Transatlantic Stars brings European artists into the U.S. cultural landscape through residencies, festival participation, and industry immersion across visual arts, film, and music sectors.

Each year, selected visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians engage with American communities, peers, and industry leaders, co-creating, sharing work publicly, and building relationships that extend well beyond the program.

Artists return home with new networks, perspectives, and collaborations that strengthen their practice on both sides of the Atlantic, and join a growing cohort-and-alumni network designed to sustain those connections over time.

Through the Transatlantic Rising Stars Project at McColl Center, 2026 participating artists Ali Nolan and Nasassja  Swift work with textiles as both material and metaphor, using fiber to explore memory, labor, and cultural inheritance. During their time in collage they will collaborate with Charlotte-based Residency Mentor, Beverly Smith who is also a fiber artist.

By expanding traditional practices into sculpture, installation, and memory‑driven image making, their work connects local histories to a global conversation grounded in community and lived experience.