Arts Features
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Rhizome Arts Market Puts Community First in West Charlotte
In the plant world, a rhizome is an always growing, horizontal stem underground that puts out new shoots. For April C. Turner, a member of the leadership team with QC Family Tree’s Rhizome Coalition, the Rhizome Arts Markets that she organizes in the Freedom Drive/Wilkinson Boulevard corridor are the visible…
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Charlotte Studio Artists in Search of New Home Amid Looming Displacement
Speaking with members of the Charlotte Studio Artists Relocation Steering Committee in the organization’s NoDa facility on a recent Saturday afternoon, one throughline emerged: change is constant and should be expected, if not welcomed. It’s an understandable line of thinking for any artist or arts organization in Charlotte, especially one…
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Ukrainian Refugee Pavlo Korniushkin Settles Into Charlotte’s Comedy Scene
Pavlo Korniushkin’s journey to Charlotte’s comedy scene has been anything but laughs. From his hometown in Melitopol, Ukraine, Korniushkin traveled 5,800 miles, beginning with a dramatic border crossing into Russian territory amidst that government’s invasion of Ukraine, which closed the border and led to the occupation of Melitopol. Having escaped…
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‘Charlotte Squawks’ Returns for 21st Year of Sassy, Localized Satire
[Editor’s Note: If you prefer to be surprised by which news stories are covered by which song parodies upon attending Charlotte Squawks, skip the first two paragraphs of this story.] The Carolina Panthers winning the division despite a losing record is celebrated with a rousing medley that includes “We Will…
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Tattoo Artist George Rodriguez on Scar Covering, Apprenticeships and Opening Old Soul Tattoo Club
Charlotte tattoo artist George Rodriguez considers his craft to be his wife. He loves tattooing unconditionally, and that love bleeds into the quality of his work. Rodriguez recently opened a new tattoo studio with his friend and longtime partner Jose “Jay” Alvarado. Called Old Soul Tattoo Club, the space is…
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Audrey Baran Lands on Her Feet After Parting With UNC Charlotte
On April 18, Audrey Baran posted a selfie on her Instagram account in which she’s extending her thumb-and-pinky in a “hang loose” gesture while standing in front of Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts on UNC Charlotte’s campus. “And like that … she was gone,” Baran’s caption reads, paraphrasing a…
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David McGee Debuts ‘The Griot & the Nightingale’ at the Bechtler
A griot is a West African storyteller who keeps tribal histories and cultural traditions alive by sharing oral histories through stories or songs. A nightingale is a small, brown bird with a melodious song that’s known as a symbol of poetic inspiration — a migratory muse of sorts. When Houston-based…
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Questions Surround Light Factory Crowdsourcing Campaign to Honor Late Artist
A recent Facebook post from Charlotte artist Sharon Dowell has raised questions about what happened to thousands of dollars in funding that was raised three years ago to launch a photography mentorship program in honor of late artist Deborah Triplett. Charlotte photography studio The Light Factory raised more than $6,500…
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Multi-Hyphenate Talent Germôna Sharp Expands Repertoire with Writing, Directorial Debuts
In one story, a 6-year-old Black boy is suddenly transported into a strange new world that floats above a planet. There he meets his grown-up self, who is lauded as the savior of this future society. In another, set in the 1950s, a magnetic and ambitious Black singer and dancer…
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Booked Book Club Highlights Black Authors, Hosts Unique Meetups in Charlotte
With the backdrop of fog settling low over the Queen City skyline on a temperate March morning, a group of about five people gathered beside a pavilion at Independence Park in the Elizabeth neighborhood fervently discussing a book called Capone, part of an urban fiction series written by Jahquel J.…
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Art, Beats + Lyrics Makes Anticipated Return to Charlotte
The sound of the crowd hums in rhythm with the hip-hop beats permeating the space. The transformed nectar of Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey whiskey teases the taste buds of patrons who roam the room to see wall upon wall of artwork. This is not your ordinary art exhibition; it’s a…
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Dasia Hood Explores the Dark Side of the Cacao Industry with ‘Eat My Flesh’
When Dasia Hood moved from one Queen City to another, arriving from her hometown of Cincinnati to Charlotte in 2021, she thought of herself as more of a business-minded person. She had been writing poetry since early childhood, but that was the scope of her creative output. In Charlotte, she…
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Theatre Charlotte Brings Thespians to the Movies with ‘The Flick’
When was the last time you saw a play performed in a movie theater? And did it take place among the cinema’s seats? If you answered those two questions with “never” and “no … because never,” you’re not alone. Theatre Charlotte’s Queen City premiere of The Flick, which runs from…
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Alex King Sees Quick Success in Charlotte’s Comedy Scene
Alex King owes it all to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He himself does not live with the genetic disease, though it was his experience performing stand-up comedy at a fundraiser for the organization that sparked his love for the art … an art he had previously shrugged off. His performance…
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Gantt Center Hosts Mario Moore Exhibit on the Elusiveness of Homeownership
In his painting “Mortgage Burning,” Mario Moore captures an unusual and increasingly rare ceremony. Three Black women firmly hold a document that’s been set ablaze. The flames, licking the curling black edges of the paper, draw our eyes upward to reveal that it’s a mortgage being incinerated above a brass…
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New Mark Peres Novel ‘The Accord’ Engages the Question of AI’s Role in Life and Art
As an English graduate and lifelong reader, speaking to local/regional authors about books I’ve enjoyed is one of my favorite perks that comes with running a publication that covers arts and culture in Charlotte. Considering that I did sincerely enjoy The Accord, a new novel from local professor Mark Peres,…
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