MOST OF THE COLUMNS IN THIS SERIES highlight a single exhibition at a museum or gallery. This month, we visit the exploding mural scene in Charlotte and check out a few of the recent additions to the city. Much of our recent public art comes from the Talking Walls festival, an annual celebration of mural art that invites local, national, and international artists to tackle a wall somewhere in the region. It’s vital to not just think of murals as Instagram backdrops, but singular works of art. Often, in my family, it’s both.
In our “Getting the Picture” column, my 5-year-old daughter joins me on a critical adventure into Charlotte’s art venues. Each visit is an opportunity for us to hone her visual literacy, or the ability to make meaning from images. Below, Elliot and I have chosen a few murals, along with short transcripts of our conversations about each one. For the purposes of clarity, I’m identifying myself as “Dad” below, and I’ve offered no context to Elliot before she offers her insights.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
The Covid-19 Legacy
How will this generation-definind event affect our children?
Three Charlotte Murals
An art critic and his 5-year-old daughter offer their thoughts on public artworks found around the city
Growing with Grace
Everyday etiquette for children and teenagers
The Pint-Sized Foodie
A visit to NC Red
GET TO KNOW: Rhonda Patterson, the “Queen of Custody”
She’s an attorney, arbitrator, and owner of The Patterson Law Office, where she specializes in family law.
Best Friends in the end
You can be friends with your child…just not yet
Four fun things to experience with your kids this month
Four fun things to experience with your kids this month
Autism Diet Do's and Don'ts
Autistic individuals often have difficulties with sensory processing issues, sometimes called Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD.
A Cool Girl's Bedroom
WHEN DESIGNER JACY PAINTER KELLY, owner of Jacy Painter Kelly Interiors, took her family to New York City last summer, her 10-year-old daughter Lucy went crazy for the cool urban vibe of their downtown hotel room. It gave Lucy the itch to makeover her own bedroom in their Fort Mill home. She wanted more mature accents like silver wall sconces and velvet pillows, paired with punk rock elements like a graffiti-inspired bed frame and pink neon sign. Luckily her designer mom knew exactly how to tie it all together.
Therapeutic Riding
Teaching confidence, focus, and friendship, one ride at a time
BUFFY & HER PUPPY!
The Akita to Happiness Los Angeles, April 21
Belinda Carlisle on the Best (and Worst) of The Go-Go's
IN 1982, the Go-Go’s became the first and only (yes, still) all-women band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to have a No. 1 album on the Billboard charts with 1981’s Beauty and the Beat.
Head First
Guyana native Akash Prasad conceived a crown-inspired jewelry line in his adopted hometown
FRESH PICKS
Plan a Charlotte dining day with stops at these recently opened restaurants from our 2021 list of the city’s best (and enjoy a few treats in between)
Birder's-Eye View
When the pandemic struck, thousands discovered the physical, mental, and ecological benefits of birding. Spring migration is the perfect time to join the flock
The Case for Charlotte Music, Post-COVID
Just as Charlotte began to lay a foundation for something it’s notoriously lacked over the years—the ability to sustain a vibrant, distinctive local music scene—the pandemic snatched it away, as it did so much else. Was it a lethal blow? This magazine’s longtime editor, now a driver of a local music initiative, grabs the mic to argue: Hell, no
BUNNY GREGORY
Art changed Bunny Gregory’s life. She hopes it can change her community, too
Bem-vindo!
The stretch of Monroe Road where you can find little pieces of Brazil
A DIAGNOSIS OF CHARLOTTE'S COVID ECONOMY
Business Alliance digests data that illustrates how virus has swamped commerce
Forbidden Planet, Forgotten History
In 1956, the movie that redefined science fiction cinema premiered in uptown Charlotte