It’s an interesting time to be involved in the arts and culture community in Charlotte.

TWO ARTISTIC BOOKENDS

Today starts the second quarter of 2022. (HOW did that happen so fast?) And, it also marks the first day of Charlotte SHOUT!, a 17-day arts festival taking over uptown.*

While there are some amazing national and international installations and performers headed here for SHOUT!, organizers created nearly 200 opportunities for local creatives to get involved. That truly excites us.

We’re also excited that Blumenthal Performing Arts has announced the creation of the inaugural Charlotte International Arts Festival, another 17-day arts and culture extravaganza headed to the Queen City Sept.  16 to Oct.  2. 

These are two creative flashpoints – and amazing bookends – for a big year here. We hope you’re excited about both of these, but it’s also what’s happening between them that we hope you don’t miss. 

DON’T SLEEP ON A BUSY SUMMER

After SHOUT! ends and before the International Arts Festival begins, there will be a wide array of local arts events (like BOOM Charlotte, April 22 and 23, at Camp North End), big and small.

But, there’s also the work the city of Charlotte’s Arts & Culture Advisory Board** is doing right now. The group is in the process of determining how Infusion Funds will be distributed in July and will soon select a firm to lead the development of a cultural master plan. Both are significant milestones … and both provide you opportunities to participate.

If you’re a cultural arts organization, an arts nonprofit or an independent creative, there will be opportunities for you to apply for funding. Read more about what’s happening on the Board’s web page.

And, whether you’re one of the above or a citizen who loves the arts, your voice is truly needed. The cultural arts plan will offer many opportunities for the public to share their thoughts, concerns, ideas, frustrations, hopes and more in open forums. All of this data will guide the master plan. 

There’s no schedule for these meetings yet. We’ll keep you posted. And, we’ll want to see you and hear you at them. Now is the time to collaborate so we can create for years to come.

PLUG IN. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS. COLLABORATE.

This year does, indeed, have two huge arts events to bookend it. We’re confident they’ll be fun … they’ll be amazing … and they’ll help all of us fall deeper in love with Charlotte’s creative community. Show up. Have an incredible time. But, get ready to work hard and share a lot between them.

It’s those middle chapters and the public forums that are critical to writing the creative legacy of our city. We hope you’ll show up for those, too. We can’t promise they’ll be fun. But, they will, we hope, lay the foundation of a future where there is no doubt that Charlotte is a community of amazing creative prowess. One that sees all people. That is equitable. And, that is built for stability and growth for our creatives and our cultural organizations.

All good things,

Tim Miner & Matt Olin
Co-Founders of Charlotte Is Creative

*Charlotte Is Creative is working with SHOUT! on several projects, most notably our partnership with Upcycle Arts on The Queen’s Greens Putt Putt Course, featuring art made of recycled materials from nine local artists, at Wells Fargo Plaza.

**Tim Miner is a City Council-appointed member of the Arts & Culture Board.