Start at Five Points Plaza
Title: “Even Higher”
Location: 5 Points Plaza
Artist: J. Stacy Utley, Evoke Studio Architecture
Date: 2021
Media: Stainless steel
Artist Info: @jstacyutleyart,
Story: Sponsored by the City of Charlotte, the Arts & Science Council, and the Knight Foundation, this sculpture is the focal point for the Five Points Plaza. Artist J. Stacy Utley is a noted designer and artist with degrees in architecture and art. Utley partnered with Evoke Studio Architecture, a Durham-based architectural firm, to create this sculpture and the four additional gateway pieces along West Trade Street. Together, the sculptures form a “Faith Walk” which links the corridor and plaza and tells the story of Historic West End.
Key Formal Elements:
- Free-standing sculpture
- Abstract form
Make the Connection:
Awarded the project in 2018, the artists began an intensive process of community engagement by listening to the elders of this historic, long-established community. Through this process of conversations with leaders and residents, ideas around heritage, roots, and quilts inspired the artists. As you look upward, angular panels illustrate the ground-breaking walk of Dorothy Counts-Scoggins in 1957 to integrate Harding High School. Additional panels show the Excelsior Club and Biddle Hall of Johnson C. Smith University. In an abstract version of a torch, viewers are inspired to continue the walk upward with these principles of excellence.
Located in the plaza
Title: Utility Box Wrap
Location: 5 Points Plaza
Artist: J. Stacy Utley
Date: 2021
Media: Vinyl wrap
Artist Info: @jstacyutleyart,
Story: The very first vinyl wraps for a utility box were sponsored by Fort Collins, CO in 2004 as a graffiti abatement program. Now so many municipalities use them as a public art tool and beautification program. Stacy Utley is the artist of the “Even Higher” sculpture in the center of the plaza and also designed the vinyl wrap.
Key Formal Elements:
- Overlapping of figures create dynamic movement
- Polychromatic color scheme
Make the Connection:
Utley builds his composition full of images of Historic West End. Layered in front are people in bright dress patters and colors. In the background are familiar icons of the past like the Excelsior Club (also on the large sculpture), the water tower up the street a bit, Biddle Gate, and the former overstreet walkway. His style echos that a bit of Romare Bearden’s collages, Amy Sherald’s portraits, while adding a fresh, bright placemaking tool.
Cross street to other side of plaza
Title: “Gather Together”
Location: Five Points Plaza
Artist: Michele Teujola Turner
Date: 2004
Media: Ceramic tile
Artist Info: www.micheletejuolaturner.com
Story: Commissioned in 2004 by the Arts & Science Council, this ceramic installation has a new life after it was moved and reinstalled with the redesign of the Five Points Plaza in 2021. Michele Teujola Turner is a storyteller and her primary medium of painted gourds connects to her exploration of African-American traditions. Turner has work in the Mint Museum here in Charlotte and several other pieces of public art.
Key Formal Elements:
- Polychromatic color scheme
- Geometric shapes
Make the Connection:
Turner draws inspiration from traditional quilting patters, African textiles, and uses Adinkra symbols in this work. Adinkra symbols originally appeared in textiles, architecture and clay in West Africa. Look for the spirals which symbolize that even the strong have to be humble. And concentric circles which stand for greatness, charisma, and leadership. For families, make sure you download our Historic West End Activity Guide for fun activities based on the art.
Also note the seats which are made to look like African drums.
Walk toward uptown and cross at transit shelter
Title: “The Worth of That, is That Which It Contains and That is This, and This With Thee Remains”
Location: Gold Line Light Rail Platform
Artist: George Bates
Date: 2021
Media: Laminated windscreen glass
Artist info: @bates_george
Story: Federal Transit Administration Circular 9400.1A encourages the inclusion of art in transit systems. According to the circular, "Good design and art can improve the appearance and safety of a facility, give vibrancy to its public spaces, and make patrons feel welcome." In other word, design matters. For the Gold Line, up to 1% of design and construction costs was set aside to create public art. CATS Arts in Transit program hired artists as part of design teams. The resulting art is often functional, and integrated into the architecture.
George Bates is a New Jersey based public artist. His public works are in transit systems all over the country and he exhibits his studio work widely.
Key Formal Elements:
- Polychromatic color schemes
- Positive shapes of the figures and main elements
Make the Connection:
Let’s talk about that title. The title of these series of windscreen panels comes from a 1954 Johnson C. Smith University yearbook entry that referenced Shakespeare’s sonnet 74. Bates was given access to years of JSCU yearbooks and archives and he used those histories to inform his designs. Some of his designs reference people, places, monuments, and the everyday images that make up a long, complex history of the Historic West End.
Walk toward West Complex
Title: “Manifest Future”
Location: 1600 West Trade retaining wall
Artist: Janelle Dunlap, Georgie Nakima, Sloane Siobhan
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @denise_thugstable, @gardenofjourney, @namasteloner
Story: With support from the Knight Foundation and the Charlotte League for Creative Interventionists, three artists collaborated on this mural to reclaim and celebrate Black space in this parking lot of the former A & P. Curator Janell Dunlap worked with the sponsors and the community to identify the space for the mural and artists for the mural. Community workshops and painting days engaged and empowered residents through art. In this symbolic Afro-futurist style mural, the title, “Manifest Future” refers to seeing and making possible a future where Black voices and culture are embedded in decision making and ideas around progress.
Key Formal Elements:
- Variety of different styles of the artists
- Scale
Make the Connection:
Like many older, close-in neighborhoods, this area of Historic West End is gentrifying. Gentrification often translates to displacement for original communities and cultures. In 2000, almost 100% of these surrounding neighborhoods were African-American. But twenty years later, development is bringing new populations and forcing out the old community and at times, knowledge about its history. With their mural, the artists want to reclaim this space and increase access to art in areas that don’t traditionally have access to art.
Focus on work by Georgie Nakima
Title: “Tree of Life,” “Faith,” “Unity” and “Reclamation”
Location: 1600 West Trade retaining wall
Artist: Georgie Nakima
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @gardenofjourney
Story: The program for the mural includes different themes around the idea of celebrating Black culture. Georgie Nakima is an established studio art and street artist painting nationally in mural festivals and artist residencies. Some of her earliest murals in Charlotte have now been lost so this is an important record of her early work. Nakima’s work celebrates African culture through the use of symbols and references to textile patterns, while also connecting to the artist’s study and love of biology and plants.
Key Formal Elements:
- Geometric shapes and patterns
- Bilateral symmetry of “Reclamation”
Make the Connection:
Nakima’s work makes a connection to the patterns and symbols known as Adinkra from the Asante people of West Africa. And there’s often a reference to plants, symmetry, and spirals, which all show the inter-connectness of our universe. Look closely at the “Reclamation” panel to find patterns, biology, and then look at “Unity” to see how the artist incorporated a spiral form.
Focus on work by Sloane Siobhan
Title: “Ancestry,” “Creativity,” and “Group Work”
Location: 1600 West Trade retaining wall
Artist: Sloane Siobhan
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @namasteloner
Story: Artist Sloane Siobhan grew up in Charlotte and was a recent graduate with a BFA from Appalachian University when she started this project. While her work had been included in a group show here in Charlotte, this was her first major mural commission. Siobhan completed a mural for Charlotte Shout in 2019 that is uptown. She is primarily known for her work in oils and this was her first experience using spray paint.
Key Formal Elements:
- Oh, the highlights in her portraits
- Implied motion of her figures
Make the Connection:
Siobhan is known as a studio artist for her stunning, realistic, and lush portraits and in this mural, each of her panels includes a portrait. Please take note of the incredible highlights and shadows on each of the figures that the artist created using a spray can. Yes, using a spray can for the first time. Notice how Siobhan’s panels are more realistic than the abstract panels of Nakima but how each tells a story rooted in Black culture.
On side wall of former A&P store
Title: “NC8 Greats”
Location: 1600 West Trade Street
Artist: T’Afo Feimster, Abel Jackson
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @tafoarts, @artbyabel
Story: T’Afo Feimster and Abel Jackson collaborated on “The Great Escape” across the street and again on this mural. Jackson is a noted mural artist with murals in NoDa and uptown and Feimster has been involved in preserving Black culture for several decades in Charlotte. The mural was commissioned and funded by the Duke Endowment, Johnson C. Smith University, and Historic West End Partners.
Key Formal Elements:
- Grey-scale portraits
- Saturated colors of background
Make the Connection:
Each of these portraits is of an African-American musician with roots in North Carolina. Thelonius Monk was a self-taught pianist and born in Rocky Mount. Pianist and singer-song writer Nina Simone was born in Tryon. John Coltrane, saxophonist and jazz musician was born in Hamlet. Saxophonist Maceo Parker was born in Kinston. Max Roach, a drummer with a connection to bepop drumming, was born in Pasquotank County. Black Mountain is the birthplace of Robert Flack. George Clinton was born in Kannapolis and Chuck Brown was born in Gaston County.
Continue to other side of building
Location: 1600 West Trade Street
Artist: Marcus Kiser and Jason Woodberry
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @marcus_kiser, @jason_woodberry
Story: Artists Marcus Kiser and Jason Woodberry, along with artist Quentin Talley, produce a project called Intergalactic Soul. Intergalactic Soul is an installation and exhibit that traces the adventures of two young, black astronauts traveling through space confronting social justice issues as a person of color. Both Kiser and Woodberry are multimedia artists and combine elements of fine arts, comics, graffiti and technology in their art. This mural was created in partnership with the Knight Foundation and Historic West End.
Key Formal Elements:
- Limited color palette
- Symmetrical balance with the astronaut and the text
Make the Connection:
The artists balance the past on the right with the future on the left. On the left, the astronaut, a connection to Afro-futurism, floats freely amongst the nebulas and stars. Why do you think the artist rendered the astronaut upside-down?
On the right, Woodberry presents his “LHAXX.” Woodberry invented a sort of signature text or hieroglyphic language which he calls “LHAXX.” It is named after Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cells contributed to groundbreaking medical research after they were harvested from her body without her permission or knowledge.
Woodberry’s hieroglyphs are a representation of a famous quote by James Baldwin, noted African-American novelist, playwright, poet and racial activist. Note: to watch a video and translate the text in the mural, find the signage and download the free app.
Walk to the I-77 Underpass
Title: West End Gateway mural
Location: Trade Street I-77 Underpass
Artist: Jamil Dyair Steele
Date: 2022
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist info: @dyairart
Story: The City of Charlotte sponsored this monumental mural as part of their Historic West End revitalization program. Jamil Dyair Steele, an artist, educator, and graduate of West Charlotte High School was chosen as one of the finalists for the mural. Community groups voted and ranked the mural proposals and Steele’s proposal was chosen as the winner.
Key Formal Elements:
- Scale
- Asymmetrical balance with focal point of young girl and boy’s profile
Make the Connection:
Steele chose to find a way to unite the past and present of Historic West End as a way of considering its growth into the future. On the wall closest to uptown, you will find images of present-day West End. Look for images of the present day Five Points Plaza, the JCSU marching band, NW School or the Arts and others. On the side pointing to JCSU, you will see images of the important history of the area. Dorothy Scoggins, who integrated Harding High during the Civil Rights Era, Julius Chambers, an important Civil Rights Era attorney, landmark buildings like the Excelsior Club, Grand Theatre and many other images tell the story of area’s past. Enjoy it all including the pink and white dogwood blossoms that were spray painted by members of the community.
Walk up to 1545 West Trade Street
Title: “Mosaic Village”
Location: 1545 West Trade Street
Artist: Abel Jackson with Big Trouble Studios
Date: 2020
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @artbyabel, @bigtroublestudios
Story: Muralist Abel Jackson paints a welcoming gateway mural to West End. Jackson revives an older composition he painted that would have been lost with new construction and highlights iconic buildings from the Biddleville neighborhood. Biddleville, one of Charlotte’s oldest surviving black neighborhoods, is celebrated with references to Johnson C. Smith University, reminders of its thriving, culturally elite black population, and references to its past and future.
Key Formal Elements:
- Lines of perspective guide you to the center of the arch
- Symmetrical balance with the historic trolley and the new light rail car
Make the Connection:
The Johnson C. Smith University stone gateway arch provides a focal point as each of the historic buildings radiate out from the arch. Originally called the Biddle Institute and founded in 1867 to “train leaders for newly freed black populations,” Johnson C. Smith is Charlotte’s historically black college. The white stucco Excelsior Club on the far right was the first black social club in Charlotte where many black musicians played to standing room only crowds. In the middle of the composition, the Grand Theatre, a black-only movie house, the Old Mount Carmel Baptist Church, one of many churches designed by noted Charlotte architect Louis Asbury, and Biddle Hall’s brick clocktower rise up to meet the sky. On the left, Garr Memorial Church is painted with their iconic “Jesus Saves” sign which used to be visible from I-85. Each side of the composition is anchored by transportation as seen in the historic trolley which came to Biddleville in 1903 and the current new light rail car.
On next building
Title: JCSU Arts Factory mural
Location: 1545 W. Trade Street
Artist: Hasaan Kirkland
Date: 2013
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @kirklandhasaan
Story: Long time educator, curator, and artist, Hasaan Kirkland was an arts faculty member at JSCU when he and his students completed this mural. It is on the side of the Arts Factory building which then housed the dance, graphic design, film, video production, studio arts, and theatre arts. Kirkland, now teaching in Seattle, describes his style as expressionism and neo-abstract.
Key Formal Elements:
- Extensive use of line and contour lines (look at the bull)
- Lack of negative space
Make the Connection:
The focal point of this piece is the bull which is larger in scale and the center of the mural. The golden bull (Smitty) is the mascot of JCSU, and here he is surrounded by representations of all of the arts taught at the university. Note the date of 2013. This is so early in mural history in Charlotte.
Originally this mural was covered in color but over time, it has faded. Especially the yellow which was the original color of the bull. Why does this happen? Ultraviolet light causes chemicals in certain dyes to fade and reds and yellows are often the first to fade.
In small park with fence out front
Title: The Great Escape
Location: 1635 Trade Street
Artist: Abel Jackson, T’Afo Feimster
Date: 2014
Media: Acrylic paint on wooden panels
Artist Info: @artbyabel, @tafoarts
Story: “The Great Escape” is a series of eight painted panels about the Underground Railroad by Charlotte artists Abel Jackson and T’Afo Feimster. The exhibit is presented by LATIBAH (Life and Times in Black American History), the Collard Green Museum, and Historic West End. Originally, LATIBAH and Collard Green Museum founder, T’Afo Feimster, received a grant from the Arts & Science Council to prepare the panels for exhibition in his museum space. When that space was lost, the panels were moved to this small pocket park with the assistance of Historic West End.
Key Formal Elements:
- Narrative format that tells a story
Make the Connection:
“The Great Escape” is based on the Underground Railroad, a network of secret places and people used by enslaved and formerly enslaved African-Americans to escape into free areas. From the beginning panel, where we see the woman at the plantation to the final panel of welcoming into Philadelphia, the artists tell a story of escape, peril, fear, tragedy, and courage. Check out the separate “The Great Escape” ArtWalk to learn more about each panel.