CHARLOTTEANS OF THE YEAR

More than any year before it, 2020 made demands of us. Our nine Charlotteans of the Year responded by breaking through boundaries. A doctor informed a confused, frightened public. A globally recognized superstar stepped out, finally, on racial injustice. Here are their stories, and ours.

- MICHELLE BOUDIN, TAYLOR BOWLER, ALLISON BRADEN, GREG LACOUR, and ANDY SMITH

CHARLOTTEANS OF THE YEAR

UPTOWN’S ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’ MURAL

A group of artists coalesced this summer to make a statement big enough for the world to see

BY ANDY SMITH

ON THE EVENING OF JUNE 8, demonstrators marched through uptown for the 11th consecutive night to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The next morning, 17 artists gathered on one block of the space where protesters had marched— South Tryon Street between 3rd and 4th streets—and, chalk in hand, outlined the 16 letters that spell “BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

Next came the paint rollers. Then news crews and pedestrians trickled in to watch a block-long painting come to life. The street mural was inspired by a similar one crafted in Washington, D.C., that week; Charlotte’s was born from a partnership of the arts organizations Charlotte is Creative, Brand the Moth, and BlkMrkt CLT—and the city, which paid each artist $500 and approved each design without revision. The artists carried the mural from conception to completion in 72 hours.

Charlotte’s “Black Lives Matter” mural made international headlines and appeared in the introduction video for the NBA’s season inside the bubble at Disney World. The city temporarily closed the block to vehicular traffic as thousands of visitors came to view and photograph the mural. At first, the city planned to reopen the block at the end of September. But officials postponed the reopening until the end of the year, with an eye toward turning stretches of uptown streets into pedestrian-friendly plazas.