The arts scene in Charlotte

Last night, for no apparent reason, I was selected to participate in a focus group sponsored by the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte. We were paid $100, and our appetites were enticed by flat Diet Coke and yummy desserts. In return, we were supposed to tell them how they could do a better job promoting the Arts in Charlotte.

I actually think they do a pretty good job with the resources they’re starting with. We have a decent opera company, a respectable symphony, and we get to see nice touring broadway shows. They also support smaller, community organizations like Davidson’s community theatre company, and the Lake Norman Orchestra, which Nora and Greta both play in.

So what’s missing in Charlotte? First of all, there’s only one decent large performance venue in town: The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. It’s a nice performance hall, but it must serve as opera house, concert hall, and theatre stage.

While ideally there’d be a separate concert hall and opera, with several Broadway-style theatres as well, I’d settle for a couple more multi-purpose auditoriums. Now, some might argue that Charlotte’s not big enough to support so many venues. I think if Charlotte committed to building a large arts complex, then the community would get behind it, and the effort necessary to build the thing would also generate interest in the performances there.

Also, Charlotte’s museum infrastructure is woefully inadequate. We have a very nice fine arts museum, the Mint, but it’s about a third the size it needs to be. We need a museum that takes more than an hour or two to visit in its entirety, that entices you to come back. Our science museum, Discovery Place (My God! is that really their Web site?), is a little better, but it still doesn’t pack the punch that a science museum for a city this size should.

A few years ago, when the Charlotte Hornets were threatening to leave the city, the city voted on a referendum that would have given them a new stadium, built a new downtown theater, and moved the Mint Museum to a new, larger downtown site. The referendum was voted down, mostly because everyone in town hated the Hornet’s owner.

So what happened? The Hornets left, the city council voted on its own to build a new basketball stadium, and we got a new expansion team to fill it. But there’s no theater, no museum. Now we’re going to get the NASCAR hall of fame. So much for the arts in Charlotte.

I still think that if a major arts-only initiative was pursued, with a bold new downtown museum and a great new theater, that Charlotte would get behind it, and the arts in this city would improve. But I’m not holding my breath.

On the other hand, I told the focus group leader all that (and more), so maybe the Arts and Science Council will listen, and maybe in a few years people will be looking to Charlotte as an up-and-coming city in the arts.