KANNAPOLIS — Steven Zeisel, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute at the NC Research Campus, hosts the second Bonsai Winter Silhouette Exhibition Dec. 6 and 7.

The event is open and free to the public and will be held in the atrium of the David H. Murdock Core Laboratory Building, 150 Research Campus Drive.

 The hours are Saturday, Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Dec.r 7 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sponsors include the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, the Cabarrus County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the NCRC.

Last year’s event attracted hundreds of people from around the Carolinas and as far away as New York state who all experienced the beauty and mystery of bonsai through the exhibits and demonstrations.

This year 10 vendors and 25 exhibitors are expected at the event. More than 60 world-class bonsai trees will be on display. Vendors will be selling bonsai supplies and giving guidance on how to start and grow bonsai trees.

 Zeisel commented, “This is a very special opportunity to see an art form that is unique and rarely seen in the Charlotte metro area. Bonsai artists from North Carolina and from as far away as New York, Tennessee, Florida and Chicago will be exhibiting. In addition, two internationally renowned artists will be giving public demonstrations on how to create bonsai.”

American bonsai artist William Valavanis returns to this year’s show, giving a lecture and demonstration on Chinese Quince bonsai from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Valavanis is an internationally recognized bonsai expert who has authored several bonsai books and speaks around the world on the art of bonsai. He is also proprietor of the International Bonsai Arboretum in Rochester, N.Y. and the publisher of International Bonsai magazine.

 On Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., Owen Reich, a rising star in the bonsai world, will give a lecture and demonstration on pitch pine bonsai. Reich is a Georgia native and Tennessee resident who apprenticed at Fujikawa Kouka-en nursery in Japan.

Brothers Alden Wright and Baron Wright, who play piano and violin, respectively, will perform Saturday and Sunday afternoon. There is a banquet and auction the evening of Dec.r 6 that requires reservations and is $30 per person with a cash bar. For more information, visit http://stevenzeisel.wix.com/winterbonsai.