Imagine seeing your own artwork framed up on Tryon Street for all to see! ArtWorks 945 artist Kevin had just that pleasure recently when the McColl Center for Art + Innovation included a print of his painting on their signs.
Kevin created the piece with McColl Center artist-in-residence, Marion Wilson. She talks about the collaboration in the McColl Center blog, When Neighbor is a Verb. “I knew I wanted to work at the ArtWorks 945 studio,” says Marion. “It’s a phenomenal space where neighbors can come in several times a week to work on their art practice.” Marion started with a series of clinics—some focused on drawing, others on painting basics and color mixing.
Marion’s collaborative work, Greening the Redline, is now prominently displayed on the McColl Center front lawn, so that all of our neighbor’s artwork and poetry can be seen! The work is just one of the projects from A Tale of Two Cities: McColl Center and the North Tryon Corridor. The goal is to elevate the voices of neighbors experiencing homelessness during the North Tryon planning and development process. These artist-led projects focus on collaborative processes and visioning, working jointly with homeless services providers and nearby community partners.
In addition, artists Antoine Williams and Marcus Kiser, with the help of two ArtWorks artists, Giovanni and D’Carlos, created a mural on the wall of our Community Garden. You might have seen it in a recent Charlotte Five article, Fifteen of Charlotte’s newest murals and the meaning behind them. You can see a video of the completed wall on Antoine’s Instagram here.
McColl Center also hosted a Community Pie Social on April 26 to initiate discussions about homelessness, migration, and belonging in relation to power and identity. Our own Moore Place Assistant Director Carmen Fowler offered her experience as part of the panel. Our thanks to the McColl Center for Art + Innovation for giving our neighbors a voice and helping to remind Charlotte that people experiencing homelessness are an important part of our community.
