CharlOz is UNC Charlotte’s new celebration of L. Frank Bum’s Oz books, as well as the films that sprung from the books and even the Land of Oz amusement park in the mountains of North Carolina.
This festival features speakers, Oz character drawing demos, a Land of Oz exhibition, music, Oz gaming, Oz puppet shows, a meet and greet with Land of Oz characters, films and more.
The festival includes events for both adults and children. The children’s events take place on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at ImaginOn.
The festival takes place from September 26 to 29, 2024, on both UNC Charlotte campuses, as well as other locations, including Knight Theater and ImaginOn.
Most of the events are free. Read on for the addresses of the venues and the tentative schedule for each day.
In coordination with the festival, the Charlotte Symphony will be providing an orchestral backing to the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz on September 27 and 28, 2024. Learn about the performances and buy tickets.
Complete information for CharlOz is on at charloz.charlotte.edu. You’ll also find updates on the CharlOz Facebook page.
Venues for Charl-Oz
Knight Theater
430 S Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery
UNC Charlotte Main Campus
8845 Craver Road, Charlotte, NC 28262
J. Murrey Atkins Library
UNC Charlotte Main Campus
9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223
Projective Eye Gallery
The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City
320 E 9th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
Belk Theatre
130 N Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
ImaginOn: The Joe and Joan Martin Center
300 E 7th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City
320 E 9th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
Charl-Oz Schedule
Thursday, September 26
At Knight Theater
- 7 to 9:30 p.m.: Talk and book signing reception by Gregory Maquire. Get free tickets here.
At Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery
- All day: Student art exhibition “Oz Illustrations”
Friday, September 27
At J. Murrey Atkins Library
- 10 a.m to 4 p.m.: Talks, demos, tutorials, and more. Also The Wiz VR Experience, and Oz game play
Area 49’s Gaming Lab (in Atkins Library)
- Oz gameplay all day
At Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery
- All day: Student art exhibition “Oz Illustrations”
Projective Eye Gallery
- All day: Land of Oz exhibition
Saturday, September 28
Kids’ Programming at ImaginOn
- 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.: Family Wizard of Oz storytime in Spangler Library
- 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Puppet show: No Place Like Home in Spangler Library
- 2 to 3 p.m.: Story Explorers: Meet special guests from The Land of Oz
- All day: CharlOz Scavenger Hunt throughout ImaginOn
- All day: CharlOz crafts in the Story Jar area
Wells Fargo Theatre in ImaginOn
- 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Author talks, book signings, puppet display and more. For a general audience.
At Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery
- All day: Student art exhibition “Oz Illustrations”
Projective Eye Gallery
- All day: Land of Oz exhibition
Sunday, September 29
The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City Auditorium 1
- 10:05 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.: Watch the premiere of His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz, with music provided by Ethan Uslan, and stay for Nate Barlow’s talk about his restoring process
- 12:10 to 1:05 p.m.: Virginia Kantra talks about what it means for Dorothy Gale to be one of the first American heroines.
- 1:10 to 2:10 p.m.: Shundra Allison, Elizabeth Cochrane, Jashonai Payne, Marian Myers, and Lynne Wiesecke discuss creating and implementing Oz curriculum in a panel moderated by Scott Gartlan.
- 2:15 to 3:15 p.m.: Gita Dorothy Morena, the great-granddaughter of L. Frank Baum, the great-granddaughter of Matilda Gage shares personal stories about the impact of this powerful lineage.
- 3:20 to 3:50 p.m.: Dina Massachi and Mark West talk about their new Oz publication.
The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City Auditorium 2
- 10:05 to 10:35 a.m.: Hiroe Suzuki talks about male characters in the Oz series who show care capability.
- 10:40 to 11:10 a.m.: Judy Bieber analyzes representations of protective and nurturing father figures, and examines depictions of heteronormative marriage, which are infrequent and none too flattering
- 11:15 to 11:45 a.m.: Laurence Brenner explores the movie Return to Oz as a treatise on trauma, memory, and mental health.
- 11:50 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.: Holly Humes and Vibiana Cvetkovic talk about the adaptation of the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into the novel The Hunger Games and the adaptation of the 1939 MGM Oz film into the 2012 film The Hunger Games.
- 12:25 to 12:55 p.m.: Eric Gjovaag looks at how math shows up in Oz, and also how Oz can be used to teach math.
- 1 to 1:55 p.m.: UNC Charlotte Musical Theatre Students Ezra DeVane, Reem Nour, Caitlin O’Hagan, Izzy Oyler, and Trinity Turner perform a set of Oz songs.
- 2 to 4 p.m.: Walter Squire introduces The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz film, which will be subsequently shown.
Projective Eye Gallery
- All day: Land of Oz exhibition
Presenters of Festival
The festival is hosted in collaboration with:
- J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte
- UNC Charlotte — The Dubois Center
- UNC Charlotte College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences
- Land of Oz — North Carolina
- ImaginOn
- Project Eye Gallery at UNC Charlotte
- Area 49
- The Oz Club
- UNC Charlotte Interdisciplinary Studies
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