7 Stories about 2 Words Black People are Too Used to Hearing

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF CHARLOTTE IS CREATIVE

7 Stories about 2 Words Black People are Too Used to Hearing

Jay Ward in “Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments”

“Three Bone Theatre doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable topics or difficult conversations, and this piece will make some people uncomfortable. And that’s important. It is about the trauma caused by police violence in the Black community and all that entails.” – Robin Tynes-Miller, Three Bone Theatre

Before George Floyd, before Breonna Taylor, before Rayshard Brooks, before Philando Castille, before Eric Garner and so many others, there was Michael Brown. At 18 years old, he was killed by police officers in Ferguson, Missouri and left in the street for four hours.

And there was John Crawford, III, 22, who was holding a BB gun that was for sale in a Beavercreek, Ohio Walmart when he was shot and killed by police.

Brown and Crawford were far from the first unarmed Black people to be killed by police. But their murders in 2014 galvanized a Brooklyn-based theater company to commission seven up-and-coming Black playwrights to create original monologues in response to the ongoing murders of unarmed Black people by police officers. The result – “Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments” – gets its Charlotte premiere next week, thanks to Three Bone Theatre. An all-Black cast of Charlotte actors will bring the stories to life in this live, virtual event. Experience it Nov. 19, 20 and 21.

Read about the Charlotte-based online production directed by Quentin Talley.

PHOTO CREDIT: Blumenthal Performaing Arts

Art Heist on Tryon Street

Don’t panic. Please be assured that all is well at The Bechtler, The Mint and The Gantt. “The Firebird” remains in place. But, there IS a mystery on Tryon Street waiting to be solved.

From Nov. 18 to Dec. 13, Blumenthal Performing Arts needs you to play the role of detective in “Art Heist,” a socially distanced, interactive true crime experience on Tryon Street based on a historic theft in Boston. The audience plays the detectives, and actors play criminals dropping clues. It’s essentially live-action “Clue,” with you playing Col. Mustard, Prof. Plum and Mrs. Peacock. (P.S. Leave your candlesticks and lead pipes at home.)

The first three events are SOLD OUT, so click here for more information and to secure tickets.

Have you seen this man? Yeah. You have.

If this guy looks familiar, it may because you’ve seen him — although not necessarily in real life. Actor Pat Dortch talks to us about why he became an actor, why he loves teaching acting and why Charlotte is a nurturing place for creatives.

You know Pat’s face. Now, read his story.

Isabella Santos Foundation design by Frankie Zombie

SHARE Charlotte Teams Up with 10 Charlotte Artists

Ricky Singh is at it again. Over the past few months, we’ve shared Ricky’s efforts to create community pride along the Beatties Ford Road corridor and to launch the “Rise Up” video series of student poems and spoken word at the Charlotte Lab School.

For November, Ricky has teamed up with SHARE Charlotte to cultivate a collection of 10 new works of art, each inspired by a local nonprofit and created by a local artist. SHARE Charlotte is posting the art created for this program — and stories of the artists — on Instagram every day in November. It will culminate in #GivingTuesdayCLT on Dec. 1. To date, the series has featured work from Carla Aaron-Lopez (HEAL Charlotte), Makayla Binter (CrownKeepers), DeNeer Davis (Beds for Kids) and Frankie Zombie (Isabella Santos Foundation.)

See the first four graphics created for this program.

“What is Home for Charlotte Creatives?”
Moderated Discussion with Artists
November 18 at 6:30PM

Last week, we introduced you to Sonya Pfeiffer, owner of Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art, which just opened the “HOME” exhibit featuring new work by David J. Butler, Crista Cammaroto and J. Stacy Utley. The installation is open through Feb. 13, but next Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 6:30PM, you are invited to an online discussion with the artists above and the leaders of local art institutions about the issues explored in “HOME,” namely “What does Charlotte need to do to make its artists truly feel at home here?”

Help Us Identify Charlotte’s Creative Veterans

This past Wednesday was Veterans Day. We posted a simple request on the @CLTisCreative Instagram page: “Please tag a Charlotte creative who is also a veteran.” Thank you for your strong response. Some names we knew well, like photographer Logan Cyrus, DJ That Guy Smitty and visual artist Dari Calamari. Others were creatives we’re looking forward to sharing with you over the coming weeks, like jewelry maker Worthy & Badass, visual artist Marvin Espy and stylist Nick Cash.

Meeting new creatives and sharing their stories with you is something we love, so we’re asking you to pitch. Please go to our Instagram post and tag a Charlotte creative veteran you know. That will help us honor the veterans in our creative community throughout the year.

Thirteen years ago, Charlottean Leonard Love was on the field when his alma mater, Appalachian State, defeated Michigan in a now-legendary college football upset. Now, he’s back home in the Queen City, fighting on a different field of play — that of an entrepreneur. Leonard is co-founder of Gymonkee, a mobile app that uses virtual “coins” to give consumers discounted access to gyms and greater awareness of the array of fitness options available.

While he didn’t work out with Leonard, The Biscuit’s Matt Olin did catch up for a high-intensity chat about why Charlotte is the perfect place to pilot a start-up.

PHOTO CREDIT: Brooke Brown

Backstage at USNWC’s “Lights”

As we reported a few weeks ago, the “Lights” are back on at the US National Whitewater Center (USNWC). If the inaugural year is a gauge, scores of people will be drawn from across the Charlotte region to see it.

But, an interactive exhibition of 500 pieces of illuminated art woven through a forest doesn’t just happen. It took artist Meredith Connelley and a team of nine artists and fabricators eleven weeks to create the pieces to be used and assemble them. Like the 250 pieces integrated into “Lights” last year, the 250 new pieces created for 2020 were heated, dyed, molded, cut and crafted by hand over a period of months.

Our friend and photographer, Brooke Brown, went on a Photo Safari into the “wilds” of the USNWC as the team integrated their handiwork into the landscape.

Over the course of any given week, we scroll through the work of hundreds of Charlotte creatives on Instagram. But, @henna_by_sana, the account of self-taught Queen City creative, Sana Nisar, always stops us in our tracks. Her designs are intricate and beautiful, a labyrinth of minute detail and design. They command your attention. You can’t just glance at them. You have to get lost and wonder at how it all comes together.

Practicing henna for nearly a decade, Sana moved to Charlotte in 2019 from Columbus, Ohio. She lives here full-time, but is still in demand back home and makes frequent trips back for weddings and one-on-one henna sessions.

Fast Facts about “Santé”

More than 150 sheets of aluminum composite were used to make it
More than 10,000 nuts, bolts and brackets were needed to assemble it
It’s 20 feet wide and 13 feet tall
15 different sections were assembled on-site to build the final sculpture

DIRECTIONS: 130 Providence Rd., Charlotte, NC 28207

Don’t go ’round hungry. If you missed the last batch of The Biscuit, don’t worry. We’ve kept it warm for you. Click here to dig in, y‘all.

This last batch featured:

A Photo Safari of Melissa Wineman’s new mural, “Wildflowers on 13th”
A quick conversation with musician Dexter Jordan about his new EP
5 Ridiculous Questions with Sonya Pfeiffer of the Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art
A look at the Hope Tank, a mobile laundry/bathroom vehicle serving Charlotte’s homeless

The Biscuit is proudly sponsored by: