Lighting Up Uptown for Juneteenth & New Opportunities for Creatives PHOTO CREDIT: Jonny Digital (@jonny.digital) Charlotte Lights Up for JuneteenthIn honor of Juneteenth, Bank of America Corporate Center at 100 N. Tryon St. will light its crown in red, black and green — the colors of the Pan-African Flag — at sunset (approx 8:41PM) on Friday night. On Saturday night, Wells Fargo’s Duke Energy Center will follow suit and light its top in green, gold and red at sunset.
This effort was led by Brittany Moore, The United State of Women North Carolina Ambassador, who wrote a letter to Charlotte’s City Council asking for a show of solidarity by celebrating Juneteenth across the skyline.
 PHOTO CREDIT: Charlotte Star Room WATCH: Capturing the Legacy of Charlotte’s Black Lives Mural“Are you willing to attach yourself to a legacy that’s bigger than you?” Last week was amazing. It was full of love and hope and art. Our friends at Charlotte Star Room were there on 200 S. Tryon Street to capture footage as 22 artists and countless helpers painted the Black Lives Matter street mural. Their video features spoken word by Greg Jackson of Heal Charlotte and a full transcript of his lyrics . Click here to watch their video in full.
Charlotte Is Creative was proud to be on this team. Thanks to the City of Charlotte for paving the way and Brand the Moth and BLKMRKTCLT for assembling the artists and organizing the plan for the initial installation and the touch-up efforts on Sunday. They were (and continue to be) amazing. 
The Biscuit and The Charlotte Ledger have partnered up to present our new 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, photographer Jim Dedmon shares a walk through Matthews he took in early May. We’re well into Phase 2 now and more people are on the street, but with COVID-19 cases on the rise, we have to ask if this look back is also a look forward.
BOOM Charlotte Issues a Call to Create
DEADLINE: June 19 at 11:59PMArtists have the ability to bring the swirling emotions we are all feeling into reality. Through their paintbrushes, spray cans, pencils, clay, and cameras, they can comment on the state of the world like no other. Their work can challenge. It can show different perspectives. It can give a community a voice. And, most importantly, it can inspire. BOOM Charlotte is partnering with BLKMRKTCLT, The Roll Up CLT, and Charlotte Is Creative to issue a call for submission from any artist/photographer/dancer/musician/creative who wants to use their talents to address the current state of affairs in our city and our country. Submissions are due Juneteenth — Friday, June 19 at 11:59PM. Your work doesn’t need to be completed by that time, a well thought out idea will do for now. This will all culminate with a virtual event on Saturday, July 11 from 4:00-7:00PM showcasing selected artists’ work. For more information and to submit your work, click here.
Charlotte Black Film Festival Turns 10
Last Sunday marked the beginning of the Charlotte Black Film Festival’s 10th anniversary. While they had to move the festival to a virtual platform, you can still view wonderful films, hear from engaging filmmakers, experience workshops and masterclasses and much more. The film festival is running through June 21. For more information on the films and panels available for viewing, head to their website.
WFAE’s Amplifier presents Songversations
Every Tuesday and Thursday – 12:00pmWFAE’s Amplifier podcast continues its Songversations video series this week with two Queen City musicians who need to be in your playlist. On Tuesday, Amplifier was joined by renowned Charlotte rocker and owner of Boris+Natasha, Hope Nicholls, and on Thursday, Latinx singer-songwriter and community organizer, QUISOL, will perform. Tune in every Tuesday and Thursday at noon for great music as well as an enlightening conversation between the musicians and Joni Deutch. Watch Hope Nicholls’ performance here and watch QUISOL live over on WFAE’s Facebook page tomorrow.
 PHOTO CREDIT: Ernest Moren CALL FOR ARTISTS: Windows of Hope
DEADLINE: June 19 at 5PMVisual artists … this one’s for you! Turn SouthEnd into an outside art gallery and earn $1,000. Lowe’s, Charlotte Center City Partners and ArtPop Street Gallery are searching for 13 artists to decorate windows and spread hope throughout SouthEnd. Submission are due no later than 5PM Friday. Instructions are highly specific, so read the instructions below carefully. Click here for details on how to apply by Friday.
Upload your design application here.
$2 Million Fund for Small Businesses in the Center City
Applications Start June 26
With help from Mayor Vi Lyles, Charlotte Center City Partners announced the formation of the Center City Small Business Innovation Fund, offering $2 Million in new funds for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees within a two-mile radius of the Square of Trade and Tryon. Created with an investment from Honeywell in partnership with Foundation for the Carolinas, this is a forward-facing fund. Applicants selected may receive up to $40,000 to be used for initiatives and resources that will propel their business forward – upfitting existing space, investing in new training and equipment, altering product and packaging, offering new products and services, etc. Questions on the fund should be directed to innovationfund@charlottecentercity.org The Center City Small Business Innovation Fund will open for applications on June 26, 2020. Click here for more information.
Striking “Creative Oil” – Taylor Lee Gets AnimatedTaylor Lee, HUG grant recipient and painter extraordinaire found that she had a lot of free time once COVID-19 hit. She has used the extra time on her hands to learn new creative mediums to express herself, including stop motion animation. On this batch of the Biscuit Blitz, Tim Miner chats with Taylor about how the discomfort of isolation led her to explore different sides of her creativity and how she has struck “creative oil.” Click here to watch their 5-minute conversation.
Let’s toast creativity in Charlotte! To help us all get ready for Charlotte SHOUT, Master Mixologist from Dot Dot Dot, Stefan Huebner, teaches us how to make a cocktail classic — The Old Fashioned. The drink uses bourbon whiskey, bitters, sugar cubes, and a bit of orange. It’s simple and delicious! Keep it classic and watch Stefan’s mixology masterclass on the Old Fashioned here.
We would like to put in a formal request for a mural to be painted on every street in Charlotte. Life just seems a little better with colorful roadways, don’t you agree? Charlotte artivist (artist + activist) Rosalia Torres-Weiner of Red Calaca Studio knows exactly what we are talking about. She recently finished her very own street mural, “Belmont Strong,” with the help of her son Brandon Torres-Weiner and assistant Felicia Sutton. The piece is inspired by the people of Charlotte’s Belmont Community, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the Queen City. As a part of their placemaking initiative, Charlotte Urban Design invited artists to create street murals across the city to illustrate Charlotte’s response to COVID-19. You can find Rosalia’s mural in front of Bloom & Bottle on Harrill Street, right across the street from ACE No. 3. We’ll keep you updated as we find more hidden in different Crown Town neighborhoods. When we spoke to Rosalia about the mural she clued us in on a little Easter Egg in the piece: “I incorporated several locals in the mural who have tagged me in selfies taken in front of my murals in Charlotte.” This is a reminder to always tag artists in pictures of their work because you might just end up in their next project if you do! See more images of Rosalia’s “Belmont Strong” mural here. Directions: 1035 Harrill Street, Charlotte, NC 28205 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: - A letter-by-letter, artist-by-artist guide to the artists and organizations involved in the creation of Charlotte’s Black Lives Matter mural
- A special episode of The Biscuit CLT Podcast featuring sounds from the ground at the Black Lives Matter mural
Click here to dig in, y‘all. | The Biscuit is proudly sponsored by: |  |
 |
| 
