Walk one block to back of Knight Theatre
Location: 400 block of S. Church Street on back side of Knight Theatre
Title: “Where the Magic Happens”
Artist: Duarte Designs
Date: 2021
Media: Spray paint and brushwork
Artist Info: @duarte_designs
Story: Commissioned by Blumenthal Performing Arts, this mural by Duarte Designs celebrates all those involved with the performing arts that you never see on stage. Duarte Designs, a mother and daughter artist team of Sydney and Ann Duarte, gives the viewer a behind the scenes look at back stage life from the stage looking out into soon-to-be-filled audience seats.
Key Formal Elements:
- Primary colors of red, blue and yellow stand out
- Overlap of the three areas in the foreground creates depth
** The mural is painted on a loading dock door so if the door is up, come back at a later time.
Make the Connection:
See if you can find all of the connections to being a part of the performing arts. Look at the incredibly detailed rack of costumes. During interviews with the long-time wardrobe supervisor, the artist asked about her favorite costumes over the years and each one in the mural comes from her favorites. There’s a costume from the Nutcracker and one from The Band’s Visit, a 2019 Grammy Award winner. Find the theatre union #322 mark on one of the trunks. Then imagine yourself ready to grab your seat in the theatre and take in all the magic of the show.
Walk back to Tryon, walk to 3rd Street, turn right
Title: Luminous Lane
Location: Alley between 3rd and 4th, half block from Tryon
Artists: 43 various artists
Date: 2023-2024
Media: Acrylic paint
Story: An alley full of murals? Yes, please. Luminous Lane is the street art stop in Uptown. Curated by artists Sydney Duarte and Treazy Treaz, this former forgotten, dark, and uninviting alley was painted by over forty artists during Charlotte Shout festivals. Working for about three weeks, artists shared lifts, engaged with the public, and inspired all of us to think more creatively about our city. Thank you to all the artists!
Key Formal Elements:
- Unity created through the use of common color palette
- Variety created through all of the different artist styles
Make the Connection:
Curators Duarte and Treaz worked with the theme of Light. What brings light into our lives? How does light transform space and time? What is light to the artists? Walk down the alley and see if you can see the light coming through each of these different murals.
PRO TIP: Look up our two separate Luminous Lane ArtWalks to learn more about each mural.
Walk one block to Brevard & Third
Location: 219 S. Brevard Street
Artist: Abel R. Jackson
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @artbyabel
Story: Local artist Abel R. Jackson makes a terrific debut with his first mural in uptown Charlotte. Beautifully executed realistic portraits of three prominent African-American leaders of historic Charlotte float above tightly rendered depictions of the buildings behind this mural. The artist pays homage to the past while connecting to the future.
Inspired by viewing the historic stained glass panels in the Grace A.M.E. Zion Church, Jackson created abstract, colorful designs on the side of the mural. Look up and around to see his inspiration in the historic building!
Key Formal Elements:
- Linear perspective of the buildings
- Highlights on the realistic faces
Make the Connection:
On the far left, Thad Tate was an important African-American businessman and founder of the Grace A.M.E. Zion Church, housed in the building in front of the mural. Dr. J.T. Williams was one of the first African-American doctors licensed in NC, and one of the first black diplomats serving as an ambassador overseas. On the right, W.C. Smith was a prominent businessman and the founder of Charlotte’s first black newspaper.
How do the colorful graphics on each side support the history of the site?
Check out the back of the building
Location: 219 S. Brevard Street
Artist: Abel R. Jackson
Date: 2019
Media: Spray paint and marker
Artist Info: @artbyabel
Story: Local artist Abel Jackson was voted Queen City Nerve Muralist of the Year in 2021 and we are lucky to have him in Charlotte. Jackson has murals in uptown, Camp North End, NoDa, and Historic West End. He is known for his detailed realistic portraits. On the back of the Mecklenburg Investment Company building, Jackson celebrates Black history of the Second Ward and Brooklyn neighborhood.
Key Formal Elements:
- Black and white value scale of the two figures
- Limited color palette
Make the Connection:
The Mecklenburg Investment Company building was constructed in 1922 and was the first office building built for and by Black professionals in Charlotte. Jackson depicts William W. Smith, the designer and building of the structure. Smith was one of the first Black designers in Charlotte and he is known for his intricate brickwork on the exterior of buildings. His brickwork designs often incorporate different color and texture bricks to create a compelling and creative design. Step around the building and look up to see some examples of his work. Smith also designed the beautiful Grace A. M. E. Zion church next door.
*Worth the Walk* Head to 300 Caldwell
Location: 300 S. Davidson Street (back of building facing Caldwell)
Artist: Curtis King
Date: 2021
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @piecesofceekay
Story: This mural was commissioned by the City of Charlotte, Charlotte Mecklenburg Food Policy Council and the Uptown Farmer’s Market to promote healthy nutrition at the farmer’s market. Curtis King is a school teacher and muralist. King has murals in the Belmont neighborhood and on the West Side of Charlotte. He started this large-scaled mural at the end of June and painted for about three weeks during the summer heat to finish it for the grand opening of the Uptown Farmer’s Market.
Key Formal Elements:
- Polychromatic color scheme
- Strong use of outline along the main shapes
Make the Connection:
Find Queen Charlotte on the left and notice the purple and teal colors of her tiara and face as connections to important sports colors in Charlotte. From there, the artist celebrates all things farmer’s market with fish, eggs, fresh fruit, flowers and the rows of white tents as you move right. What’s your favorite part of a farmer’s market? Find it when you visit every Saturday from April to December.
Walk back to 4th, head toward Tryon
Title: Piece for Peace Mural
Location:
Artist: Sofles
Date: 2024
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @sofles
Story: This mural was commissioned as part of the Charlotte Shout festival with the Piece for Peace Movement. Sofles is an internationally known Australian artist painting at mural festivals all over the world. The artist painted this in 7 ½ days on site! Impressive!
Key Formal Elements:
- Highlights on the face
- Implied Line
Make the Connection:
Each artist was asked to think about what Peace means to them in these Charlotte Shout commissions. Sofles chose to paint his daughter as he believes we need to educate our next generations about our world. She holds the planet in her hands and gazes intently at it showing the power of intentional thinking and action. The fires on the planet are both symbolic and real since at the time of the painting, there were numerous fires burning on the planet.
Continue on 4th
Title: Hxncho Memorial Mural
Location: 4thStreet
Artists: Sydney Duarte and Treazy Treaz
Date: 2024
Media: Spray Paint
Artist Info:@travelinggypsy, @treazytreaz
Story: This mural is dedicated to the memory and celebration of young and super talented artist Hxncho who passed away in 2023 shortly after the completion of Luminous Lane. When news of his passing hit the Charlotte artist community, impromptu vigils, gatherings, and memorials took place to honor his life and art. Art exhibits held special places for his art and the community mourned his passing. Artist Duarte and Treazy Treaz vowed to remember Hxncho and his special personality.
Key Formal Elements:
- Limited color palette
- Highlights in the face
Make the Connection:
In a double portrait, Hxncho is celebrated larger than life as a person and an artist. His artistic roots were in street art and graffiti and all the characters on his shirt come from his art, especially the iconic flower with the third eye which he is seen painting. Step inside Luminous Lane to see his mural there toward the 3rd Street side.
Continue on 4th
Title: “Rebuilding Blocks”
Location: 4th Street between Tryon and College
Artist: Darion Fleming
Date: 2024
Media: Spray Paint
Artist Info:@daflemingo
Story: The Charlotte Shout festival comes every year and lately the festival brings more murals to our uptown walls! This wall is partnership with Charlotte Shout and the Piece for Peace Movement and Fleming painted it during the two-week festival run. Fleming is a local artist known for his larger and larger scale murals, with ever increasing levels of detail. Fun fact: His COVID era mural “Liquid Gold” of a bottle of hand sanitizer received arts coverage in the NY Times.
Key Formal Elements:
- Scale, just scale
- Visual texture of the green hoodie
Make the Connection:
Fleming asks the viewer to stop and take a moment and be still. In the quietness of this child intentionally placing the final block in the tower spelling PEACE, we see the innocence and belief in this small, individual action. Each artist was asked to explore the idea of PEACE with this commission from the Piece for Peace Movement, a movement to unify human consciousness through art and creativity and founded by two local artists.
At the stairs on 4th
Title: Piece for Peace Mural
Location: Stairway up to Plaza
Artist: Joey Obsoe with Matt Moore, Noir, and Primed and Ready Murals
Date: 2024
Media: Acrylic Paint
Artist Info: @joeyobsoe, @puckmcgruff, @noirone, @primedandreadymurals
Story: One more mural for the Charlotte Shout festival and Piece for Peace. Local lead artist, Joey Obsoe worked with three additional artists, Matt Moore, Noir, and Primed and Ready Murals, to paint this wall. Various tones of pinks and blues cover this wall along the stairway to the top.
Key Formal Elements:
- Limited color palette
- Variety and lack of negative space rule
Make the Connection:
We don’t know many artists who would start a large-scale wall like this without a plan. But lead artist Obsoe embraced the idea of chaos and flow and pulled together a fun mural with a lot of cohesion. The artists followed the staircase flow with the letters for PEACE and built a message of attaining peace with all of the icons. This wall is just having too much fun!
At the top of the stairs
Title: Queen Charlotte
Location: Alley behind Tupelo Honey
Artist: Abel Jackson
Date: 2023
Media: Spray paint
Artist Info: @artbyabel
Story: We always love another mural by Queen City Nerve’s Best Muralist of the Year in 2021. Abel Jackson thrills us here with his luscious highlights on the figure’s face and intense, saturated colors. This is a Charlotte Shout commission and Jackson painted this mural in about five days. Whew! Jackson is a master with the spray paint can and this new mural of Queen Charlotte pulls us down the alley for a deeper look.
Key Formal Elements:
- Highlights and shading in the portrait
- Hyper-realism style
Make the Connection:
Jackson gives us a modern-day Queen Charlotte. Our city of Charlotte was named after Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who was Queen of Great Britain from 1761 – 1818 with her marriage to King George III. The coronation portrait of the Queen is a must see at the Mint Museum. Jackson explores ideas of the Queen’s mixed race heritage in this portrait and the flowers signify that she was known as the botanist Queen because of her interest in gardening.
Right on E. Trade, walk 2 blocks
Location: 220 E. Trade Street
Artist: Jonay di Ragno
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @jonay_di_ragno
Story: Jonay Di Ragno describes himself as an Abstract Expressionist artist and was raised in both Spain and the Caribbean. He is most known in Charlotte for creating his “Fibonacci Spiral” mural in NoDa. Unfortunately the NoDa spiral mural was removed so the uptown version is the only one remaining. This mural is a project for Charlotte Shout.
Key Formal Elements:
- Cool colors of blue with accents of orange
- Focal point is center of spiral
Make the Connection:
Di Ragno’s mural is based on the Fibonacci Sequence, a mathematical series of numbers. These numbers are often expressed in nature and are seen to have divine or perfect connotations.
Walk to 408 E Trade
Location: 408 E. Trade Street
Artist: Hoxxoh
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @hoxxoh
Story: Miami-based artist, Hoxxoh, is interested in exploring time and the energy of time in his work. He created this work for the inaugural Talking Walls mural festival.
Key Formal Elements:
- Saturated cool color blue dominates the far right
- Pattern and repetition are important
Make the Connection:
Color, pattern, and repetition mix together to create the effect of a tunnel, or a time travel tunnel. Even the gear-shaped edges of each layer suggest the precision of time. Do you feel trapped by this tunnel and its intense structure or do you feel movement and escape?
Walk to Tyon, Cross Trade, RT on 4th
Location: West 4th Street across from Pearl Dentistry along a loading dock
Title: "Fly Girl"
Artist: Sloane Siobhan
Date: 2019
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @namasteloner
Story: Artist Sloane Siobhan is from Charlotte and received her BFA in Studio Art from Appalachian State University. She's worked out of Las Vegas recently and came home to paint this mural for the Charlotte Shout festival.
Key Formal Elements:
- Asymmetrical balance
- Blue and orange complementary colors
Make the Connection:
Siobhan nestles a profile of an African-American woman in light and fluffy blue and orange cloud-like forms. A flowing ribbon of wild style graffiti lettering leads your eye to the paper airplane. In a description of the work, Siobhan writes, “because despite the cards dealt you can rise.” The mural inspires in its message and delights with its visuals. Can you determine what the wild style lettering says?
Continue on 4th one block
Title: New Green’s Lunch Mural
Location: 4thStreet
Artist: Swych
Date: 2024
Media: Spray Paint
Artist Info: @Swych
Story: This current mural is maybe the 2nd or even 3rd mural on the wall of the former Green’s Lunch restaurant. Green’s Lunch was a staple in uptown eateries for a long time with their famous hotdogs and burgers. With new owners, a new mural was commissioned for a bright and fresh new look. Swych is an OG street artist and with work all over the city.
Key Formal Elements:
- Symmetrical balance
- Strong use of outline
Make the Connection:
All the icons. Swych centers the Pepsi bottle as a connection to one of the earlier murals. Wild style graffiti lettering creates energetic movement across the mural and are clues to the artist’s prolific graffiti writing career. Easter eggs like the cardinal (NC state bird), signature street corners of Trade and Tryon, and the light rail all explore Charlotte imagery and make this piece a celebration of our city.
Left on Popular, in parking lot
Title: Piece for Peace Mural
Location:
Artists: Sofles and Treazy Treaz
Date: 2024
Media: Spray Paint
Artist Info: @sofles, @treazytreaz
Story: The Piece for Peace movement is a world-wide movement to unify human consciousness through art and creativity by raising awareness and bringing the collective together for positive change. The movement has sparked creative of works of art all over the world but with a significant number of them in Charlotte due to the founders being based in Charlotte. This is one of the murals created during the initial Worldwide Piece for Peace Day on April 7, 2024.
Key Formal Elements:
- Limited color palette of greens and browns
- Symmetrical balance
Make the Connection:
Imagine you are an explorer (AKA Indiana Jones like) and you’ve entered the Land of Peace and found the important tribal sculpture. Artists Treazy Treaz and Australian artist Sofles create a world of lush greens and intricate wild-style graffiti lettering of the word PEACE and ask you to explore the meaning of that idea. Take the first step into this inviting world!
At back of same building
Title: Piece for Peace
Location: 3rd Street
Artist: JEKS
Date: 2024
Media: Spray paint
Artist Info:
Story: Coming soon!
Key Formal Elements:
Make the Connection:
Coming soon!
Walk back to Tryon, find alley
Location: 203 S. Tryon Street
Artist: McMonster
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @mc_monster
Story: Portland-based artist, McMonster, created this hidden gem for Talking Walls and it is all things J.R.R. Tolkien and a fantasy world. The artist is inspired by Tolkien, nature, science fiction, fantasy, and dreamscapes. His subject matter in this mural, a person in a small boat holding a white balloon with a grey-scale, mountainous landscape behind, speaks to all of those interests. This was the first mural for McMonster.
Key Formal Elements:
- Symmetrical balance
- Outline of the balloon shape and contour lines in the water
Make the Connection:
What does it mean when something is curated? According to Miriam-Webster, curated means “carefully chosen and thoughtfully organized or presented.” This mural was curated by Talking Walls and we see how a curator can impact your experience of viewing a work of art. If you walked down this alley, you may have felt a little uneasy. Where were you going? How far is it? What’s at the end? Maybe you experienced a little delight upon spying this work of art from the street knowing, others may have passed it by. As you walk toward the mural and the noise of the city lessens, you are face to face with this mural which only leaves you with questions and mystery.