The Grid Project | SEEK Raleigh

The Grid Project

Exhibitions and Events

October 2024

Rubberside Down: A Celebration of Cycling, Creativity, and Community

October 5 - October 26th

Gallery Hours: October 12, 13, 19, and 20 from 1 - 4 p.m.
Opening Event: Saturday, October 5, 2-6 p.m. 
Location: Birdland, 706 Mountford Ave, Raleigh NC

"Rubberside Down" is an art exhibition and community engagement initiative of The Grid Project that celebrates the intersection of the artist and biking communities in Raleigh. This event is a tribute to the spirit of support, collaboration, and ingenuity that defines both realms. Through a vibrant showcase of art and design, we explore the movement, form, and function while highlighting the creative energy that fuels our city. This celebration brings together organizations, cyclists, and artists who uplift one another and positively impact our community. The exhibit features local artists Leigh Ramsdell, Dave Green, Sarah Hammond, Zach Storm, and Minori Sanchiz-Fung.

The October 5th opening event will feature a pump track for riding built by Leigh Ramsdell and Dave Green, inflatables created by Katie Stewart, a one-day invitation-only bike show and group ride by Oaks and Spokes, Munjo Munjo as a vendor, a walking open studio map, and an in-gallery month-long exhibit showcasing artists alongside their work and bikes. 

Additional Events 

October 17 from 7 - 8 p.m.-“Featherslime” Author Event

Reading and performance with Sarah Rose Nordgren and Sarah Minor in collaboration with So & So Books and NC State's MFA program in creative writing.

October 26 from 1 - 4 p.m.- Bike Clinic

Bike event with Leigh Ramsdell and Chris Cullen.

November/December 2024

Floravita Exhibition

In quiet moments, we often feel a heavy awareness of time’s passage. Floravita, curated by Pete Sack of the Grid Project, is an exhibition about the balance between living and letting go. Artists Alia El-Bermani, Skillet Gilmore, Oami Powers, and Sally Van Gorder explore how the fading of one life isn’t an ending; it’s part of an ongoing, interconnected rhythm—a dance of life and nature.

This collection delves into the fragile space where time feels both endless and fleeting, much like watching an hourglass and ignoring its flow. It explores the tension between remembering and forgetting, love and loss, and the struggle between holding on and facing the unknown.

The artworks by Alia El-Bermani, Skillet Gilmore, Oami Powers, and Sally Van Gorder are memento mori, reminding us of our own mortality. The artists share the fading stories of those who came before us. The hands that once held us tightly are now softening, reminding us of our own future selves—aging and eventually gone.

This exhibition isn’t just a tribute to loss; it’s a celebration. It invites us to cherish the fleeting beauty of the present and to embrace the truth that life, with all its tender moments and inevitable endings, is beautifully finite.

Events

Opening Saturday, November 2, from 1-5 pm

Paradigm Poetry and Grid Project | Artist Panel Discussion  
Saturday, November 16, from 2-3 pm at Birdland

Paradigm Poetry |  Poetry Writing Workshop 
Saturday, November 23rd, from 2-3 pm at Birdland

Men’s Art Group Meetup 
Led by Lamar Whidbee and Pete Sack 
Wednesday, December 4th, from 7-8 pm at Birdland  

Closing Sunday December 8th - 12 - 4 pm  

About SEEK Raleigh

SEEK Raleigh is an experimental public art program by Raleigh Arts that engages the community through public art in City of Raleigh Parks, greenways, and/or community spaces. The program provides an opportunity for artists to introduce the public to new, unusual, and thought-provoking experiences through temporary public art.

Learn more and apply to the SEEK Raleigh artist call

About Raleigh Arts

Raleigh Arts, a part of the City of Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department, fosters and promotes the arts in Raleigh by administering the programs of the Raleigh Arts Commission and the Public Art and Design Board and supporting the Pullen and Sertoma Arts Centers.