In the upcoming Charlotte Ideas Festival, panelists who market the city will address the question "What is the Story and Vibe of Charlotte?" No doubt many wonderful things about Charlotte will be mentioned (after all, we live here!), but what is it about Charlotte that isn't copied from elsewhere or couldn't be copied someplace else? What is unique to Charlotte that makes this place quicken?
In 2004, Charlotte Viewpoint published 'Five Memos for the Next Wave' by David Wagner, principal architect at Wagner Murray Architects. David has made legendary contributions to Charlotte's built environment, including designing The Green and serving as local designer of record of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. In his essay, David considers what descriptive nouns Charlotte might aspire to realize. David writes "[Italo] Calvino stated that there are two types of imaginative processes. One that starts with a word and arrives at a visual image and one that starts with an image and arrives at a word." What words might describe Charlotte in its fullness? David offers answers and ends the essay with a reminder of the romance of it all.
We include a splendid story by Gwen Veazey about her visit to the towers and restaurants of uptown Charlotte on a Saturday afternoon. It's a perfect take on the city being half-way there. We also include a 2016 review of Bob Dylan performing in Charlotte (Dylan performed again last week at the Belk Theatre) by former editor-in-chief John Schacht (and you'll want to read my own musings on Dylan in our Oct. 2005 issue below); a story by Joseph Cavano about hope and yearning and a perfect two olive martini, and an artist gallery by Ashley Lathe. You'll see links to four of our PDF magazines from previous years that include lead columns from Scott Provancher, Nheeda Enriquez, Dennis Milligan, and Stephen Moore.
You'll want to read every word, Mark Peres
Charlotte Viewpoint Founder The Charlotte Center Founder & Executive Director |
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Five Memos for the Next Wave |
A few years ago, I served as a citizen participant in crafting the 2010 Center City Vision Plan. I suggested that we use nouns to define the urban experience rather than emphasizing process when creating our vision. I suggested "memory" as a most appropriate word. I would now like to add a few more nouns to the lexicon of our planning model and nurture the possibilities and potential hidden in these words.
While graciously admitting a debt to the great Italian storyteller, Italo Calvino, I challenge us to stretch our imaginations. Calvino was drafting, “Six Memos for the Next Millennium,” which was to be the Charles Elliott Norton lectures at Harvard University, when he unexpectedly died. He completed five of the six memos. Calvino was pointing out universal values for future generations. They were lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility and multiplicity. I believe we can make an argument for direct organic comparisons to our city from these qualities.
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From 2013: Charlotte,
the Big City |
I live in the small town of Morganton, 75 miles northwest of Charlotte, and have wanted to see my son’s office ever since the staffing services company he works for moved into Duke Energy Center. How exciting it must be to gaze out from a 48-story skyscraper every day. “Scott, your grandmother would like to see your office. When can we come to Charlotte for a tour?” How could he say no? |
| From 2016: Dylan Comes
to Town |
Bob Dylan will be in Charlotte Sunday night, fresh off winning the Nobel prize for literature and releasing another album of American Songbook fare, Fallen Angels. If it surprises you in any way that the gravel-voiced 75-year-old would earn literature's most coveted award, or record standards more often associated with velvet-throated crooners like Tony Bennett or Frank Sinatra—well, you've probably not been following along.
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From 2011: The Perfect Martini |
Ellen Morris glanced at the bedroom mirror and sighed “Mother was right. I’m not much to look at.” She was beginning to lose hope. It had been a year since she had torn up her list, “Things I Expect in a Husband,” and replaced it with a small note she had placed on the refrigerator. It read, “He must be kind.”
Ellen moved from the mirror and glanced outside. It was raining. Hard. |
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Ashley Lathe, a native Charlottean, has exhibited his work nationally and is included in several corporate and private collections. A two-time McColl Center for Visual Art resident, he was a founding member of two Charlotte art advocacy organizations: Charlotte Artery (multiple grant recipient from Charlotte Arts and Science Council and North Carolina Arts Council), and Core Visual Art. He is currently an MFA candidate at Maryland Institute College of Art. |
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About Charlotte Viewpoint |
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Charlotte Viewpoint is a magazine about the city and culture of the Charlotte region that ran from 2003-2016. Charlotte Viewpoint published civic and cultural commentary and programmed events about Charlotte for engaged citizens to nurture creative capital, elevate civic discourse and promote intellectual and artistic excellence in the Charlotte region. |
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| Charlotte Viewpoint has been archived by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room for its historical significance. |
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