Don’t Miss The Show Outside Van Gogh

How Bree Stallings and The Blumenthal Wove 50 Local Artists into Immersive Van Gogh

“I want people to connect with the artists whose work speaks to them. Supporting living, working artists in our community is the best way to honor the legacy of Van Gogh … a catalyst with a million ripples.” — Bree Stallings, Art Director of Charlotte’s Immersive Van Gogh exhibition

If you’re reading this, you’ve likely seen the name “Bree Stallings” pop up a lot lately. And, for good reason. She’s everywhere.

In the last year alone, we’ve covered Stallings’ involvement in the Black Lives Matter mural, the creation of the We Are Hip Hop “Charlotte” mural at Camp North End and working with nine other creatives to launch Project Protégé, an initiative pairing young creatives (aged 18-23) with experienced mentors.

Oh, and, in her new position as community partnership coordinator at Blumenthal Performing Arts, she’s the art director of a little project at Camp North End that’s sold more than 200,000 tickets — Immersive Van Gogh.

To enhance that experience and expose visitors to the breadth and depth of Charlotte’s artist community, Stallings has organized more than 50 local creatives to add their talents to everything from picnic tables and dumpsters to the gift shop and on-site residencies.

Join us as we explore the free “show outside the show” that Stallings and her team have built around Immersive Van Gogh.

Photo Credit (Above): Brooke Brown

Picture Yourself Here
Immersive Van Gogh offers magnificent Insta-worthy selfie spots

While the focus of Immersive Van Gogh is the art and the artist himself (and rightly so), don’t neglect some of the other magnificent morsels of creativity that await you. There’s much more to the experience than the immersive film.

From giant sunflowers and paint cans to murals and a Model-T, there are plenty of backdrops at Immersive Van Gogh to use for your next sensational selfie.

Read our guide and see a few of our favorite Van Gogh selfie spots.

Take Note of Good Postage
Camp North End stationery shop offers local and global goods

Do you have an obsession with notebooks, pens, pencils and planners? Do highlighters, colored pencils and fountain pens bring you joy? If so, Good Postage in Camp North End may be the place for you.

Mother-daughter duo Jane (the daughter) and Karen Manfredi (the mom) opened Good Postage last June. The name “Good Postage” points to how cards, letters and postcards make people feel good.

“We produce something that’s fun to receive in your mailbox instead of the usual bills and junk mail,” Karen said.

Click here to read about Good Postage’s new 1,000-square-foot shop at Camp North End, which opened just in time for Immersive Van Gogh.

Wildflowers on 12th Repaired

The 300-foot-long mural “Wildflowers on 12th” painted by artist Melissa Wineman over 17 days last year was defaced last week. Within days, restoration was underway, thanks to volunteer help and donations from Lowe’s Home Improvement and Charlotte’s Urban Design Center. Wineman is taking the opportunity to add to the mural in the coming weeks. Learn more about it here and here.

Whew! We take a momentary break from our exploration of Camp North End to share news you can use from around the Queen City creative community.

ONE: Where Do We Stand Now?
Last year, BOOM Charlotte presented ACT:NOW, three virtual events presenting art and performances by local creatives responding to the murder of George Floyd. Last night, 18 artists — many of whom were part of ACT:NOW — shared their perspective one year later through the virtual show, Where Do We Stand Now? Watch it here.

TWO: Celebrate Paperback Book Day
Tomorrow is National Paperback Book Day. Charlotte Is Creative’s Matt Olin and Tim Miner explored the 50,000 volumes for sale (and two cats) at Book Buyers in Plaza Midwood for QC Life on WBTV. Watch the segment here.

THREE: Who’s Your Favorite CLT DJ?
Bring out the turntables! The CLT DJ Battle is back for a third-round … and they need your help selecting the DJs who’ll duke it out (musically) to crown the next champ. Twelve DJs are vying for a chance to compete. Click here to check them out and vote.

FOUR: Help Make the Music
Charlotte’s venerable music maven, John Tosco, is seeking a business operations manager to help guide his nonprofit, Tosco Music. Click here for details. If that’s not your jam, you can still get in on the act by attending Tosco Music’s free Lunchtime Livestream concerts from noon to 1 p.m. every Tuesday in August.

FIVE: SHOUT! … and Sip
Blumenthal Performing Arts has announced an addition of No Filter Coffee Fest to the Charlotte SHOUT! lineup on Sept. 19. Described as a “festival for coffee people, by coffee people,” No Filter will offer java lovers unlimited coffee tastings, educational sessions and the chance to interact with coffee professionals. Purchase tickets here.

SIX: Landscape Artists Sought
Artists, act fast! The Charlotte Art League has issued an artist call for their Aug. 14 show, “Landscape, NC.” Interested artists are encouraged to share their creative explorations of North Carolina’s rustic beauty by Aug. 4. To learn more, take this path here.

From The Charlotte Post in Sept. 1947

Long before ATCO Properties purchased what is now known as Camp North End, the property had another life. Several lives, in fact. Here are a few tidbits to share with friends the next time you visit. They’ll be impressed … or compare you to Cliff Clavin. (That’s a Cheers reference for those too young to know.)

In 1925 the Ford Motor Company opened a 240,000-square-foot factory designed by architect Albert Kahn on 76 acres of land. Running on three coal-powered boilers, the plant produced 300,000 Model T and Model A cars until it was shuttered in the early 1930s.
Camp North End’s water tower, which is still standing, held more than 105,000 gallons of water.
In 1954, the Douglas Aircraft Co. announced it had purchased several warehouses to produce Nike Hercules and Ajax guided missiles. This also gave rise to the name CAMP (Charlotte Area Missile Plant).
In 1969, CONDEC (Consolidated Diesel Corp.) established a factory on-site to produce “Gamma Goat,” a “lightweight, one-and-one-quarter ton aluminum, six-wheel vehicle” to “travel over the roughest terrain” and “swim across rivers and streams” as described in The Charlotte News.
In 1976, Eckerd (now Rite Aid) purchased two buildings (including the Ford Building where Immersive Van Gogh is) totaling 400,000 square feet to be used as a distribution hub. At the time, they were housing an estimated 8,000 items to supply 228 drug stores and 40 apparel stores. (Anyone remember Wrangler Wranch and Fashion Miss?)
After decades of use by Eckerd, the 76-acre site and its buildings were purchased by ATCO Properties, the current owners and developers. It was soon rebranded Camp North End, establishing a new identity for one of Charlotte’s most historic real estate chameleons.