CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QC Life) - A 17-day long feast for the senses, Charlotte Shout! is returning to the Queen City on Friday, March 29 and will run through Sunday, April 14.
QC Life’s Jorge Andres got a sneak peek at some of the extraordinary art installations across Uptown Charlotte.
He was joined by Moira Quinn with Charlotte Center City at First Ward Park to learn more about what visitors can expect from the event.
“We’re highlighting our local creatives, our local artists, our local musicians. Everyone who’s taking part in this is being paid because we believe that our local creative community should be supported and that’s what Charlotte Shout is all about,” Quinn said.
According to her, the festival is centered around four pillars, art, music, ideas, and food.
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It is a family-friendly, alcohol-free celebration, featuring over 200 art installations from the Levine Center for the Arts to the Overstreet Mall, music performances, master talks and special deals at local businesses.
At First Ward Park, for example, you can find numerous blue seesaws, with liquid inside, bringing attention to sustainability concerns, said Quinn.
Andres also talked to Junious ‘Jay’ Ward, a local poet, teaching artist and Charlotte’s first Poet Laureate about a colorful and lively mural art piece at Victoria Yards.
“Both well-defined and unestablished, a mirror of your own journey,” reads the message on the wall.
According to Ward, it was developed during a community workshop where Charlotteans from all walks of life gathered to talk about slogans, lyrics, and to create words, language, and poems.
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“What makes it [this instillation] work, it’s the words from the community, what makes it work is the passion that went into it from people who really care about this city,” Ward said.
Ward said it’s the power of language and the certainty that this installation would not have been possible without the contribution of community members, that is the most rewarding.
“Community means empowerment, community means togetherness, community means working together towards a common goal, and I also think community means redefining and defining,” Ward said.
For the full schedule of the event, be sure to check out their website, watch the video below, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
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