Arts & Entertainment Critics’ Pick Winners: Best in the Nest 2024

It’s been a great year in the visual arts, theatre, dance, film, books and more. Creatives continue to act as the heart and soul of our city, and therefore the heart and soul of Queen City Nerve.

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BEST CREATIVE: Dasia Hood

Dasia Hood is a Charlotte-based artist and curator who incorporates many mediums and focuses on collaboration in her mission to create spaces that celebrate Black culture, art and identity. This year she launched Dark & Divine, a transformative series that places Black bodies at the center of art and cultural expression.

Through figure drawing workshops, creative writing sessions and special events, the series aims to foster a reconnection with the African-American Diaspora’s complex histories and perceptions of the Black body.

The series began with a pop-up exhibit at the Harvey B. Gantt Center in October, and will continue with a full-length exhibit at McColl Center in March 2025 that will feature nude photography, tapestries, paintings and films — each capturing the intimate narratives of Black bodies in art.

“My mission with Dark & Divine is to spark deeper conversations about Black identity and beauty,” Hood said upon announcing the series in October. “Amid a culture that often hypersexualizes and distorts the Black body, this series is a celebration of authenticity, artistic freedom, and community connection. The positive response so far has been overwhelming, and I look forward to continuing this journey with both artists and audiences.”

BEST CONNECTOR: Bree Stallings

Few earn the title of “ubiquitous” without falling prey to inflated ego syndrome. Seemingly doing everything, everywhere all at once (in Charlotte, around the country and abroad), Bree Stallings has dodged that bullet and become one of the most important movers and shakers in the local art ecosphere while remaining rooted in kindness and generosity.

A talented and multimodal artist in her own right, Stallings has really stepped into her own magic as a tastemaker and fairy godmother, linking institutions and power brokers (i.e. the money) with local artists in her role as director of artistic experiences with Blumenthal Arts. Along the way, she has influenced how Charlotte’s powerful see art and how art is made.

Most importantly, Stallings has made this city a little more friendly to those brave souls who want to make their lives as artists here. Anyone actively fighting the creative brain drain that has affected Charlotte for decades deserves a parade, but for now this will have to do.

BEST MURALIST: Sydney Duarte

You’ve seen her work even if you don’t know it: the woman with the ice cream cone on the side of Two Scoops Creamery, or the one hanging upside down off the wall of the WFAE studios in Uptown, or any number of other of her works around town.

This year, Duarte (@traveling_gypsy) has been teaming up with local artists and organizations to pursue bigger missions that beautify the city. Beginning in 2023, she and partner Treazy Treaz curated the collaborative Luminous Lane mural project in partnership with ArtWalks CLT and Charlotte Center City Partners (read more about that farther down in this list). Then in the summer, Duarte and Treazy helped fellow Charlotte muralist Osiris Rain launch the TAOH Outdoor Gallery in Optimist Park (also read more below).

Most of Duarte’s work aims to spread the message of the international Piece for Peace movement, which she and Treazy Treaz launched in an effort to get people thinking about ways to affect positive change in the world, all centered on the TAOH (The Awakening of Humanity) symbol. When we visited the TAOH Outdoor Gallery in August, she explained how Charlotte’s first graffiti park can amplify that message.

“We hope the culture that we’re creating here is for everyone to feel welcome, everyone to not be afraid to ask a question, for everyone to just cheer each other on.”

BEST ABSTRACT ARTIST: Phillip Larrimore

Erudite, elegant and esoteric. The Wizard of Wingate’s work manages a paradoxical feat; while living firmly in the realm of the abstract, Larrimore’s sculptural paintings, (or are they painted sculptures?) are notably sensuous.

Often defying or subverting representation as such, the artworks that Larrimore crafts insist upon their presence in the room. This dimensionality and tactility are used, one suspects, to ground the more spiritual or abstract elements of the work.

Larrimore’s recent show at Nine Eighteen Nine Studio Gallery was an embarrassment of riches, showing nearly 90 of the artist’s works molded from painted aluminum screening. The shimmering optical effects of Larrimore’s work, and the artist himself, exist along the delightful axis that magic always inhabits, marrying the tricks and illusions of the mountebank with the insights and illumination of the sage.

BEST NEW ARTIST: Mono Feo

You’d never guess it from his unimposing affect or his soft-spoken voice, but Mono Feo is a bully. No, a terrorist. With art objects and events designed to provoke, shock and offend, Mono Feo is the enfant terrible that the Charlotte art world didn’t know it needed.

Sometimes it’s a gallery show in NoDa steeped in peep show culture and surveillance state aesthetics. Other times its stealthily (and not quite legally) installed public sculptures that perform an unholy and bestial marriage of the scarecrow and the crucifix.

Most recently it was a multi-day performance that shocked audiences with nudity, screaming and (deliberately?) amateurish acting (the holy trinity of avant-garde theatre) that ended up canceled on its second day as the performance venue was barricaded by some large and very pissed off Catholics. It remains to be seen what the grotesquery that defines Mono Feo’s work will transform into as he (hopefully) develops into a mature style, but for now it’s a wild ride.

BEST MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ARTIST: KC Marie

At the risk of sounding unbearably cringe, let it be said that perhaps punk rock multi-hyphenate KC Marie’s real medium is friendship. Whether fronting a punk rock band, designing show flyers, or dreaming of a brick-and-mortar shop for her gleefully gross creations (remember rats and slugs are given pride of place in the menagerie of Marie’s imagination), the artist seems most occupied with and motivated by the love she feels for her friends and the scene they have built together.

And, in a world where we have seen postmodernism come and go, why can’t friendship be encountered and evaluated as an artform? At the very least, the relationships between projects and communities that Marie is embedded in does constitute a sort of friendship of forms, ever-evolving and engendering new projects and new communities in a riot of creative energy.

BEST GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Dominique Prescott

Through her company Dap Designz, Dominique Prescott, aka Dom the Designer, helps businesses with visual branding, whether they’re starting from scratch or implementing a rebranding. She also owns and operates her online store, Cocoa Unicorn, which showcases her love for vibrant colors, anime and video games while highlighting unique aspects of Black life and culture.

“From plastic-wrapped sofas to Juneteenth celebrations and Sunday night spades games, CU showcases the beauty in the everyday moments that make up our lives,” her website reads. “Acknowledging the gold teeth, the jobs we low-key hate, and our side hustles that fuel our passions.”

What draws us in to Dom’s work is her utilization of social media, TikTok specifically, to give folks an in-depth look at her process with behind-the-scenes footage that follows her from the inkling of an idea to the carry-through.

BEST COSTUME DESIGNER: Margarette Joyner

When people think of Black history, be it African or African-American, they tend to gravitate to the horrors of said history. While learning about the atrocities that occurred during past time periods remains important, other stories exist. In fact, it’s just as critical to spread those narratives that depict Black people as more than being enslaved.

It’s those untold stories that Margarette Joyner wanted to explore in her exhibit, A Legacy of Elegance, which ran at UNC Charlotte’s Projective Eye Gallery in Uptown from March to July. Showcasing 12 articles of clothing that she designed alongside archival photos from the 19th century, the exhibit highlighted the ways in which Black people have lived a life of elegance over the years.

Joyner, a professor who teaches costume design at UNC Charlotte, combines historical designs with African fabrics to illustrate a story that differs from those shared in many schools.

“A lot of people think that African American history began with slavery,” Joyner told Queen City Nerve. “It did not. We are a royal people — always have been, still are, always will be.”

BEST PERFORMING ARTS ORGANIZATION: The Flamingo Revue

Established in 2019, The Flamingo Revue burlesque troupe started as a way for friends to have fun together, co-founder Troy Thresher told us in the lead-up to the company’s five-year anniversary. It was never meant to be what it turned into: a post-pandemic catalyst for the revival of burlesque in Charlotte. The culmination of the Revue’s individual identities makes for a show that is always different but with one constant: empowered performers empower their audience.

Knoxville-based performer Ebony Delight called the experience at a Flamingo Revue show “a transference of energy” between performer and audience, each feeding off of and gaining conviction from the other.

“They don’t even realize that that’s what they’re doing,” she said. “They’re just swapping this energy back and forth and they feel rejuvenated after the show. It’s a fantastic experience.”

“It’s like shedding your skin,” Revue member Ducky Delight added. “It’s like all of your flaws, they’re gone. They’re not there because that’s not what people are seeing and that’s not what you’re feeling.”

BEST SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY: ASÉ Wrestling

In 2023, Charlotte native Darius Lockhart founded ASÉ (pronounced ah-SHAY) Wrestling, an independent wrestling company in the Queen City, to address the oftentimes ignored mental health of professional wrestlers.

“I was having a lot of people in my social circles and professional wrestling that I admire and like to work with coming into mental barriers and not feeling understood, not feeling like the opportunity was viable for them to be who they wanted to be in this pro wrestling space or to be seen for their full potential,” Lockhart told Queen City Nerve.

For Lockhart, ASÉ Wrestling is all about community. Pulling directly from the translation of ase, a Yoruba word that loosely translates to “life force” or “energy,” he’s not just trying to create a safe space for wrestlers — he wants to cultivate an entire cultural experience for fans, bringing on musicians, radio personalities and larger-than-life figures from the wrestling world.

“It allows the world to be a little bit bigger,” he said. “It gets to be more than just pro-wrestling.”

BEST ARTS FESTIVAL: BOOM Charlotte

What started as a small arts festival in the heart of Plaza Midwood has in eight years bloomed — or boomed, one might say — into a year-round art initiative that brings art to those who lack access to Charlotte’s larger art scene and a platform to those fringe artists who may not often get a chance to work or perform in front of crowds.

Growing from what amounted to a block party in 2016, the annual BOOM Charlotte festival has become one of the most diverse multidisciplinary creative gatherings in Charlotte, a unique watering hole for Charlotte’s creative ecosystem featuring mediums ranging from chalk art to classical music. BOOM Charlotte marked the seventh annual celebration in April, following its mission to bridge traditional divides between social classes, races, and nationalities through transformational art.

The event’s two distinct parts — BOOM Fringe and BOOM Intersection — create an immersive arts atmosphere showcasing contemporary and experimental works created on the fringes of pop culture. You can roam around Intersection and still catch as much culture in one weekend as you might in a year otherwise, but we recommend ponying up for some ticketed Fringe performances next year. You won’t regret it.

BEST NEW ARTS EVENT: Code Red Comedy

If there’s one thing that most comedians can agree on, it’s that there are a number of landmines to maneuver when on stage. It doesn’t matter if it’s stand-up or improv, comics have to be quick on their feet. Most comics have to figure out how to navigate that landscape on their own, but here in Charlotte, they’ve got Code Red Comedy, a monthly comedy showcase and competition show. What makes Code Red Comedy different from your average competition is that the landmines are guaranteed.

“In the most basic form, it’s a stand-up comedy show, but it’s different because it’s a competition,” said Carlos Valencia, co-host and founder of the show, which launched in late 2023. “The way that we make it original is that the comics have to deal with adversities during their sets. The concept behind that is that we’re trying to put them through realistic obstacles or interruptions.”

Participants can expect anything from loud noises and sound effects to hecklers planted in the crowd — they might even have to deal with technical difficulties like the mic cutting in and out. Whichever comedian handles their situation the best while performing their set, wins the show.

BEST ANNUAL SERIES: Ayrsley Grand Cinemas’ Retro Horror Series

Ayrsley Grand Cinemas, a locally owned 12-room theater opened in 2006, offers a refreshing alternative to the chain-heavy landscape dominated by companies like Regal and AMC, allowing them to cultivate a unique atmosphere and curate programming unlike any other theater of that size in the city.

“The benefits of being independent is we can play by our own rules,” general manager Josh Leonard told Queen City Nerve.

The best example of how they do so is with the Ayrsley Retro Horror Series, a yearly run of classic horror flicks that rotate throughout the month of October, giving patrons the chance to see films dating back to the mid-20th century on the big screen. This year’s run included flicks like Rosemary’s Baby, An American Werewolf in London, and Possession.

Launched by former general manager Kara Leonard in 2013, the Ayrsley Retro Horror Series saw major success when it expanded to offer double features in 2016 that lasted the whole week, changing films out on a weekly basis. The Retro Horror Series has also never pushed its horror series ticket price past $5, which means you could technically see every movie they run each year for about the price that a normal trip to the theater costs these days.

BEST CULTURAL EVENT: Durag Fest

Local artist and organizer Dammit Wesley launched the annual Durag Fest in 2018 alongside co-founder and CEO Lisa Michelle as a way to best celebrate Juneteenth, providing Black people a safe space where they can be unapologetically Black. Wesley said he settled on the durag as a representation of Black culture because of its ubiquitousness in Black peoples’ lives. Many, if not all, Black people have owned or come into contact with a durag at some point in their lives.

As he’s been known to do with his art, Wesley aimed to switch the narrative around the stigmatized symbol the durag had become.

“The durag was chosen specifically as one of the relics for this festival because of the negative connotations that it has against it,” he told Queen City Nerve in June. Headwear is not limited to durags, headwraps, or the like. In the past, there have been other cultural additions such as South Asian attendees who wore their traditional headwear. They’re all welcome because of what all of these represent from a cultural perspective: protest and preservation.

“We call it a festival, but I view it more as a protest,” he said. “Any opportunity I have to create a space where Black joy can exist in opposition to white supremacy, I’m always here for it.”

BEST WEEKLY ARTS EVENT: Release Therapy

A poet is described by Merriam-Webster as “one who writes poems : a maker of verses.” For Charlotte-based spoken-word artist Greg Murray, however, the title goes deeper and should only be used to describe those who take the craft seriously.

“You are a person being bold enough to express your feelings, thoughts and experiences with other people. There is a responsibility that comes with that,” Murray told us in June. “People trust you enough to be inspired by what you’re saying.”

Murray launched his weekly spoken-word event Release Therapy at Red@28th in 2016. Venue owner Darren “Jaz” Vincent wasn’t originally onboard, as he had hosted past spoken-word events that proved lackluster, but eventually came around. Release Therapy celebrated its eight-year anniversary in February 2024, maintaining a reputation as a sanctuary for all — a status it has upheld for nearly a decade, even through virtual iterations during the pandemic.

“I felt like there had to be a space where it didn’t matter what your skill set was,” Murray said. “You just needed a place to get something off of your chest.”

BEST FILM EVENT: Charlotte Film Festival

This year marked Charlotte Film Festival’s 16th year in existence, its third year at Independent Picture House (IPH) and its second straight year receiving a record number of submissions. That’s a lot to be proud of. The 2024 festival took place over six days in September and included more than 100 short films and features from all around the world, spanning all genres and styles. In addition to a wide array of narrative and documentary films, programming included special focus blocks dedicated to student films and animated shorts.

Grab your popcorn — Charlotte Film Festival is only continuing to grow from here. Organizers said this year’s record number of 622 submissions show a path forward to expand the festival to additional days and screenings by adding new points of focus. Also, the planned addition of a fourth auditorium to the IPH facilities on Raleigh Street, set to be its largest, will give next year’s festival room to add more interactive elements to screenings.

BEST ARTS EVENT WORTH A ROAD TRIP: Spoleto Festival USA

Held early each summer in Charleston, Spoleto Festival USA is worth the three-hour drive any year you can get there — and there are many days to choose from. For 17 days and nights, the event brings in some of the brightest talents in opera, dance and theatre, as well as choral, jazz, orchestral and contemporary music.

This year saw the return of cellist Yo-Yo Ma along with Jason Isbell and Old Crow Medicine Show, as well as performances of The Song of Rome and a multimedia interpretation of Romeo & Juliet. The participants typically start getting announced in January of each year. Charleston doesn’t need this festival to put it on the map, but it’s an artistic beacon that calls from the coastline every year. We could always use a little more culture in our lives, so go ahead and mark your calendars for the 49th edition next year, happening May 23-June 8, 2025.

BEST NEW ARTS SERIES: Wavelengths

Curators Jeff Jackson and Ross Wilbanks have been at the forefront of experimental cinema in Charlotte for over a decade, screening films at such local institutions as Neighborhood Theatre, the McColl Center and both Mint Museums. Of course they’ve also screened Jacques Rivette’s OUT 1 in Wilbanks’ garage, so the duo’s DIY cred remains intact.

They’ve come back this year with a new series that partners Charlotte Magazine with Goodyear Arts and the Independent Picture House (IPH) to offer sampler platters of some of the world’s most accomplished avant-garde filmmakers. The series started at Goodyear Arts and will be followed by 2025 screenings of two landmark works by titans of gorgeous if challenging cinema at IPH: Andrei Tarkovsky and David Lynch.

Keeping the faith that Charlotte audiences are more sophisticated than many give them credit for, Jackson and Wilbanks have made this town a nexus for great films and people who love them.

BEST CURATION (OUTSIDE ARTISTS): Yvonne Bynoe, How I Got Over

Black history contains a multitude of stories, many of which may go untold forever. In recent years, however, more and more newly discovered stories offer differing perspectives and insight into Black history. These are the stories that influenced Yvonne Bynoe to curate her exhibit, How I Got Over: Contemporary Black Southern Portraiture, A testimony of community, joy, and triumph, which showed at UNC Charlotte’s Rowe Galleries over the summer.

While her exhibit honors the Civil Rights Movement and other social justice issues, those stories weren’t the focus of How I Got Over, as Bynoe sought and selected art that depicted Black Southerners outside of the struggles they’ve faced.

“It’s not to diminish the importance of those topics, but we are multifaceted people,” she continued. “In negating family, community life, I think that they flatten us and make us less interesting. I do think that there’s always a time and a place for that type of social justice art. This was not the exhibition that was for that.”

BEST CURATION (IN STUDIO): Doris Kapner, The Audacity

Opened in early October, The Audacity served as a showcase for McColl Center’s unmatched Studio Artists Program, featuring the work of studio artists Maddie Foss, Melanee Hamilton, Bethany Salisbury, Melissa Stutts, Karina Walter and Betsy Rosen in collaboration with Héctor Vaca Cruz and Kass Small.

Curated by studio artist Doris Kapner, The Audacity examines the conflicting and arbitrary expectations placed on women, often referred to as the “Goldilocks Dilemma,” in which women are criticized for being too much or too little: too loud, too soft, too assertive, too agreeable — rarely seen as “just right.” The results of November’s presidential election make the exhibit all the more urgent.

“As personal freedoms face growing threats, audacity becomes essential,” reads the website. “The exhibition urges viewers to question the restrictions placed on women and their autonomy over their bodies, minds, and roles in society. It envisions a future where women’s roles are shaped by personal choice and empowerment, where they have the audacity to demand equity and shape their own destinies.” It runs through Jan. 18, 2025, so be sure to catch it while you can.

BEST HISTORICAL EXHIBIT: Charlotte Museum of History, Open Wide the Door

The Charlotte Museum of History in March unveiled the first-ever museum exhibit about Mary Cardwell Dawson, a North Carolina native who founded the nation’s first commercially successful Black opera company in 1941.

Born two hours north of Charlotte in Madison in 1894, Dawson was a trailblazer in the world of classical music.

Her company never performed in her home state due to Jim Crow segregation, but it made its mark nationally by performing in front of integrated crowds and by providing a stage for talented Black performers of the time who went on to break barriers themselves.

The exhibit was the brainchild of Terri L. White, who joined the Charlotte Museum of History in 2022 as its president and CEO. A native of Pittsburgh — where Dawson founded her opera company — White was familiar with Dawson’s legacy and determined to bring the story to North Carolina.

Listen: Nooze Hounds: Charlotte Museum of History President & CEO Terri White

“Creating this exhibit and premiering it in the state where Mary Cardwell Dawson was born feels like a long overdue homecoming,” White said in the lead-up to the opening. “Mary’s contributions to the world of opera were never properly appreciated during her lifetime. The museum is honored to be a part of finally recognizing her visionary legacy here in North Carolina.”

BEST FILM EXHIBIT: Harvey B. Gantt Center, American Gurl

Curated by multimedia artists and producers Zehra Ahmed and Kish Robinson, American Gurl is an ongoing curatorial project featuring work that explores all shades of American dreaming. The Charlotte installment at the Gantt Center has taken shape as a film exhibit featuring eight films by intergenerational artists: Ayanna Dozier, Ja’Tovia Gary, Kilo Kish, Savanah Leaf, LaJuné McMillian, Lorna Simpson, Martine Syms and Carrie Mae Weems.

Through their films, each artist explores their own curiosity around the perspectives and nuances within the Black feminine experience and their relationships with beauty, success, freedom and power in America.

BEST GALLERY: Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art

Always respect your elders, because they’re the ones with the insight and perspective you can only gain over time. In Charlotte’s art world, respect your Elder, as the gallery has for years been consistent in pushing boundaries and cultivating thought-provoking exploration of all sorts of topics through its exhibits and events.

Let’s take a look, for example, at the three top-notch exhibits that happen to all be showing on the gallery floor as this paper goes to print: Recalibrate, a three-person exhibition exploring the concepts of transition and transformation through the works of gallery artists William Noguera and Stacy Utley as well as visiting artist Levi Robinson; re:LOCATE, the gallery’s first solo exhibition from renowned Charlotte-based artist Carla Aaron-Lopez; and Impressions Pt. III: Being Human, which explores the complexities of the lived human experience with emphasis on identity, attachment, and the inner world through the work of recent Winthrop graduates Griffin Cordell, Jewel Edwards, Sydney Gambrell and Kenny Ray.

And when that impressive lineup of exhibitions comes down on Nov. 23, the team at Elder will begin preparing for their new, smaller location on South Boulevard, located less than 10 minutes away from the current one on South Tryon Street. They’ve promised exciting initiatives upon reopening in 2025, and we expect nothing less.

BEST NEW PUBLIC ART: Deborah Triplett Mural by Sharon Dowell

Friends and fans of late local artist Deborah Triplett gathered in Plaza Midwood/Commonwealth in May for the unveiling of Sharon Dowell’s mural that pays respects to the impactful Charlotte photographer and creative.

Dowell included a portrait of Triplett in the mural, which stands on a rental building next to Moxie Mercantile on Commonwealth Avenue.

Triplett, who founded Yard Art Day in Plaza Midwood, was a friend and ardent supporter of artists throughout the city. To celebrate and memorialize her passion for art and community, a team of local artists created the vibrant mural in the hopes that it will serve as a lasting tribute and a focal point for the Plaza Midwood and Commonwealth neighborhoods.

“I myself as an artist was touched by [Deborah Triplett] in my early 20s,” Dowell told Queen City Nerve at the unveiling. “She was such a force, I personally felt so empowered by her and she was just an inspiration for me and so many other artists that I know.”

BEST COLLABORATIVE PUBLIC ART PROJECT: Luminous Lane

Luminous Lane got its beginnings during a Charlotte SHOUT! Spray Jam in 2023, when Sydney Duarte and Treazy Treaz curated a collection of more than 40 artists to fill a neglected alley between East 3rd and East 4th streets with light and color, transforming it into an inviting and welcoming street-art gallery.

In 2024, the team expanded the project outside of the laneway onto East 3rd, building on their Piece For Peace Movement project. A total of 52 artists now have work included in the sprawling designs of Luminous Lane, including Brett “TWOKAT” Toukatly, Rebecca Lipps, Abel Jackson, DeNeer Davis, Osiris Rain, Matt Moore and others.

“The theme ‘Bringing light to dark places’ is how I live my life, leaving every person, place and space better than I found it,” wrote Duarte, who contributed a mural depicting Benki Piyako, a spiritual and political leader of the Ashaninka people that she works with in Brazil.

BEST ZINE: Heaven Seven Magazine

Promoters, photographers, bloggers and dedicated supporters have as big a role within the DIY scene as those who create the music. Alonso Barrera, also known as Alonso Morning, has found his role in this community with Heaven Seven Magazine.

Morning launched Heaven Seven Magazine in late 2023, describing the small publication as a DIY zine focused on Charlotte’s underground subculture. Per Morning’s mission statement, the zine is “collaged from the moleskins of local weirdos and dedicated to promoting their voices.”

Heaven Seven aims to create a space in which individuals can create, contribute and collaborate to form and cultivate a community based on supporting and inspiring others. One day, Morning hopes Heaven Seven can organize events centered around local music.

“I want to have a community around the zine so when people are looking to get involved in the scene, they have a place to go,” he said. “I want it to be a hub for people to find other artists that they like and meet like-minded people.”

BEST DANCE PRODUCTION: Beyond the Surface by Charlotte Ballet

The new Charlotte Ballet season got off to a blazing beginning in October, with the troupe looking fresher and younger than ever during the premiere of Beyond the Surface at the McBride-Bonnefoux Center for Dance. The production included two world premiere hatchlings from Omar Román de Jesús and Mthuthuzeli November, plus a third Charlotte Ballet commission by Jennifer Archibald, HdrM, that had its premiere less than two years ago in the same studio.

Archibald’s ability to mesh expressive movement to a soundtrack of musical compositions by Ludwig Ronquist, Heilung, and Federico Albanese stood out more boldly than ever after the more abstract and surreal De Jesús piece, while November’s Vibes & Variations was the most celebratory and carefree piece of the night.

BEST DANCER/TROUPE: Baran Dance

Is Audrey Baran the lead dancer at Baran Dance or is she the lead choreographer? Yes! Baran is still the throbbing heart of her company’s performances and choreography, but after 12 years at the forefront, Baran admits she’s withdrawing — a little.

“It’s been nice for me to relinquish some of the creative work and also to lean into that mentorship role that Baran Dance is really focused on,” she explained in the lead-up to her company’s production of Homegrown in June.

“For a while, when I was the only choreographer in the company, I was performing so much in my own work, which is really hard to do. So I’m leaning into being just solely the choreographer for the pieces that I make and then being a dancer in other people’s work.”

For Baran to say that she is “a dancer” in these latter works is shameless modesty, grossly understating her enduring energy, her luminous grace and her expressive charisma on the floor. Nor was the originality of Homegrown limited to the performances and the choreography we will see; all of the music was also original and homegrown, with local musicians like Liza Ortiz and Elonzo Wesley scoring performances about immigration and gun violence in schools, respectively.

“By cross pollinating and creating interdisciplinary projects together, our … works only get richer and more multifaceted,” she told Y’All Weekly in 2022.

Now Baran’s giving you a chance to be a part of the company’s work. Take their open company classes on Sundays for as little as $5 and, until Dec. 15, you can suggest an idea for their BIG MOVES: BIG IDEAS concert in spring 2025.

BEST BOOK (FICTION): ‘The Girls We Sent Away’ by Meagan Church

Released in March, Meagan Church’s book The Girls We Sent Away is a historical fiction that tells of a young girl, Lorraine, growing up in a Charlotte suburb in the 1960s with her eyes on valedictorian status when an unplanned pregnancy rips her from her family and finds her sent away to a home for unwed mothers.

The story takes place in the Baby Scoop Era, an oft-forgotten period in US history, starting after the end of World War II and ending around 1972, when countless girls and women experiencing premarital pregnancies were sent off to maternity homes. There they would carry out their pregnancy to term, only to then be in some cases forced or pressured to give the baby up for adoption.

“As soon as the book was released, I’ve been getting emails from women, or a lot of times at events there will be somebody who waits at the end of the line and then leans in and whispers their story to me,” she told Queen City Nerve in May. “The Washington Post and that coverage is great, but it’s really these women sharing their experiences, whether it’s personal or second-hand or whatever, and just being thankful that a book is starting a conversation to bring awareness to what really has been overlooked at this point.”

BEST NEW BOOKSTORE: Troubadour Booksellers

Long known for his work on local stages, Scott Tynes-Miller opened his bookshop, Troubadour Booksellers, in east Charlotte in October after mulling over the idea for several years.

“It had been a dream for a long time and after COVID I started really thinking about it and the more I thought about it and the more I talked about it the more real it seemed,” he told Queen City Nerve. “It was certainly inspiring to attend conferences and meet other people on the same journey. Maybe it wasn’t a completely crazy idea. There are reasonable people out there doing this. And I’m one of them. This is really happening! People want books in their lives and bookshops in their communities. Bookshops can actually be at the center of communities.”

This commitment to community, a likely holdover from his years working local stages, is what sets an independent bookshop apart from an Amazon or even a Barnes and Noble, and we can never have too many indie businesses centering their surrounding community around.

BEST PIVOT: Brian Hester

Brian Hester, an avid, self-taught fly-fishing enthusiast and visual arts teacher, launched a fly-fishing group for students at Myers Park High School in the hopes of sharing his passion. After noticing that the majority of the group were white boys, Hester set out with the intention of recruiting BIPOC women to join the club.

Long known locally as a visual artist who often depicted scenes inspired by his fly-fishing expeditions, he eventually decided his experience with the Anglers Club had to be told through a different medium. So alongside artist and teacher on his resume he added novelist.

What resulted was his debut novel She Talks to Fish, a coming-of-age story about Maya, a Black girl who takes up fly-fishing under the guidance of her mentor, Ed Myers, all while defying stereotypes, bigotry, nature and death with immeasurable perseverance.

“[The Anglers Club] actually prompted me to tell this story, to build a fiction novel where anybody could read it and walk away feeling inspired, empowered, enlightened,” Hester told Queen City Nerve. “It was about belonging; some people don’t occupy a certain space because somebody [else] has already been there or they feel as though actually that space belongs to them and only them. This story is to tell you to go occupy that space.”

BEST THEATRE PRODUCTION: Three Bone Theatre, ‘Mojada’

Art is subjective, and it’s not lost on us that perhaps it’s folly to rank artistic experiences that have vastly different meanings depending on the person experiencing the work. However, we’re willing to go out on a limb and say the work Three Bone Theatre is doing in Charlotte’s West End is some of the most important artistic work in Charlotte, and Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles is the platonic ideal of everything the troupe seeks to accomplish.

Themes of racism, immigration, and trauma can be found throughout Three Bone’s output, and Mojada keeps all of those at the forefront with a devastating performance by Sonia Rosales McLeod in the titular role.

The Luis Alfaro-penned play is based on Medea by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides, with a Chicano twist. It’s the latest work in Alfaro’s Greek Trilogy, but the first of the three works to debut at Three Bone. If you missed Mojada, you can still catch the other works in the trilogy over the next two seasons.

BEST IMMERSIVE THEATRE PRODUCTION: Mixed Media Productions, ‘Kudzu: A Story of Belonging’

With its latest production, Kudzu: A Story of Belonging, local Black-led artist collective Mixed Metaphors Productions explored what it means to call Charlotte home, combining theatre, music and art to inspect the intersection of housing justice and home.

Partnering with QC Family Tree (QCFT), a neighborhood-based community development organization located in Enderly Park where members and allies strive for social justice, Kudzu took 10 attendees per showing through and around the QCFT house on Parkway Avenue, exploring the many sides of the housing justice issue.

From the company that brought FixaPlate and SwimCap to Charlotte’s introspective theatre patrons, MMP is consistently experimenting with nontraditional, immersive ways to better draw the audience in and engage with a subject rather than allow themselves to be passive observers. They drew the title for the production from the history of the kudzu vine, an invasive plant that was introduced to the US from Asia in the 1930s.

“For our work, intimacy is key,” MMP co-founder Kat Martin told Queen City Nerve in August. “Because of the immersive nature where we really are dropping you into the story, the immediacy that happens in hyper-intimate settings is really key to activating people.”

BEST COMEDIC THEATRE PRODUCTION: PaperHouse Theatre, ‘The Mystery of Irma Vep’

PaperHouse Theatre’s August run of The Mystery of Irma Vep, a Charles Ludlum gem not seen in Charlotte since 1993, was far more than a loving revival, and far more than a couple of hambone actors led by an unusually comical director — though it was also both of those things. This production at VisArt Video was also pure out-of-this-world madness, a starburst of hysteria fueled by a team of four directors feverishly brainstorming in the merciless grip of writer’s room giddiness.

Who can possibly care about enough to include a three-inch square napkin that reads “Homo Sweet Home” on the set? Who would conceive of taking the one underground scene in Irma Vep outdoors? And the rolling pin … well, you’ll just have to hope that PaperHouse brings Irma Vep back for another run in 2025 to see what happens with the rolling pin.

BEST ONE-PERSON SHOW: Mia Love Live, ‘My Brain on Anxiety: The Detailed Experience of an Anxious, Black Woman’

There’s nothing easy about anxiety, but when it comes to dealing with it, hiding from the issue is the most simple way out. Putting it on full display to discuss in front of thousands of people is another thing entirely. But if that’s what it takes to address something often considered taboo, then that’s what Mia Love Live is willing to do.

Drawing on her experience as a radio personality, poet and writer, Mia Love Live is the force behind This is My Brain on Anxiety: The Detailed Experience of an Anxious, Black Woman, a one-woman show that focuses on navigating through life as … well, an anxious Black woman. The show ran at Booth Playhouse in February, but before then, she explained to Queen City Nerve that it’s all about drawing attention to an uncomfortable topic.

“I just want the influence and the impact to be great so that people will start to have the conversation about their mental health, their well-being, and what it looks like,” she said. “A lot of people are probably sitting around like this is the norm. I don’t want people to feel like that’s okay, because it’s not. It’s not the norm. It feels like the norm because that’s the only thing you’ve done for so long.”

BEST ACTOR: Ashby Blakely

Before taking the role of Bruce in Davidson Community Players’ production of Fun Home, or reprising his roles in PaperHouse Theatre’s second sold-out production of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom at VisArt Video, Ashby Blakely put together a two-decade-long list of credits in the Carolinas. Blakely has starred or featured in numerous productions with Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Charlotte Squawks, Theatre Charlotte, CPCC, Actors Theatre of Charlotte (RIP), Carowinds, and Festival Stage of Winston-Salem.

What made the journeyman actor’s performance in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home stand out was the subtlety he brought to a role, based on Bechdel’s own closeted father, in a play that is quickly becoming part of musical theatre’s modern-day canon. Queen City Nerve theatre critic Perry Tannenbaum’s review of Fun Home, he wrote that Blakely is “as varied, complex, and nuanced as we’ve ever seen him as Bruce.”

BEST ACTRESS: Nonye Obichere

Like Nonye Obichere’s rifle-wielding Sara, Three Bone Theatre can’t miss — and their production of Dominique Morriseau’s Confederates gave us some of the best performances in Charlotte this year. Obichere’s portrayal of an enslaved woman fighting for her very humanity in her Three Bone debut stood out in a play showcasing the trials and trauma faced by Black women across generations.

Writing for Nerve, Perry Tannenbaum called Obichere’s performance “vivid, shocking and memorable,” while Y’all Weekly’s Jesse Boykin Kimmel was equally impressed, writing that Obichere is “heartbreaking and inspiring as Sara, exhausted by a lifetime of dehumanization, disappointment, and pain.”

Obichere is no stranger to Charlotte’s theatre scene with a resume that includes roles at Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, ATC, Theatre Charlotte, and Queen City Theatre Company, but given her work in Confederates and the quality of the works we’ve seen at the Arts Factory this year, we hope the first won’t be the last time we see her collaborate with Three Bone.

BEST POTENTIAL TO BE A BREAKOUT STAR: Lacey Caroline

At just 17 years old, Lacey Caroline started off 2024 with a plethora of roles including a lead in A Chorus Line, put on by Davidson Community Players (DCP) in Mooresville, and Elsa in DCP’s run of Disney’s Frozen JR. at Cain Center for the Arts in Cornelius, plus a part in Metrolina Theatre Association’s production of Be More Chill.

Having also appeared in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie A Christmas Love Story alongside Kristen Chenowith, played Young Sam in Jessica Michale Davis’ debut feature film Escaping Ohio, and filmed a pilot teen drama titled Rise to Fame, among other roles, Caroline is just getting started.

When we spoke in January, Caroline said she hoped to star in a period piece and be part of a long-running TV series, but her long-term goal is directing. Her years of paying close attention on set and learning from past directors have given her the opportunity to co-direct a few projects already.

“That little spark of doing a little something just made me want it more,” she said. “I love learning from people if I can because I’m the type of person where I always have to be improving otherwise I feel like I’m in a rut or like I’m not necessarily good enough. I always have to be getting better and, with acting and directing, I really take that to heart.”

Since we last spoke, Caroline turned 18 and struck out for Hollywood, where we expect big things from her sooner than later.

BEST NEW ARTS SPACE: TAOH Outdoor Gallery

Touted as Charlotte’s first graffiti park, TAOH Outdoor Gallery gives local artists of all stripes a place to practice their craft — be it spray-paint, sculpting, installations, chalk art or whatever. Located on an undeveloped lot at 2200 North Brevard St., the innovative space was created by local muralist Osiris Rain in partnership with the Piece for Peace Movement, Proffitt Dixon Partners, Art Walks CLT and many of Rain’s peers in the local creative community.

The gallery is meant to serve not only as an incubator for local artists but a gathering place for all types of creatives to come together and build community. Though the space will eventually be developed, it is meant to serve as a pilot of sorts so that Rain can eventually acquire space for a permanent park.

“The beauty of it and the goal is to show that it works, show that it adds value to the community, show that it creates a space for interaction, dialogue, and growth to occur, and to be able to present that case study to the city and to Park and Rec in a convincing manner so that we can establish a permanent space through the city,” he explained.

BEST ACTIVATION: Activation Studios

When Arts+ announced it had finally found a permanent home in the old Plaza Presbyterian Church on the border of Plaza Midwood and Villa Heights in July 2023, they anticipated a three-year property upfit. As that process is ongoing, however, the organization has found ways to cultivate the arts scene on the property at 2304 The Plaza.

Their recent deal to sublet the building on the north side of the campus to local artists has led to the formation of Activation Studios, a DIY studio space and art gallery that provides much-needed affordable space to local independent artists.

Queen City Nerve toured the facility in October with Matt Alvis, also known as @stencilspray, who co-founded Activation Studios and works as operations manager at the site, to see the wide range of work being done there: murals, canvas painting, sculptures, installations, poetry, music and more.

Formerly used by church staff as a schoolhouse and then office space and storage, the team of artists at Activation have stayed true to the name, carrying out a DIY renovation effort that has turned the space into an active incubator for arts in Charlotte. Like TAOH Outdoor Gallery, which is located on a site that’s already slated for development, Alvis called Activation Studios an example of “guerrilla property usage for art.”

“I want to see more proactive property owners reaching out and saying, ‘Hey, we have this spot that’s going to be untouched for three years. What could you do with it if I gave you X, Y, Z?’ I want to see that outreach from the developers’ side because there are hundreds of thousands of square feet in Charlotte that are locked up under a development plan and otherwise perfectly usable for an artist.”

BEST EXPANSION: Loyd Studios

Queen City Nerve broke the news over the summer that Charlotte-based video production agency Loyd Visuals would open its new studio space and headquarters in Camp North End. The photo, video and podcast studio is a first for the company, which was launched by brothers Khaleel, Maleek and Najm Loyd in 2016.

Ranging from advertisements and promotional videos to documentaries, Loyd Visuals supports national and international organizations with branding and storytelling initiatives. The company’s past work includes collaborations with the NFL, ESPN and Netflix, as well as international brands such as Airbnb and Honeywell.

Located on the ground floor of the forthcoming residential development Kinship, Loyd Visuals’ new office and studio space features various backdrops for capturing photography, designated space equipped for video production, a podcast recording area and more.

Before acquiring a permanent independent space of its own, Loyd Visuals had worked out of an office at hygge coworking in Camp North End since 2020, where they were surrounded by other creatives and cultural agencies, including Black-owned companies like BlkMrktCLT, DUPP&SWATT, and Kicks & Fros.

“During the past three years, we have experienced all that Charlotte and Camp North End has to offer and are convinced that the dynamic atmosphere here, especially for creatives, makes it the perfect place for us to plant our roots in the community with our first office and studio space,” said Khaleel.

MOST EXCITING DEVELOPMENT: Blume Studios

This year, Blumenthal Arts started offering immersive experiences similar to the widely-popular Immersive Van Gogh in a new space called Blume Studios. A 32,000-square-foot warehouse transformed into an artistic playground, Stage 1 at Blume Studios is free to visit and features art installations, interactive exhibits, a bar and a market. It’s located at 904 Post St., in a former Charlotte Pipe & Foundry warehouse just outside of Uptown’s Third Ward.

In September, Blumenthal debuted Blume Studios with their first ticketed event, Space Explorers: The Infinite, as part of the 2024 Charlotte International Arts Festival. Touted as an immersive outer space adventure, Space Explorers: The Infinite uses VR technology to place visitors in various locations inside and outside the International Space Station. It’s still running at Blume Studios through Jan. 5, 2025.

With everything from international immersive experiences to multi-media events and shows produced right here in Charlotte, a new generation of creative workers will make Blume Studios a nationally acclaimed destination. We can’t wait to see what’s next.