Title: "Community/Love/Equality"
Location: 920 Central Avenue
Artist: Gil Croy
Date: 2012
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @gilcroy
Story: The White Rabbit is an LGBTQ bookstore and office of Q-Notes, the longest running gay and lesbian newspaper in the Southeast. The artist, Gil Croy, worked with volunteers to paint all three sides of the building.
Key Formal Elements:
Painted in the six Pride colors, the entire building is a celebration of all things Pride. One of the portraits included is a tribute to fellow artist Carlena Person who died tragically around the time the mural was being planned. Person created a well-known mural at the former Charlotte Art League in South End that was torn down in 2019.
Location: 927 Central Avenue
Artists: Alex DeLarge, Dustin Moates, Southern Tiger Collective
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artists Info: @alxdlrg, @dstnmts, @southerntigercollective
Story: Both Alex DeLarge and Dustin Moates are artists in the Charlotte mural scene. DeLarge was one of the original founders of the TalkingWalls Mural Festival in 2018 and DeLarge and Moates founded the Southern Tiger Collective, a cooperative group of local artists supporting our street art scene.
Key Formal Elements:
Marvel Comics fan? Why yes. If so maybe you recognize Thanos, the villain from Avengers Infinity War. Thanos wears the metal glove called the Infinity Gauntlet with the different Infinity stones in it. If he collects all of the stones, he has the power to rule the galaxy. Cool.
Location: 913 Central Avenue
Artist: Nony
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @nony_clt
Story: Newcomer Nony was inspired watching artists of the Battle Walls mural competition during the summer of 2019. He bought cans of spray paint at WalMart and studied You Tube videos to learn spray painting. With an upgrade to Cheap Joe’s spray cans and many hours spent in his garage perfecting his craft, Nony is ready for the Charlotte art scene! This is his second mural in Charlotte.
Key Formal Elements:
Only days after the shooting of George Floyd, Nony knew he needed to use his talent to do something. After reaching out to a mentor, he had a wall! Donating his time, Nony worked to create a mural showing unity with the interlocking black and white hands. We need more Nony.
Title: “Do the Things that Light you up”
Location: 913 Central Avenue
Artist: Duarte Designs
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @duarte_designs
Story: This is the first mural for mother and daughter artist team Duarte Designs! For daughter Sydney, a dream of leaving the corporate world to pursue making art was happening. Eating ice cream and talking with the owner of the store, she described an idea for bringing her artistic vision to their wall. And a project began. Only a few months later, the artists received a commission for a large wall at Spirit Square which is on our Mad About Murals Artwalk. Dreams do come true!
Key Formal Elements:
As a contrast to the original, colorful ice cream cone at the far right, the artists rely on a grey-scale self-portrait of Sydney and a limited palette. The artists wish for viewers to not see color, or preconceived ideas when they look at the mural. In that way, viewers are more easily able to see themselves in the image. The Duarte team spreads messages of hope and positivity with the quotes and want many to relate to their message.
Location: 927 Central Avenue
Artist: Jeks
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @jeks_nc
Story: Greensboro-based Jeks painted this mural for Talking Walls 2018, the city-wide mural festival. Jeks is a graffiti artist, street artist, and muralist known for his hyperrealist portraits. His most recent mural in Charlotte is a stunning portrait at Luminous Lane in Uptown.
Key Formal Elements:
The skull is a common vanitas symbol. It also looks pretty cool. A vanitas painting has objects that are symbolic of the certainty of death and remind the viewer of the fleeting quality of our lives. Here the sensuous surface quality of the skull draws us into its beauty.
Title: Advent Co-Working mural
Location: 933 Louise Avenue
Artist: Nico Amortegui
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @nico_malo1
Story: During the Fall of 2020, this large building-sized mural was funded in part with COVID funds and help from the NoDa neighborhood and the Belmont neighborhood. Advent Co-Working and Paper Plane Deli worked with the artist to come up with imagery for the mural. Nico Amortegui is an artist, sculptor, and muralist with early murals in Charlotte in NoDa and the Elizabeth neighborhoods. His abstract, Cubism-inspired work is easy to recognize around town.
Key Formal Elements:
History abounds in the mural so let’s take a look. Scattered around the mural are dates and clues around important events in the history of Charlotte. If you know one or two, tag us in an Instagram post. For example, find the 1985 date and the hornet for a reference to the then new NBA Charlotte Hornets. At the top center of the mural Amortegui paints a black and white profile with a crown as a reference to the mixed heritage of Queen Charlotte. Have fun figuring out all of the references!
Title: “Louise Cotton Bunny”
Location: 932 Seigle Avenue
Artist: Amy Hart
Date: 2021
Media: Scrap metal, found items, mixed media
Artist Info: @amyhart0224
Story: This is the second artwork installed at the Innovation Barn and you will want to touch the art for this one. Amy Hart is a “found object sculptor.” She has a BFA from Syracuse University in Surface Design and Metalsmithing and has sculptures on our South End ArtWalk and in the Matthews area. Working with all types of found objects and lots of welding, it took the artist about 5 weeks to complete this sculpture.
Key Formal Elements:
The name “Louise Cotton Bunny” was voted on by the community and honors the name of the original Louise Cotton Mill in the community.
TRASH TIP: The Bunny is blowing air bubbles, note the bubble wand made of a basketball hoop, to raise awareness that you cannot put bubble wrap in your curb-side recycling. But rather the Innovation Barn accepts your bubble wrap and recycles it with the original manufacturer.
Title: “Gaia”
Location: 932 Seigle Avenue
Artist: Ann Duarte and Sydney Duarte
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @duartedesigns, @travelinggypsy
Story: The Innovation Barn is a cool facility that is part of the Envision Charlotte program to create a more competitive, sustainable, and impactful community. It has programs to showcase circular economies, a café, teaching kitchen, composting center and lots more. Ann Duarte and Sydney Duarte are a mother and daughter artist team with murals on our uptown, NoDa, and Plaza-Midwood Artwalks. Their fun, interactive murals with messages of positivity and love are adored all over the city of Charlotte.
Key Formal Elements:
Duarte Designs celebrates our planet with a figure of Gaia, the Greek mythological goddess of the earth. Covered in flowers, leaves, and stems, she creates the rainbow flowing across the wall. The artists believe in taking care of our planet and invite you to see all of the color and beauty of our world.
Also, take note of the sweet mural painting by Girl Scout Troop #1577 on the far right of the building.
Title: Belmont Mural
Location: Seigle Avenue
Artist: Rosalia Torres-Weiner
Date: 2021
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @redcalacastudio
Story: This mural was funded by the City of Charlotte Placemaking Program and marks an important corridor in the Belmont Neighborhood. Rosalia Torres-Weiner is an “artivist,” an artist and activist who loves combining bright colors and shapes to be an activist for feminism, immigration issues, and the uplifting of unheard voices. The Belmont Community is located on Charlotte’s Northeast edge and is surrounded by NoDa, Villa Heights, Optimist Park, and Plaza Midwood.
Key Formal Elements:
Much of the public art by Torres-Weiner tells a story. And here the story is about the Belmont neighborhood. The artist anchors the center of the neighborhood with the historic mill and includes some of the mill houses. Flowers, rays of sun, and decorative patterns all point to the revival of the neighborhood. Sadly, a part of the mural was defaced recently. On the right side, the artist added an image of her mother as a protector of her mural. Murals are in public space and occasionally are targeted by vandals. Thank you Rosalia for making this beautiful again!