As Charlotte evaluates its culture, artists say they ‘aren’t always sure where to go’
Local artists lack affordable studios and performance halls to create, according to early feedback from an ongoing Charlotte arts engagement study.
The city of Charlotte is creating an official arts and culture plan and heard from thousands of residents to inform a related culture report. Though Charlotteans constantly create, the city’s first arts and culture officer says the Queen City’s artists and those who consume their work lack a sense of place.
“Organizations and artists and creators are creating and sharing arts and culture with our community all the time,” Priya Sircar said. “That’s benefiting our community, but we have learned that people aren’t always sure where to go.”
The city’s Arts and Culture Advisory Board is reviewing feedback from residents before creating an official State of Culture report to released in January, Sircar said. The advisory board will analyze feedback and look to other cities to determine the best way to fund arts in Charlotte. It will discuss creating an asset map so there’s one landing page for all things arts in Charlotte.
The report will inform the arts and culture plan, which will determine how the city spends money on arts.
Still, the feedback from more than 3,000 Charlotte-area residents show some early trends.
“Space is one of the big themes that keeps showing up,” Sircar said. “People are aware stuff is going on, but not sure where to find out about it.”
What has Charlotte’s new arts board done?
The arts and culture plan is an outgrowth of the city’s 18-member arts and culture advisory board, created after the Charlotte City Council upended a decadeslong model of relying on the Arts and Science Council as a pass through mechanism for arts funding.
In 2021, the city established an “infusion fund” in place of the Arts and Science Council that combined public and private sector funding in the Foundation for the Carolinas to support the city’s arts and culture sector for three years. The foundation is a local philanthropic organization that serves a 13-county area in and around Charlotte.
The new arts board determines how money is spent with input from the Charlotte City Council.
In the fiscal year 2023 budget, the city allocated $4 million to the Foundation For The Carolinas. It was matched by $2 million from American Rescue Plan Act Funds and more than $6 million from private-sector donations, Sircar said, for a total of $12 million at the city’s discretion for arts and culture initiatives.
The Arts and Culture Advisory Board used those funds this year to award almost $9 million to 38 different organizations from the fund.
Organizations receiving more than $100,000 include:
▪ Arts+: $266,202
▪ The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art: $443,339
▪ Blumenthal Performing Arts: $295,780
▪ Carolina Raptor Center: $100,363
▪ Carolinas Aviation Museum: $119,160
▪ Charlotte Ballet: $801,473
▪ The Charlotte Symphony: $1.05 million
▪ Discovery Place: $1.03 million
▪ The Harvey B. Gantt center for African American Arts and Culture: $703,628
▪ JazzArts Charlotte: $117,786
▪ Levine Museum of the New South: $525,333
▪ McColl Center: $388,125
▪ The Mint Museum: $1.03 million
▪ Opera Carolina: $464,000
▪ Theatre Charlotte: $150,000
The advisory board also allocated more than $600,000 this year to local artists and groups that fall outside of existing grant cycles, including Durag Fest, art therapy programs, craft workshops for high school students and subsidized dance rehearsal space.
“This opportunity fund has not existed before in Charlotte,” Sircar said. “It’s unique to Charlotte Mecklenburg and unique in the whole country.”
Is the new approach working?
District 6 Councilman Tariq Bokhari raised concerns during a public meeting last week about the lack of the council’s input in the process and that select council members were chosen to lead it.
“It’s groundhog day,” Bokhari said. “The same people are asked behind the scenes to do all the stuff, and we’re asked to react to it.”
City Manager Marcus Jones said council members Braxton Winston, Ed Driggs and Malcolm Graham are working with the rest of the council to provide input.
Graham countered Bokhari’s argument at the last council meeting by saying everyone on council was interviewed and their input will be considered.
Sircar said she’s aware of the concern because it’s come up at council meetings for the past several months. Sicar and the advisory board conducted individual interviews with council members in July, held small meetings with several council members in August and updated the city’s Economic Development Committee, she told The Charlotte Observer.
Whats next?
Through community events and an online survey, 3,236 Charlotte-area residents in 75 ZIP codes participated in research for a State of Culture report with the intent of guiding leaders on how they invest time and money in the arts.
The ensuing arts plan is intended to serve as a guide to create policies and funding strategies to cultivate and support thriving and sustainable arts and culture in the city of Charlotte.
“I think the public engagement is phenomenal,” Mayor Vi Lyles said after hearing a presentation from Sircar last week.
After the State of Culture report is released, the advisory board will hear from the public again.
The timeline for the arts and culture plan includes:
Late January: Begin strategy development for arts and culture plan
February: Provide an information update and draft strategy frame work
March: Finalize strategy frame work
April: Create implementation plan and finalize the entire arts and culture plan
