Take a Dip into the City’s 15 New Street Murals PHOTO CREDIT: Ernest Moren Charlotte’s love affair with murals rages on with 15 new street murals funded by the City of Charlotte’s Placemaking Program. It’s perfect timing for all of us vacationing at home this summer. In June, the City Placemaking team organized 14 artists and artist groups to paint street murals in neighborhoods across the city. Creatives selected from the program’s artist pool were asked to respond to the impact of COVID-19 on our community through creating a 15-foot, one-lane mural. With the help of Charlotte photographer, Ernest Moren, we will share a closer look at 5 of these new street murals a week for the next three weeks. Enjoy these photos and then get out there (safely) and experience them yourselves! 
Don’t Dis’ The Dog!People say you shouldn’t ask what goes into hot dogs, but that doesn’t work for us. We’re curious. We like to know EXACTLY how the sausage … er … hot dog is made. Here at The Biscuit, we have an insatiable appetite for information about the creative process. With July 30 circled on the calendar for National Chili Dog Day, we thought it was the perfect time to inquire about what went into developing JJ, the graphic mascot for Charlotte’s own JJ’s Red Hots. And, for that question, there was only one man to ask: Queen City creative and designer, Matt Stevens.
Our 8 Favorite Local Bookstores85 years ago, the humble paperback book as we know it today was invented. (Is it just us or doesn’t it feel like paperback books should be way older than that?) In honor of the day Penguin Books published their first 10 paperback novels in 1935, every July 30 is marked as Paperback Book Day. We have a confession to make… WE LOVE BOOKS! And, we love Charlotte’s independent bookstores, too! To help you properly celebrate the day, we compiled a list of 8 Charlotte bookstores that’ll feed your need to read! View our list (and help us add to it) here!
5 Local Businesses Highlighted by Charlotte Black OwnedA beautiful movement to support Black and Brown-owned businesses is underway in the Queen City. To help consumers across the city navigate Charlotte’s robust community of Black-owned retailers, restauranteurs, service-providers, creatives, consultants and innovators, four Charlotte friends founded @CLTBlackOwned on May 31 and they promptly blew up to over 21,000 followers on Instagram. The creative team — Maddy, Jeff, Ashley and Jeremy — highlights a different company or individual Monday-Saturday. We’ll be collecting their weekly picks in The Biscuit and hope you’ll follow them here.
“In a world where a man watched one movie every day for a year …”Andres Echevarria is a man with vision. A man with incredible foresight. A year before COVID-19 sent us reeling (pun intended) and clinging to Netflix for comfort, this Charlotte cinephile vowed to watch one movie a day — 365 movies. He watched 375. In this batch of the Biscuit Blitz, Andres and Tim Miner nerd out about the power of movies to connect us — to each other and to our own pasts — as well as to entertain. And, they explore the pain and agony we feel when someone hates a movie that we love. 
The People’s Platform at Romare Bearden Park
Friday, July 31 at 5PMWith discussions of racial justice and police brutality permeating the public discourse, many people have naturally asked themselves, “What can I do?” Charlottean Kat Martin’s response? “What are your skills?”
Using your skills for the greater good is at the heart of Charlotte Coalition of Anti-Racist Artists (CCARA), a creative group started by Kat and fellow Charlottean, Kevin Aoussou. Their goal is to use their talents, skills and art to share their feelings about racial justice and their personal experiences with the police.
Tonight, the CCARA is hosting The People’s Platform at Romare Bearden Park. The event will be a space to speak, to listen, and to embrace the collective power that creativity has to make change. Learn how to participate here.
“I’m More Than a Zip Code”
Online August 4 at 6:30PMCoach William McNeely and the Do Greater Foundation have forged a new partnership with Shiloh Institutional Baptist Church in West Charlotte. They are working together to establish a new CRTV Lab at Shiloh that will provide needed coworking and colearning space for youth to develop their talents and skills and expand their career horizons. To mark the occasion, Do Greater is also launching the “I’m More Than A Zip Code” campaign with a virtual talk from Charlotte native and AT&T West President Ken McKneely will join as the guest speaker about his experiences in the Queen City and in life.
![](https://www.charlotteiscreative.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Laugter-is-the-Best-Medicine-2.jpg")
Truer words may never have been spoken. And, thank goodness it’s Friday! There is just something magical about blending sarcasm and humor with the refined and historically “proper” art form of needlepoint. And, we love Charlotte artist Kelly Rose for it. See more of her work here. There are so many incredibly talented women artists at work in the Queen City and we were excited to share three of them — Kelly, Corrie Liotta and Kayden Hunt — with Dedrick Russell on WBTV’s QC Morning this week.
We’re in the endgame now. Thanos has collected all of the Infinity Stones and has set up shop on the side of Seventh Sin Tattoo Company to await whichever Avengers are brave enough to face him and whichever Charlotteans are brave enough to take a picture with him. With the Infinity Gauntlet fully assembled, Thanos has the power to do anything, so we think it’s about time that he snapped COVID away. Do you hear us, Thanos?! Snap this virus away right now or we’re going to get Iron Man and Captain America to come have a quick conversation with you. All jokes aside, this beautifully detailed mural of The Mad Titan was created by Dustin Moates and Alex DeLarge of Southern Tiger Collective. If you’re a fan of the big purple fella, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or comics in general, this mural is a must-visit. You’ll love it. It is inevitable. Directions: 927 Central Ave, Charlotte, NC 28204 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. This batch features stories about: - Moving small business forward with Natalie Williams and The Women’s Business Center of Charlotte
- A chat between Matt Olin and Charlotte fabric designer, Wesley Mancini
- Brave and beautiful music from singer Sophie Miller
- New opportunities for creatives from the ASC and SouthEnd ARTS
- A quick trip to the “Gold Building” with #WhereAreWeInCLT
Click here to dig in, y‘all. | The Biscuit is proudly sponsored by: |  |
 |
| 
