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Thursday 12pm - 5pm Friday 12pm - 5pm Saturday 12pm - 5pm

Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art

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Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art

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Award-winning art gallery representing artists addressing contemporary issues. We curate projects that encourage critical thinking and conversation.
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09/30/2026

Have lunch with Edel Rodriguez this Friday, October 2 El Puro Modern Cuban Restaurant!

Before the Time covers, before "America's Illustrator in Chief," Edel Rodriguez was a nine year old boy labeled a "worm" for leaving Cuba during the 1980 Mariel boatlift. He took the slur and made it the title of his acclaimed memoir, WORM: A Cuban American Odyssey.

Meet Edel. In person. Over lunch.

He's coming to Charlotte for Fall of Freedom weekend, and we’re bringing him to El Puro first: a thirty minute window at hot Cuban spot El Puro.

📖 Friday, October 2
🕧 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Book signing with Edel Rodriguez
🍽️ 12:00 – 1:00 PM: Stay for lunch

Bring your copy of WORM (or grab one at the table) and have it personalized by the artist himself. This isn't the museum crowd version; it's thirty minutes, one table, one artist, and then lunch to talk about it. Seats are limited and this is a one time stop before his official Fall of Freedom appearance at McColl Center on October 3.

📍 El Puro Cuban Restaurant, Charlotte, NC

To reserve your spot, email [email protected] with the subject line: Lunch with Edel

BookSigning

09/26/2026

💥Next Saturday, October 3, 1 - 3 PM at McColl Center💥

Edel Rodriguez, America's Illustrator in Chief, comes to CLT.

Register at the link in our bio.

WORM: Drawing Exile, Defending Democracy
A Fall Of Freedom activation featuring a book signing, exhibition, and artist talk with acclaimed Cuban American political artist Edel Rodriguez

Books and artworks will be available for purchase.

Image Credits:
Slide 1: Edel Rodriguez photographed by Deborah Feingold
Slide 2: Edel Rodriguez, Freedom, giclee print, 34" x 24"

09/18/2026

Registration is open! 🎟

WORM: Drawing Exile, Defending Democracy
A Fall Of Freedom activation featuring a book signing, exhibition, and artist talk with acclaimed Cuban American political artist Edel Rodriguez

Saturday, October 3, 1 - 3 PM at McColl Center

Click the link in our bio to learn more and register.

This is a rare Charlotte appearance from an artist whose work has appeared on jumbotrons, magazine covers, and museum walls around the globe, and whose personal story of exile, reinvention, and the refusal to stay silent, could not be more relevant to this moment. Come for the signature red and black palette that has become instantly recognizable. Stay for the story underneath it: a family's escape, an artist's education, and a defense of democracy built one image at a time.

Image Credits:
Slide 1: Edel Rodriguez photographed by Deborah Feingold
Slide 2: WORM: A Cuban American Odyssey, the graphic memoir by Edel Rodriguez

09/12/2026

America's Illustrator in Chief Comes to Charlotte on October 3.

He was nine years old when Castro's government called his family "gusanos," worms, for wanting to leave. Edel Rodriguez took the label and turned it into WORM: A Cuban American Odyssey, the graphic memoir that traces his path from a farm outside Havana to becoming the artist behind some of the most iconic anti-authoritarian imagery of our time.

This October, SE CLT and McColl Center bring Edel Rodriguez to Charlotte for Fall of Freedom 2026, a national movement of galleries answering repression with art. Book signing. Original work on display. One rare Charlotte appearance.

Stay tuned for details and registration.

Edel Rodriguez
McColl Center
Fall Of Freedom

Image Credits:
Slide 1: Cover image, WORM: A Cuban American Odyssey
Slide 2: Illustration by Edel Rodriguez for TIME

07/24/2026

Studio views with Susan Brenner
Ongoing series: Salvage

06/27/2026

In the studio with Edel Rodriguez

Rodriguez, globally recognized for his political illustrations in TIME Magazine, The New Yorker, the New York Times, and other major publications, is a Cuban American artist whose practice is inspired by personal history, politics, and nostalgia.

This fall, his art comes to SE CLT Gallery for Fall of Freedom 2026. Edel will also share his family’s harrowing story of fleeing Cuba for the United States and how that experience provides him a unique lens on today’s political landscape.

Follow SE CLT Gallery and save the date October 2-3, 2026.

Fall Of Freedom

03/11/2026

Roy Strassberg featured on WTVI PBS Charlotte, Carolina Impact | Art With a Purpose

"Someone has to commemorate, memorialize, this event, so that in future generations, people will understand what happened so it's not repeated."
- Roy Strassberg

In a moment when antisemitism is resurging globally and public discourse is increasingly polarized, PBS Charlotte's segment, Carolina Impact, thoughtfully featured the work of gallery artist Roy Strassberg. Strassberg’s sculptures remind viewers that memory is an active practice, and that confronting historical atrocity is a safeguard against its repetition. The work insists, quietly but firmly, that remembrance is not a political provocation, but instead a moral obligation. Highlighting the conceptual and modal workings of Strassberg's sculpture practice, this short film produced by Doug Stacker poignantly showcases the artist's lifelong commemoration of the Holocaust.

Producer: .stacker

To watch the PBS Charlotte short film, click the link in our bio.

To learn more about Roy Strassberg and his work, visit our website (link in bio).

01/27/2026

In the studio with , the 2026 John O. Calmore Creative Activism Resident Artist .

Created in partnership between SE CLT Gallery and McColl Center, this residency is dedicated to supporting artists whose practices confront pressing social justice issues and envision new possibilities for equity and community.

Upcoming opportunities to connect:

During Open Hours:
Fridays | 12-6pm
Saturdays | 10am-6pm

Artist Talk + Tour
Thursday, February 5 from 6- 8pm

12/17/2025

Shop our selection of works under $5,000 this holiday season and give the gift that keeps on giving! 🖼 🎁

Perfect for the art-lover on your shopping list.

Browse available works under 5K via the link in our bio.

DM us or email [email protected] with artwork inquiries.

12/08/2025

Sheryl Oring, Select Monoprints (I Wish to Say), 24 x 18 in.

Featured in Collective Witness, currently viewable on our website (link in bio).

Sheryl Oring’s landmark I Wish to Say project evinces how civic participation becomes art. Since 2004, Oring has set up a traveling public office - complete with a manual typewriter - and invited members of the public to dictate postcards to the U.S. president.

The monoprints presented in this exhibition grow directly from the I Wish to Say performances. Using a Xerox transfer process - a painstaking method in which typewritten texts are manually burnished and layered to transfer toner onto paper - Oring transforms the ephemeral messages collected in public spaces into enduring visual statements.

DM or email [email protected] with artwork inquiries.

Address

1520 S Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC
28203

Opening Hours

Thursday	12pm - 5pm
Friday	12pm - 5pm
Saturday	12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+17043706337

Website

http://www.seclt.com/

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