, I decided to sculpt these houses to whittle away at my clutter,” he told Uproar Festival. “I mounted the first of these houses on a tree stump in my neighbor’s yard, and it has been enjoyed by passersby, so I made others.”
“Tiny Houses in the Big Woods” by Damian Hoffman (Image via Uproar Festival).
The sculpture makes use of more than just wood, incorporating bark roots, mosses, lichen, vines, copper and repurposed mica.
You can listen to an audio description of “Tiny Houses in the Big Woods” here:
The festival also announced two runners-up. The juried runner-up is Sampada Kodagali Agarwal’s “Truck Art from India: A Moving Canvas of Culture.” The people’s choice runner-up is Eryn Donnalley’s “Ephemeral Sands.” Each runner-up will receive a $500 dollar award.
“Truck Art from India: A Moving Canvas of Culture” by Sampada Kodagali Agarwal (Image via Uproar Festival).
“Ephemeral Sands” by Eryn Donnalley (Image via Uproar Festival).
“This entire endeavor called Uproar is so ambitious,” said juror Thomas Sayre, who spoke at the festival’s awards party. “I have installed a lot of sculptures in my career, and to simultaneously install 60 works in three downtowns for a three-week period is staggering to consider. The works varied greatly and were thought-provoking, inspiring, whimsical, and joyful.” Sayre was one of three jurors alongside fellow North Carolina artists Elizabeth Brim and Stephen L. Hayes.
“Uproar grew by leaps and bounds this year, in terms of votes cast, website traffic, community interest and feedback, the number of trolley riders in downtown Chapel Hill and Carrboro on Saturdays, artist applications, and more,” said Katie Murray, director of the Orange County Arts Commission. “We are so proud to showcase and support these incredible artists, while also bringing people into our downtown communities.”
According to the festival, people viewed their Google Map of art locations upwards of 30,000 times during the three weeks the installations were on display.
The festival also led to multiple art sales and commissions from local governments. Hillsborough will purchase “A Feather in Time” by Stu Beavers and “The Sound of Tranquility” by Jason Smith. Carrboro will purchase Venus Flytrap” by Hamidou Sissoko. Chapel Hill announced that it will hire Jen Stone, who created “Threads of Light” for the festival, to create a custom piece.
“A Feather of Time” by Stu Beaver (Image via Uproar Festival).
“The Sound of Tranquility” by Jason Smith (Image via Uproar Festival).
“Venus Flytrap” by Hamidou Sissoko (Image via Uproar Festival).
“Threads of Light” by Jen Stone (Image via Uproar Festival).
More information on winners, artists, art pieces and the festival itself can be found at uproarfestnc.com.
Featured images via Uproar Festival.
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