CHARLOTTE – The City of Charlotte, in partnership with the Arts and Culture Advisory Board, has awarded grants to two arts and culture initiatives: “Brooklyn: The Collective Memory” and the Charlotte International Arts Exchange.
“Brooklyn: The Collective Memory”
Set to open to the public Sept. 29 as part of the Charlotte International Arts Festival and to run through Oct. 8, the “Brooklyn: The Collective Memory” exhibit commemorates Brooklyn, Charlotte’s once-vibrant Black Wall Street.
The interactive experience invites people to learn Brooklyn’s history through life-size portraits, archival books and videos of former residents sharing their stories. Creative director and curator Justin Hicks, co-curator and experiences lead Tyler Capel, and strategist and photographer Sam Hoggs aim to shed light on urban renewal, displacement and navigating the effects of moving people in and out of spaces as infrastructures grow.
The Charlotte International Arts Exchange
The new Charlotte International Arts Exchange program will take a group of Charlotte artists to Kenya in 2023, where they will engage with Kenyan artists and cultures. In turn, artists from Kenya will travel to Charlotte for a similar cultural exchange.
In Charlotte and in Kenya, artists will learn new skills, enhance their creativity and increase their exposure by exhibiting and selling their works. Exhibits and educational opportunities in Charlotte will be accessible to the public. Additionally, the exchange program’s coordinators, led by Joanne Rogers of Nine Eighteen Nine Studio Gallery, have committed to donating a portion of art sales to community-serving organizations in Charlotte.
About the Opportunity Fund
The city and the advisory board continue to accept requests for Opportunity Fund grants. Interested applicants can go to charlottenc.gov/arts-culture to find a letter of intent form and learn more about eligibility.