Does Charlotte have an arts problem? It’s a question we keep asking ourselves. One we’ve examined here before. It was raised this time due to a Charlotte Magazine article that characterized our arts scene as “mired in a self-perpetuating cycle of mediocrity.”
Ouch. When someone outside says something like that, we spring into action. This came from locals.
Charlotte’s got a lot going for it in terms of well-funded cultural and arts institutions. But we’re lacking in some areas. We're the largest city in the country without a full-time professional theater company for adults after Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte closed last year.
For a city that likes to view itself as world-class, does our arts and cultural scene —the soul of the city — reflect that? We’ll take the temperature from people who know it well.
We hear from the writer of the article that lit this fire, from two artists producing work and trying to make a living here and from a longtime arts critic.
Guests
Allison Braden, contributing editor to Charlotte Magazine, who wrote the article “Charlotte Has an Arts Problem.”
Lawrence Toppman, covered the arts in Charlotte for 40 years before retiring from The Charlotte Observer in 2020.
Dammit Wesley, Charlotte artist; co-owner of BLKMRKTCLT, an artist collective, gallery and studio in Camp North End.
Anne Lambert, theater producer, director, actor and arts advocate; founder of Charlotte’s Off-Broadway, which produces local theatre productions.