Arts
Our Connecting Spaces: The Intersection of Arts, Culture & Community
NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS ENDED. PLEASE VIEW THE RECAP HERE OR AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. There is art everywhere in the Charlotte region – as far as the eye can see. Although increasingly visible, are we making the most of it? The Charlotte region brims with robust arts and cultural resources from live […]
How to make Charlotte a place where creatives can thrive
Let’s be honest: When you think “Charlotte,” the next words to pop into your head aren’t “creative powerhouse,” are they? People are more likely to think of Charlotte as a center of banking and finance, a busy airline hub, or a hothouse for the booming real estate market. But Charlotte is also a creative center […]
Survey sheds light on the future of Charlotte’s creative community
When it comes to the creative scene, Charlotte isn’t often mentioned in the same breath with peer cities like Austin or Nashville. After all, the city’s unofficial tagline is “Banktown,” not something like “Music City” or “Keep Austin Weird.” But Charlotte has a thriving creative community. And a new survey by the UNC Charlotte Urban […]
Advisory board suggests sharp increase for Meck parks funding
As Mecklenburg County hammers out its budget priorities for the coming year, advocates for the park and recreation system are hoping to see a big funding increase. At a presentation Tuesday, the Park & Recreation Commission, a citizen advisory board, suggested dramatically increasing funding for the county’s parks. That’s after Park & Recreation Director Lee […]
Finding luck in a buckeye
You’ve no doubt heard this advice – keep a buckeye in your pocket so you can rub it for luck. I can see how this shiny, lumpy “nut” became a talisman. It has grooves that beckon your thumb. I’m thinking its power actually has less to do with luck than with a calming effect. Think […]
Dead trees can help make a healthy forest
My husband and I recently hiked the Birkhead Trail, starting at Tot Hill Road for the first time since that section was hit by a wind storm in June 2019. Hundreds – perhaps thousands – of mature trees were snapped or uprooted along the trail. I hate to see a mature hardwood forest in the […]
Feeling harried? Watch harriers
In January, a month when birders across the state and around the world launch headlong into a rigorous endeavor called a Big Year — in which they rush around a given geographic area trying to see as many species as possible — I hunkered down in the Uwharries and became obsessed with a single species. […]
Students rethink how and what we memorialize
“Not many events inspire our historical imagination and force us to critically think about our past the way a falling monument does.” Associate Professor of Sculpture Marek Ranis, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain in communist Poland, has seen monuments go up and come down in countries like his homeland. But the intense evaluation […]
Nonprofit charts a new course for troubled South End development
A new, mixed-income housing development is set to take the place of a long-troubled, low-income housing complex in South End. Brookhill Village is a paradox: An oasis of affordability in the midst of a booming and fast-gentrifying part of the city, but full of run-down units, many of them boarded up and visibly decaying from […]
Charlotte arts institutions seek out more diverse voices
As the McColl Center for Art + Innovation enters its second decade, its leaders are trying to increase collaboration with new and emerging artists. “It’s a very exciting time for Charlotte,” said president and CEO Alli Celebron-Brown. “Looking back at the last decade, everything that is available has increased and shifted…We’re looking at what’s happening […]