Location: Intersection of Trade Street and Tryon Street
Artist: Raymond Kaskey
Date: 1994
Media: Bronze
Artist Info: www.kaskeystudio.com
Story: Funded by private community group Queens Table, the “Sculptures on the Square” mark the trading post where Charlotte’s first buildings were erected in the mid-1700s. This crossing of two Native American trading paths marks the center of uptown and is the highest geographical point of the surrounding area.
Key Formal Elements:
The artist draws your attention to several factors that influenced Charlotte’s growth. Check out the plaque in the ground on the northeast corner for more information. The title of each sculpture is at eye level when you face the buildings. In this sculpture, the gold miner pans for gold during the first gold rush in the country in 1799. The first branch of the US Mint would be established in Charlotte and eventually house the Mint Museum.
Location: Intersection of Trade Street and Tryon Street
Artist: Raymond Kaskey
Date: 1994
Media: Bronze
Artist Info: www.kaskeystudio.com
Story: Funded by private community group Queens Table, the “Sculptures on the Square” mark the trading post where Charlotte’s first buildings were erected in the mid-1700s. This crossing of two Native American trading paths marks the center of uptown and is the highest geographical point of the surrounding area.
Key Formal Elements:
In this sculpture, the railroad worker symbolizes the importance of transportation in the history of Charlotte. The #1401 is a reference to the Southern Railway route from Greenville, SC to Spencer, NC. The Eagle symbolizes flight.
Location: Intersection of Trade Street and Tryon Street
Artist: Raymond Kaskey
Date: 1994
Media: Bronze
Artist Info: www.kaskeystudio.com
Story: Funded by private community group Queens Table, the “Sculptures on the Square” mark the trading post where Charlotte’s first buildings were erected in the mid-1700s. This crossing of two Native American trading paths marks the center of uptown and is the highest geographical point of the surrounding area.
Key Formal Elements:
In this sculpture, "Future," a mother holds her child up in the air. Look closely at the flowers sculpted along her legs and you will see the dogwood blossom. The dogwood blossom became the NC state flower in 1941.
Location: Intersection of Trade Street and Tryon Street
Artist: Raymond Kaskey
Date: 1994
Media: Bronze
Artist Info: www.kaskeystudio.com
Story: Funded by private community group Queens Table, the “Sculptures on the Square” mark the trading post where Charlotte’s first buildings were erected in the mid-1700s. This crossing of two Native American trading paths marks the center of uptown and is the highest geographical point of the surrounding area.
Key Formal Elements:
In this sculpture, "Industry," a female mill worker hides the child laborer in her skirt folds. Spindles representing the mill work cascade down the front.
Location: 112 South Tryon Street Architectural Frieze
Date: 1927
Media: Sandstone
Story: The First National Bank was built in 1927 and was the second tallest building in North Carolina when it was completed. Noted Charlotte architect Louis Asbury designed the building.
Key Formal Elements:
The artists created a variety of designs for the ornamental carved sandstone. There are figures from nature and some references to classical figures or mythological figures. Three animals are central to the design. Can you find the beehive, the squirrel, and the owl? Can you relate the symbolic meanings of these animals to the original purpose of the building?
Location: Southeast corner of intersection on the Bank of America Plaza
Artist: Arnaldo Pomodoro
Date: 1974
Media: Bronze
Artist Info: www.arnaldopomodoro.it
Story: This is one of the first public art installations in Charlotte. Created by Italian artist Pomodoro, the sculpture speaks to the growth and energy of the city.
Key Formal Elements:
When it was first installed, the sculpture physically rotated on an internal axis. Later, changes were made to conform to requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The sculpture is now raised on a platform and includes markers for the visually impaired. It is one of 6 “Il Grande Disco” sculptures installed across the world, from Milan, Italy to Chicago.
Location: 100 North Tryon Street in the lobby of the Bank of America Corporate Center
Artist: Ben Long
Date: 1993
Media: Fresco
Artist Info: www.benlongfineart.com
Story: North Carolina native Ben Long was commissioned by then NationsBank to create this work for the bank’s corporate headquarters. It is Long’s first non-religious artwork. Long works in the fresco painting method, which was known to the ancient Romans and prevalent during the Renaissance. Fresco painting involves painting into wet plaster directly onto the wall and is ideal for creating murals. It took Long and his assistant four months to complete these frescos.
Key Formal Elements:
Much has been written about the content of these artworks. The artist encourages viewers to find their own meanings in each of the panels. The three themes are “making/building,” “chaos/creativity,” and “mind/knowledge” from left to right. What features of each panel help to connect viewers to these themes?
Location: “Harmony” sculpture in plaza in front of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
Artist: Julie Warren Conn
Date: 1996
Media: Polished granite
Artist Info: www.juliewarrenconn.com
Story: Artist Julie Warren Conn studied sculpture at the University of Tennessee. Her artwork is installed in museums and in public and corporate collections throughout the Southeast. The title “Harmony” perhaps refers to the music present in the Performing Arts Center.
Key Formal Elements:
While the upper part of the sculpture features abstract forms with a small suggestion of a nebulous animal form, the pedestal is different. Here the artist creates more representational images of animals in a relief format. How many animals can you find?
Location: 105 East 5th Street
Artists: Matt Hooker, Matt Moore
Date: 2015
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @hookermedia, @puckmcgruff
Story: In one of the first murals completed by the duo of Matt Moore and Matt Hooker, this mural explodes with pictorial imagery related to the city of Charlotte.
Key Formal Elements:
This mural is exploding with symbols. For example, the crown surrounding the bright yellow explosion represents the city of Charlotte’s namesake Queen Charlotte. Can you find one symbol from Charlotte’s past and one from Charlotte’s present?
Charlotte, NC based non-profit ArtPop Street Gallery features the work of local artists on media space and makes art accessible to the community. Since 2014 #ArtPopCLT has promoted 130 local area artists on newsstands, billboards, mixed use development digital displays, the CLT Airport and more! Local artists who may have gone unseen are now receiving commissions, selling more art and making art accessible to ALL.
Holt A Harris is an artist and art teacher at Gaston Day School in Gastonia. Harris find Inspiration at the family farm, Red Boot Ranch, in Clover.
Josh Henderson is a painter and illustrator born and raised in Charlotte. Henderson puts his art on shirts and hosts pop up shops around the city.
See more about the ArtPop mission and work at www.artpopstreetgallery.com or follow them on Instagram at @artpopstreetgallery.
Location: 101 Independence Center
Artist: John Rietta
Date: 1983
Media: Polished stainless steel
Story: American artist John Rietta created this large, abstract sculpture for the plaza of the new twenty-story Independence Center. The site was the original location of Independence Square, where Mecklenburg County was established in 1763, and the town of Charlotte was created in 1768. Independence Center replaced the historic skyscraper called the Independence Building that was erected in 1906 and demolished in 1981.
Key Formal Elements:
NOTE: As of 9/7/2018, the sculpture was removed by the development company completing renovations of the plaza. It's location is unknown.
Abstract art of the 1970s and 80s sometimes is critically referred to as “plop art.” “Plop art” is a pejorative term used to describe art made for government or corporate plazas that lacks any connectivity to its site, therefore appearing to have been “plopped” down without context. Is there some way to connect this sculpture to its location by considering its potential meanings?
Location: 101 N. Tryon Street
Artist: John Hairston, Jr.
Date: 2018
Media: Acrylic paint
Artist Info: @jagolactus
Story: Artist John Hairston, Jr. grew up drawing superheroes, comics, and cartoons. His Instagram name is a combination of his name and Galactus, a Marvel supervillain. This mural was completed during a live painting competition at the end of Talking Walls, a city-wide mural festival held in 2018. His mural won the competition and became the featured artwork for Charlotte Shout. Charlotte Shout is a celebration of art, music, and ideas that coincided with the commemoration of Charlotte’s 250th anniversary and was held in May 2019.
** As of 3/2020 this temporary mural was removed.
Key Formal Elements:
In this energetic and colorful composition, the artist gives us a larger than life superhero surrounded by symbols of Charlotte. For instance, can you find a sly reference to a hornet or the handlebar top of the Duke Energy building? Notice the many dogwood blossoms dotting the canvas. The flowering blossom of the dogwood tree was designated as the North Carolina state flower in 1941. Look around the 4 corners of this intersection to find one more iconic symbol of Charlotte in the mural. Hint: It tells time.
Location: 227 West Trade Street inside the Carillon Building
Artist: Jean Tinguely
Date: 1991
Media: Mixed media
Story: Internationally famous and critically acclaimed Swiss artist Jean Tinguely traveled to Charlotte three times to make sketches, plans, and to execute what would turn out to be his last creation before his death. This dynamic yet controlled sculpture made of machines, junk, chains, lights and most anything else you can think of, is constantly moving and changing.
Key Formal Elements:
Tinguely uses place as an inspiration. Find the lion’s head plaque. It came from the historic Hotel Charlotte which was torn down to make way for the Carillion Building. Fun Fact: In 1988, magician David Copperfield filmed a television special in the building minutes before explosives were detonated and the building collapsed. What other elements in the sculpture do you see that connect to the city of Charlotte?
Location: 227 West Trade Street inside the Carillon Building (Hint: Look at the elevators)
Artist: Sol LeWitt
Date: 1991
Media: Acrylic paint
Story: Conceptual artist Sol LeWitt was commissioned by the developers of the office building. LeWitt’s work features a floating cube on a gold background, which takes up most of the space at the end of the atrium above the elevators.
Key Formal Elements:
LeWitt works in a very unconventional way. Conceptual artists believe that the idea or concept is the art. LeWitt writes very detailed instructions for his work which is then executed by his assistants. What do you imagine his instructions looked like for this work?
Location: sculpture at 333 West Trade Street
Artist: Sally Rodgers
Date: 2007
Media: Stainless steel and granite
Artist Info: www.sallyrogers.net
Story: The word zygos is Greek for joining together in balance and teamwork. This artwork is a joint commission of the Public Art Commission and Axiom Architecture. Rodgers spent time as an artist-in-residence at the Penland School of Crafts here in North Carolina, and currently lives in state.
Key Formal Elements:
This sculpture is a contrast of circular forms and straight lines. Think about the title of the artwork, “Zygos.” How do those forms influence the meaning of the artwork?
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