Exploring the “Ballantyne Bubble” with Kayden Hunt
“Empathy is taught and built upon, meaning social education is our way in. I firmly believe with the help of healthy activism and advocation, we can create accepting and vocal leaders … Encouraging and developing our future generations is the way towards the progress we so desperately need and it all starts with a conversation … or in my case, a photo.” – Kayden Hunt
The Biscuit and The Charlotte Ledger have partnered up to present our photo series, “Visions of the Not Normal” — offering views of neighborhoods and communities across the city through the eyes (and lenses) of local photographers during the COVID-19 outbreak.
This week, we’re featuring photographer Kayden Hunt. Kayden recently graduated from Ardrey Kell High School where she served as student body president. She’ll be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this fall. After graduation, Kayden painted the rock in front of her school with “Black Lives Matter” and the names of individuals killed by police, like George Floyd. It was immediately vandalized; the names painted on the rock crossed out and more. Kayden responded by organizing more than 100 students to restore the rock and add the message “Hate Will Never Win.”
This week she shares photographs she took of her home, the Ballantyne community, under the uncertainty of COVID-19.
Sen. Jeff Jackson is “Balancing” the Table with Good Information
Senator Jeff Jackson has called the Queen City home for a decade, and he’s already created an admirable (and growing) legacy of leadership and service. As the representative of District 37 — that’s one-fifth of Mecklenburg County — he now finds himself spending the vast majority of his time addressing ways to help our communities survive the COVID-19 crisis.
In this batch of the Biscuit Blitz, Matt Olin gets Senator Jackson talking about giving good information a fighting chance to get through the clutter; steering clear of partisanship; and what campaigning looks like during these surreal times (for the time being, it doesn’t involve 10,000 doors). Plus, hear what Senator Jackson has to say about the role of creatives on the other side of the pandemic.
Bold Music Gets Bolder
After graduating from Davidson College and immersing himself in the Charlotte music scene, George Ramsay and his friend Dean Williams had a mission: reinvent music education in the Charlotte area. That’s when Bold Music was born.
Now, in the world of digital engagement, Bold Music is getting bolder, by moving instruction and group performances online. In-person restrictions may have been a challenge, but it’s also opened up new doors. On this batch of the Biscuit Blitz, George talks with Tim Miner about Bold’s push to expand its diverse group of instructors and students beyond the Queen City and finding innovative ways to bring music to hospitalized children with the help of Ryan Seacrest Studios.
JOB OPPORTUNITY: Entry-Level Help Needed at The Levine Foundation
One of Charlotte’s leading philanthropic organizations, The Leon Levine Foundation, is seeking a talented program associate to provide administrative support for the grantmaking process. This entry-level position is a chance to hone skills and talents while helping to make an impact in the community at a critical time. See the job posting with full details here.
ACT:NOW Before the Curtain Call
Watch Act III Online – Saturday at 4PM
Were you able to join us for the first two acts of ACT:NOW? If not, no worries. You can watch Act I and Act II before watching the final Act this Saturday at 4PM on Youtube or Facebook Live.
This three-week event has featured spoken word artists, painters, videographers, dancers, photographers, writers and historians exploring the current (and past) state of social justice through their talents and perspectives. Hosted by Queen City spoken word champion, Bluz, all the works shown have been new, created for this series in the moment to inform us now … and to stand as a record for the future. ACT:NOW is organized by BOOM Charlotte, BLKMRKTCLT, Charlotte Is Creative and The Roll Up CLT.
Caroline Calouche & Co. Is Spreading the Love
Saturday, July 25 at 3pm & 7pm
Caroline Calouche & Co. is bringing their aerial talents to a screen near you! Saturday, July 25 marks the aerial and contemporary dance company’s very first virtual performance. But, don’t expect a lesser show just because it’s online. “A Love Show” will bring the same high-quality live performance dance and aerial acts that the company is known for.
The company will be joined by students from the company’s training program, Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center. The show will also include musical acts from cabaret artist Rachael Houdek and Americana duo Courtney Lynn & Quinn.
“A Love Show” sounds exactly like what our world needs more of these days. A little bit of dancing and a whole lot of love.
Learn more about “A Love Show” and how you can get tickets to the virtual performance here.
Queen City Cinephiles Unite for 1CLT Film Fest
Online July 26 & 27
Don’t let anyone tell you that Charlotte is not a film town. Scores of movies and television shows have been filmed here. Charlotte is also the home to a plethora of film festivals. Unfortunately, this year has really thrown all of us for a loop. While our film creatives could have just hung up their slates, they turned to collaboration and took a big batch of lemons and made lemonade.
Actually, they took 12 lemons (or 12 different organizations) and created 1CLT Film Fest, a free online festival which debuts this weekend, July 26 and 27 featuring the world of cinema in one weekend.
Pop the popcorn, grab the Junior Mints and click here to read about how 12 festivals became one.
![](https://www.charlotteiscreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Laugter-is-the-Best-Medicine-2.jpg")
UGH! That question is NEVER gonna’ be answered …
When David Tepper came to Charlotte, MASSIVE expectations arrived with him:
- We were going to win a Super Bowl
- We were going to get an MLS team
- We would finally, finally, finally get a definitive answer to the question that’s plagued North Carolina for years: Which is the real “Carolina blue”? AKA “Bringing Balance to the Force.”
We were confident that yesterday was the day. Mr. Tepper had already achieved #2. Now, we were going to get #3.
The logo reveal video voiceover says, “Set in a distinctive blue … the crest is Carolina through and through,” but, thanks to our design nerds, we know this isn’t UNC-Chapel Hill Blue … and it isn’t Duke Blue, either. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! We’re more confused than ever!
We’re super excited about the team and we get that it makes total sense to use “Process Blue,” (the Panthers’ blue) but, when it comes to putting the great blue debate to bed, we can’t shake the feeling we just got “Rise of Skywalker-ed.”
A Refreshing Summer Breeze Blows Thru Tequila Day
Happy National Tequila Day! We love our “cocktail creatives” in the Queen City and Rachael Green is one of our absolute faves. To help us celebrate the prestigious holiday on Friday, July 24, she’s sharing her super-quick (and super-refreshing) recipe for the Summer Breeze, a cocktail with just a handful of simple ingredients – lime, mint, watermelon, sugar and … of course … tequila. Enjoy!
We need every Johnson & Wales student and alumni to join us in a verse of the official school fight song:
“Wildcats everywhere
Wave your hands up in the air
That’s the way we do it
Let’s get to it
Come on everyone!”
Oh, wait… that’s from High School Musical’s “We’re All In This Together.” As much as we like Troy and the crew from East High, our favorite wildcats have to be the students of Johnson & Wales University in Uptown Charlotte. The university offers a wide array of majors and courses, but our hearts (and stomachs) belong to the students and faculty in the Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry Arts programs.
Johnson & Wales commissioned sculptor Mike Fields to create four “Wildcat Way” statues as a way to celebrate the university’s 100th anniversary and immortalize the four tenants of what it means to be a JWU student — pride, courage, character, and community. The Charlotte statue can be found in front of the JWU Wildcat Center. The other three statues can be found at JWU’s campuses in Denver, Providence, and Miami.
Directions: 235 S Cedar St, Charlotte, NC 28202
This Queen City exploration was powered by OrthoCarolina.
Don’t go ’round hungry. If you missed the last batch of The Biscuit, don’t worry. We’ve kept it warm for you.
The last batch shared custom Charlotte ZOOM backgrounds from 15 different Charlotte artists just like the two below from Queen City creatives Andrea Laguer and Marcus Kiser. Click them to see (and download) all the designs for your personal use!
Click here to dig in, y‘all.
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