Charlotte Viewpoint - Archive No. 23 - September 21 2024 - Evolution

Letter from the Founder The story of Charlotte can be told through the evolution of the arts in the city: from a tentative, conservative, localized arts scene to a more vital, diverse, and bolder arts culture with room to run. This week the Charlotte International Arts Festival, a Blumenthal Arts Original production, under the leadership of Blumenthal Arts CEO Tom Gabbard, is underway. CIAF includes the Festival of India, the Latin American Festival, and over 200 imaginative events and performances in Uptown and Ballantyne. CIAF also marks the opening of Blume Studios, in the new Iron Arts District, hosting immersive arts experiences and multi-media productions.   We turn back the clock to 2005 and an interview with Gabbard, then the recently installed president of the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. Gabbard shared a candid assessment of Charlotte audiences and his vision for how the arts in the city might change. In 2012, as part of our Critical Issues series, we published 'Sounding the Alarm' by Scott Provancher, then president of the Arts & Sciences Council.  In a call for desperately needed innovation in the city's funding model for the arts, Provancher wrote, "At the risk of being an alarmist, I am concerned that the entire funding model that fueled our cultural explosion over four decades is no longer working." That work continues. Tipping our hat to the new CharlOZ Festival, we include 'Why Wizard of Oz Still Resonates with Americans,' a 2016 essay by Dina Schiff Massachi, lecturer at UNC Charlotte who is the project director for CharloOz. We also include a poem about a self-diagnosing Barbie (before Barbie became cool again) by Lyn Lifshin and an artist gallery by Kit Kube. And don't miss our PDF magazine from 2010 and 2005! Forward, Mark Peres Charlotte Viewpoint Founder The Charlotte Center Founder & Executive Director From the Archive Q & A with Tom Gabbard August 4, 2005 by Mark Peres What is the role and charge of the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center? The Center focuses on three primary tasks. First, we are managers of the community’s key performing arts facilities. Second, we are presenters who bring to Charlotte the best in the performing arts by filling niches in programming that are not already covered by local groups like the Symphony, Opera and Dance Theatre. Third, we’re educators who work with schools and adults to use the arts to improve learning and provide cultural enrichment. Charlotte is a dynamic city with changing demographics. What challenge and opportunity does that present to you? We’re blessed by a growing population and audience to serve. However, it’s a challenge to keep up with what the community needs from us.  Keep Reading City Life From 2012: Sounding the Alarm by Scott Provancher I recently gave a keynote speech to a group of community leaders at the Annual Meeting of the Rockford (Ill.) Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. My good friend John Groh, the CEO of the Visitors Bureau, asked if I would be willing to talk about the role that social innovation plays in building vibrant cities. I have a fond place in my heart for Rockford because they took a risk in hiring me... Read the Story Arts & Culture From 2016: Why Wizard of Oz Still Resonates by Dina Schiff Massachi One hundred and sixteen years ago, L. Frank Baum published a children’s story. In a world where we can’t keep the same phone for more than two years, Baum’s novel, and its even better known 1939 film adaptation, still resonate in our popular culture today. If I mention almost any part of the story—a farm girl and her little dog, wicked and good witches, anthropomorphic straw and tin men, magical shoes—you know just what story I mean. Read the Story Fiction & Poetry From 2012: Barbie Hunts... by Lyn Lifshin BARBIE HUNTS THRU MEDICAL BOOKS LOOKING FOR WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER WHEN SHE SEES HER BIRTHDATE IN A BOOK, KNOWS SHE IS OVER 30 and feels so hollow inside, unfulfilled, as if all she’s done is change her clothes. Read the Poem Artist Gallery From 2014: Kit Kube by Kit Kube Kit Kube is a self-taught kinetic sculptor who investigates scientific, cultural and spiritual concepts through the creation of public and private art. He works with theater and dance companies and high school students, has solo and group exhibitions, and sculpts for commission. Kit began his creative path as a designer and builder of hands-on exhibits and theater presentations at Discovery Place in Charlotte.  View the Gallery Read Past Issues June 2010 Issue August 2005 Issue About Charlotte Viewpoint Charlotte Viewpoint is a magazine about the city and culture of the Charlotte region that ran from 2003-2016. Charlotte Viewpoint published civic and cultural commentary and programmed events about Charlotte for engaged citizens to nurture creative capital, elevate civic discourse and promote intellectual and artistic excellence in the Charlotte region. charlotteviewpoint.org Read More brought to you by: View Past Archive Newsletters You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the The Charlotte Center newsletter. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. We invite you to share this newsletter with a friend. Sign up for this newsletter here. Design by Maddy Stevens Charlotte Viewpoint has been archived by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room for its historical significance.