CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Dec. 20, 2022) – From an innovative series to help make poetry more accessible and relatable to multiple programs that use arts and culture to engage youth and teens during out-of-school time hours, creative individuals and cultural organizations of all sizes will engage Charlotte-Mecklenburg residents and visitors through community-focused and innovative programs supported by ASC Cultural Vision Grants.

Cultural Vision Grants respond to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community’s interest in arts, science, history and heritage programming. This year, the maximum award amount increased from $10,000 to $20,000.

The awards support high quality arts and culture projects presented within Mecklenburg County by Mecklenburg County-based creative individuals or nonprofit organizations that advance one of the following goals:

• Building community by connecting individuals across points of difference
• Building community by nurturing, celebrating, and supporting authentic cultures and creative expression
• Increasing relevance by using arts, science and history to address complex community issues
• Increasing innovation by supporting the creation of new and groundbreaking work

Seventy groups and individuals applied for this round of Cultural Vision Grants, with 54 recipients selected to receive a combined $631,150 in funding. Twenty-eight of the projects are led by and/or serve communities that have historically been under resourced, including African, Latin-a/o/x/e, Asian, Arab and Native American (ALAANA), LGBTQ and disability communities.

Eleven are led by independent creatives.

“Charlotte-Mecklenburg thrives when creative individuals and cultural organizations of all sizes use arts, science and history to connect residents with shared experiences and are equitably supported,” said ASC President Krista Terrell. “ASC is grateful for the support of our public and private donors that support our work to equitably invest in creative projects that address community priorities and benefit the entire community.”

ASC Cultural Vision Grants are supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, Mecklenburg County, the Infusion Fund and its generous donors―including the City of Charlotte―and individual donors to ASC.

The latest Cultural Vision Grant recipients are:

• ArtPop Street Gallery—$13,500 to support the 10th anniversary of ArtPop and the 2023 Class of ArtPop artists through the funding of 20 vinyl billboards placed throughout Mecklenburg County.
• Barre Belle—$20,000 to support artistic exploration and cultural expression through the art of dance.
• Black Girls Film Camp—$10,000 to support the education, curation and showcase of short films directed by adolescent Black girls during The Black Girls Film Camp (BGFC) in spring 2023, ahead of the BGFC Premiere Weekend to be hosted in Charlotte June 9–10, 2023.
• BNS Productions—$10,000 to support the production of “Be A Lion,” a fantasy musical created by Charlotte natives.
• BraveWorks—$20,000 to support women from historically excluded communities in Charlotte dealing with domestic, generational and other life-altering challenges through BraveWorks’ artisanal training and cross-cultural, community-based programming.
• BreatheInk—$10,000 to support the exploration of poetry, spoken word, creative writing and self-expression for Charlotte-Mecklenburg area youth ages 13-19.
• N. Jenkins Memorial Presbyterian—$3,000 to support Charlotte and the surrounding area in building community by galvanizing leaders and groups from different cultures to have an education and entertainment experience outside in the elements.
• Caritas A Cappella Ensemble—$10,000 to support preparation, performances and professional recording of the concert program “HEHLEHLOOYUH! A Celebration of Choral Music by Black Composers,” in partnership with the Charlotte Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.
• Carolina Voices—$10,500 to support the growth and development of AMPLIFY, a citywide after-school children’s choir designed to educate and unite the children of our growing city and its diverse neighborhoods through song.
• Caroline Calouche & Co.—$10,000 to support “Star Gazer,” a high energy, 75-minute dance and circus arts adventure show that incorporates 3D video mapping and astronomy with an aim to promote conservation and global unity, at the Booth Playhouse in May 2023.
• Chamber Music For All—$9,000 to support a five-concert series, to be held January–June 2023 at various locations throughout Charlotte, exploring five distinct musical styles and identifying similarities between these styles and classical music through lectures and performances.
• Charlotte Lit—$5,000 to support Poetry Nightclub, an innovative series that brings diverse, renowned poets to Charlotte to discuss their creative life and work, engage in a conversation with the audience and help make poetry more accessible and relatable.
• Charlotte Dance Festival—$9,000 to support Dance Artist Alliance CLT in bringing together diverse dance artists and audiences to create new work, celebrate local and regional dance artists and nurture the next generation of local dance artists at the Charlotte Dance Festival.
• Charlotte Dragon Boat Association—$15,000 to support the 2023 Charlotte Dragon Boat & Asian Festival in celebration of Asian Heritage Month at Ramsey Creek Park in Cornelius on Saturday, May 13, 2023.
• Charlotte Film Society—$20,000 to support a strategic marketing plan to increase ALAANA and women representation, along with celebrating and engaging a diverse audience, at the Charlotte Film Society’s 2023 Charlotte Film Festival.
• Charlotte Museum of History—$6,000 to support the museum’s annual African American Heritage Festival.
• Charlotte Pride Band—$20,000 to support two Charlotte Pride Band concerts that focus on music by diverse composers―including LGBTQIA, ALAANA and female composers―and celebrate diversity and promote inclusion and cultural understanding of these communities.
• CineOdyssey Film Festival—$7,000 to support the CineOdyssey Film Festival, which celebrates and gives voice to filmmakers from the African, Caribbean, Latino, Asian and Native American diasporas as well as the U.S.
• Meredith Connelly—$3,000 to curate an exhibition of domestic abuse/sexual assault survivor art to support The Umbrella Center and use art as a catalyst for healing, with focus on diversity within the artist group being presented.
• Cultural Spaces Productions—$8,000 to support Hispanic celebrations and traditions by participation in the Hispanic Cultural Space program at VAPA Center in December 2022.
• Dear Soul Music Co.—$20,000 to support spring and summer recording arts programs at the Eastway Regional Recreation Center in March 2023 and June 2023.
• Digi-Bridge—$15,000 to partner with Briarwood Academy for out-of-school time STEAMLab programming.
• Ronald Dolphus—$4,500 to support community unity and socio-political dialogue by presenting a short film, “US AND THEM,” to be produced in spring 2023 and exhibited later in the year.
• E&A Productions Inc. and the Puerto Rican Festival of the Carolinas—$8,000 to support continuing efforts to promote and educate on the cultural diversification of the Puerto Rican community through a celebration of its holiday traditions.
• Friendship Circle—$15,000 to support friendship and inclusion between children and teens with special needs and their typically developing peers by offering process-focused art, product driven art and art therapy in an accepting and non-judgmental environment.
• Gi Grier—$8,000 to support the future media and production of creative youth through a mentorship program directed towards people of ALAANA heritage hosted at Charlotte Art League in 2023 to learn and enhance creative multidisciplinary skillsets.
• Dionne D. Hunter—$13,000 to support and build community by nurturing, celebrating and supporting authentic cultures and creative expressions while exposing often historically excluded ALAANA communities and women and girls, as well as the general public, to the arts.
• Huntersville Public Art Commission—$8,500 to support the Huntersville SculpTOUR, a new sculpture exhibition at Holbrook Park along Huntersville’s downtown greenway.
• JazzArts Charlotte—$14,000 to support the Nuestro Tiempo Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble for middle and high school students at the VAPA Center in spring 2023 to celebrate the music and culture of Charlotte’s Latino community.
• Kinship Plot—$5,7000 to support the cultivation of kinship and resonance across common barriers in West Charlotte through six community gatherings in 2023 that include original art, guided discussion, shared food and cultural exchange.
• Anne Lambert/Charlotte’s Off-Broadway—$20,000 to produce 10 performances of a small musical in the 55-seat black box theater at the VAPA Center in spring 2023.
• Latin American Coalition—$7,400 to encourage creative expression among Latinos through a series of art workshops and to celebrate and integrate authentic Latino culture within the community at large during the Latin American Coalition’s annual festival in September 2023.
• Loose Leaves Showcase—$10,000 to support the creation of innovative and groundbreaking work by diverse artists through a choreographic showcase in spring 2023.
• Lorien Academy of the Arts—$20,000 to support afterschool art clubs at four CMS schools located in west Charlotte communities.
• Martha Connerton/Kinetic Works, Inc.—$7,400 for the Choreographers Residency Project, which supports the creation of new works by Charlotte-based choreographers in Kinetic Works’ studio with open rehearsals for peer mentoring, as well as dance-making workshops at Johnson C. Smith University and Central Piedmont Community College and public performances at Open Door Studios.
• Ashley Martin—$5,000 to encourage community dialogue of socially relevant issues to fortify creative works that perpetuate diverse perspectives of creative expression that enrich our community.
• Nadia Meadows—$10,000 to support the Charlotte community by displaying interactive and meaningful sculptures quarterly, while also encouraging positive impact and equitable gains for youth and artists programs.
• Kevin Mitchell—$5,000 to encourage and mentor young artists in the planning and creation of new work, exhibit the work, and have conversations with the community at the VAPA Center in June 2023.
• Music at St. Alban’s—$15,000 to support concerts and programs that enrich, educate and entertain the North Mecklenburg community―with a focus on reaching seniors, youth, lower-income populations and Black and Latino individuals―while showcasing exceptional artists and a diverse repertoire.
• Ashley Nickens—$17,000 to build community around the historical and contemporary narratives of southern Black femmes and insert local Black feminist voices into national discourse on reproductive justice.
• North Mecklenburg Community Chorus—$3,000 to support the chorus in re-engaging singers and the community through music as it returns to live performances in 2022-23.
• Open Door Dance Foundation—$6,500 to support its Inspire Inclusion Dance Program’s expansion with two new weekly classes.
• Our Daily Bread Foundation—$10,000 to support a youth-led culinary arts initiative, “It’s All About All Dough,” an incubator for racial, social and economic inclusion.
• Playing For Others (PFO)—$10,000 to support PFO’s winter/spring 2022-2023 arts programming, including rehearsals, workshops, outings and pop-ups designed to expose a diverse group of teens and children with disabilities to a wide range of arts experiences while building meaningful connections.
• Lauren Puckett—$7,400 to support diversity and inclusion within figurative representation in the stained-glass medium by creating a large-scale public art installation created collaboratively with women in Charlotte who work within the medium.
• Queen City New Play Initiative—$17,250 to support QCNPI’s Second Annual New Play Commission, which will commission three North Carolina-based playwrights to create new plays that center a marginalized experience in North Carolina.
• Que-OS—$15,000 to support the Fringe Festival as part of Charlotte’s annual BOOM Festival in April 2023 at Charlotte’s Camp North End.
• Toi Reynolds-Johnson—$9,000 to support the production of a groundbreaking new theater work that captures the inspirational life experiences of the late singer and actress Eartha Kitt, whose struggles and triumphs encompass many of the same social issues Black women face today.
• SouthEnd ARTS—$10,000 to support Project PAIR (PaidArtistInternResidency) mentor-mentee intensives in local, established artist studios to provide pathways in achieving artist self-sufficiency for diverse, historically excluded local artists.
• Theatre Gap Initiative—$15,000 to support ALAANA and LGBTQAI+ students in preparing for BFA and conservatory programs through intensive audition preparation and professional training as a pathway for economic mobility and future success in the arts.
• Three Bone Theatre—$14,000 to support casting disabled actors, paying the artists, hiring a community consultant to focus on accessibility, and additional marketing and audience accessibility efforts for Three Bone Theatre’s production of “Amy and the Orphans” in February 2023.
• Jay Ward—$11,500 to support “Black Charlotte,” an exploration into the rich cultural history of Black Charlotteans and Black neighborhoods and their contributions, at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in February 2023 and abroad.
• We Rock Charlotte—$15,000 to support and celebrate We Rock culture and creative expression through We Rock Charlotte’s student album and music video creation.
• Tamara Williams—$20,000 to support Lavagem Celebration! An Indigenous and African-Brazilian Arts and Cultural Festival, celebrating Black and Indigenous heritages with diverse communities in Charlotte.

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