If there is anything that has singularly defined the identity of Charlotte, it is the decades long conversation it has had about the arts. Is Charlotte creative? What's the art local to the region? What investment should the city make? Who should fund it? How should the money be administered and distributed? Is there an ecosystem of donors and audience and media that supports it? Is Charlotte trying constantly to be something that it is not? Does the city have soul?
The questions have been frustrating and tiresome and at the core of the evolution of the culture of the city. Good people have devoted a good measure of their lives to forging answers. Just three weeks ago, on November 13, 2023, the Charlotte City Council voted to accept the Charlotte Arts and Culture Plan presented by the city-formed Arts and Culture Advisory Board. The plan includes a list of eight priorities for invigorating arts in the region and a proposed new governance structure involving various community groups. The plan calls for significant commitment of public funding to complement continued reliance on the private sector. With that public funding comes political involvement of what art is in 'the public interest.'
If there is anyone who has a perspective on the evolution of the arts in Charlotte, it's Hugh McColl, Jr., former chairman and CEO of Bank of America, who financed, envisioned and led much of the cultural changes in the city. In this issue, you’ll read a guest essay by Mr. McColl on leadership and the arts. You’ll also read commentary from Carlos Salum (don't miss the last line), a review by Phillip Larrimore, a poem by Jonathan Rice, and see an artist gallery by Sharon Dowell. In addition, as always in this newsletter, you’ll see links to four of our PDF magazines that showcase Op-Eds, photography, art, and poetry from past years.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to email me. Mark Peres Charlotte Viewpoint Founder The Charlotte Center Founder & Executive Director |
When I moved to Charlotte in 1959, Charlotte was a small city of less than 200,000 people. We had some medium-sized businesses, a few parks, good churches and nice neighborhoods. The town was pretty quiet after working hours.
We had the Charlotte Symphony, which was founded in 1932, and which performed at Ovens Auditorium when Jane and I arrived in town. But I would not say that the city by and large had what you would call a thriving arts community or culture. To the contrary – for the most part, our little city was a nice place, but a pretty dull place. Even ten years later, when we tore down the old Kress building on the southeast corner of Trade and Tryon to build the new Plaza building, I would come uptown with my kids after dinner and sit on the curb – feet in the street – to watch the demolition. That was our entertainment.
Today, all the people of the Charlotte region – more than a million of us, some who have been here for a long time, and many who have arrived over the years – can take credit for having built a great American city. Over the past 50 years, we have worked diligently, planned thoughtfully, invested generously and cheered loudly as we watched Charlotte take its place among the nation’s most vibrant, exciting, optimistic places to live. We all have contributed, and benefitted.
That’s the upside of what we have today – the opportunity to feel good about what we’ve done, to be thankful for those who came before, and to enjoy living, working, playing, praying and raising our families in a great city. Good for us. But there also is a downside to how far we’ve come. |
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From 2011:
Charlotte As a Learning Playground |
The more I walk through the skyway connecting all Uptown Charlotte buildings, the more I celebrate the brilliance of the idea. It’s open 24 hours, it’s secure and it gives citizens access to a “learning playground” with many opportunities to engage creatively with others and to develop an authentic sense of community.
When I’m between meetings, my first stop is usually “The Humor Mill,” where anyone gets a chance to share their best jokes on stage - a sure-fire way to spike adrenaline and self-confidence before the days’ sales calls. |
| From 2016:
When Modernism Was New |
Somewhere between the 1970s and 1980s, Modernism ceased to be new. Gradually, the split-level ranch-style house was replaced by genteel Federalist-style brick mansions; cars lost their fins and stopped aspiring to be jets. Painting veered from a Greenbergian ideal of the thing-as-itself-and-no-more–abstract expressionism into minimalism—to a flamboyant re-integration of all that the previous generation of abstractionists had fastidiously rejected, including the human figure. |
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Small yellow card table
with miniature chairs sits in a corner.
Thin and flat children’s books are piled
haphazardly across the cartoon vinyl.
Wooden rocking horse
sits idle waiting for a rider
as I glance at the faces of kids
who don’t want to be here. Inoculation brings a cry from
down the hall beyond |
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Sharon Dowell captures the energy of place, the economic boom and downturn, and explores the theme of man vs. nature. She is interested in the documentation of memory, and at times incorporates references to our changing political and social environment in her work.
Dowell is a painter residing in Charlotte and exhibiting internationally. Her work is in major collections such as the BLT Steakhouse (Ritz Carlton), Duke Energy, Fidelity Investments, and The Federal Reserve Bank. |
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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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