August Issue 2002
Charlotte Shout - Month-Long Arts and Culture Celebration Planned for Charlotte, NC
Charlotte
Center City Partners announced plans for a month-long celebration
of art and culture that will highlight the city's arts community
and bring artists and performers from around the world to Charlotte,
NC. The festival, called Charlotte Shout, will be a celebration
of the senses - touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste - and will
incorporate the visual, performing, musical and culinary arts
in a way that has never been done before in the city. The celebration
is planned for Aug. 31 - Sept. 30, 2002.
Charlotte Shout will celebrate all the arts. Organizers say there'll be opera, ballet and other dance, live music, visual arts, culinary arts and more. Festivalgoers can expect to see both traditional and cutting-edge art forms. The citywide event will encompass venues, organizations and events from Matthews to SouthEnd, Dilworth to the North Davidson Street arts district (NoDa), and beyond.
"We'll bring in a number of world-class artists to headline some festival events, but we'll also focus on the world-class talent we have right here in our region," said Robert Krumbine, vice president of events for Charlotte Center City Partners and executive director of Charlotte Shout. "Charlotte Shout will be a celebration unlike any other Charlotte has had." Organizers say there is a palpable need for such a festival of this magnitude in a city the size of Charlotte and expect the event to become an annual one.
"We have a lot of talented people working together to make this celebration happen," said Rob Walsh, president of Charlotte Center City Partners. "Local groups are lending their support to the effort. We anticipate that artists from around the country are going to want to be part of this."
Although Charlotte Shout is in its early
stages, planning is now under way. At this point, events that
will be showcased include the International Origami Festival;
a Jazz and Heritage Festival; a street festival with street performers
and artists; a culinary showcase; the 10th anniversary of the
North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center; lecture series;
the opening of North Carolina Dance Theater, Philharmonic, Childrens
Theater, Charlotte Repertory Theater and Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
seasons; walking history tours; a Broadway show; backstage events
at area venues; gallery crawls; international theater performances;
restaurant tastings; and, folk and blues events. Organizers are
inviting existing September arts and cultural celebrations such
as Festival in the Park, the Matthews Arts Fest,
the Greek Festival, the International festival at UNC
Charlotte, among others, to participate.
Krumbine added, "There will be many 'festivals-within-a festival'
that will add to the excitement and the many opportunities to
experience art through all five senses."
Lynn Drury of Bank of America chairs the Charlotte
Shout executive committee. Committee members are Judith Allen
(North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center), Frances Arnoult
(community volunteer), Pierre Bader (Sonoma restaurant and wine
bar), Cathy Baker (American Express), Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (North
Carolina Dance Theatre), Julie Burch (City of Charlotte), Suzanne
Fetscher (Tryon Center for Visual Art) and Bill Halbert (Arts
& Science Council).
Artists, organizations and individuals interested in participating
in Charlotte Shout should contact Charlotte Center City
Partners at 704/332-9577.
From
a field of more than 50 eclectic entries from professional and
recreational artists, Charlotte Center City Partners have selected
the image that will define Charlotte Shout, a five-week
festival of the arts. The winning artist is Maja Godlewska, currently
an affiliate artist at the McColl Center for Visual Art. Godlewska
will be awarded $1,000 for her work, which will grace all festival
promotional materials and merchandise.
"It's fitting that an artist from the McColl Center for Visual
Art created the central image for Charlotte Shout,"
said Robert Krumbine. "The McColl Center was founded to bring
to Charlotte artists who would enrich our community. What better
way to do so than to put a face on our community's five-week celebration
of the arts?"
Titled Shout 2002, Godlewska's image
represents the colors and the variety that will characterize the
festival.
"I wanted to create a sense of the festive atmosphere that
will take over the city during Charlotte Shout - we'll
be surrounded on all sides by the sights, sounds, colors and emotions
of the arts," said Godlewska.
A Charlotte resident since 1997, Godlewska
was born in Wroclaw, Poland and studied art at the Wroclaw Academy
of Fine Arts and the National College of Art and Design in Dublin,
Ireland. Although her primary medium is painting, she also has
experience as a printer, photographer and book illustrator. Godlweska
has received grants from the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York
and the European Community Tempus Programme in Brussels, Belgium.
She received the Arts and Science Council Regional Artist Project
Grant in Charlotte in 1999. Her works are in corporate and private
collections in Poland, Switzerland and Sweden, and in private
collections in Germany, France, Italy and the United States.
Business leaders, center city residents and city government formed
Charlotte Center City Partners in 1979 as an entity to facilitate
and coordinate public and private development of the center city.
Charlotte Center City Partners develops, sponsors and supports
projects, programs and initiatives designed to enhance the economic
strength and vitality of the center city and surrounding neighborhoods.
It works to promote, encourage and coordinate center city business,
cultural, retail and residential endeavors.
For more information call 704/376-3434 or on the web at (www.charlotteshout.com).
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