CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte artists can now work in a new space.
Today, the first graffiti park in the city opened in NoDa. The people who own it say it gives them a place to be themselves without worrying about getting in trouble for painting in public.
A grant from the city’s Opportunity Fund gave $1.2 million to the Charlotte art scene and this park was built with that money.
TAOH Outdoor Gallery is for all kinds of artists.
Co-owner Osiris Rain said, “There aren’t many limits to what creativity can be shown here.” “People have had this idea for years.” The money came from going to Barcelona first. The park is called Park of the 3 to 3 Chimneys. That’s this beautiful industrial room that looks a lot like this one. I knew right away that we had to have one here.
Rain and his partner Sydney Duarte came up with the idea for the project. The grant gave them $40,000 to help build the park. Rain says it was done in just over a week.
Rain said, “It’s so hard in this modern world of phones and other distractions to get together with people who share your interests and have a meaningful conversation. It’s important to feel connected to a community and be able to try new things, work together, and not just be creative; it’s important to have healthy interactions with people one-on-one.”
There are more than 20 walls in the park. They are all easy to paint over, move, and put back together again.
Duarte says that anyone can come and say what they want.
“Everyone should think of their masterpiece as a sandcastle, since there are only so many walls and they will get painted over at some point.” “But think of your sandcastle. You put all your love into it even though you know it will be washed away,” she said.
He said that seeing the place blew him away.
I would not have believed you if you told me 20 years ago that this would happen in Charlotte.
Harrison is a professor of drawing at Winthrop University as an assistant professor. He brought some kids with him to be a part of it.
“We’ve already had people from Colorado, California, Louisiana, the UK, and Australia.” People come from all over because their town doesn’t have a place like that. Someone from another country has already asked, “How do I get you guys here to build another space like this?” “That’s crazy that it’s growing so fast,” says Duarte.
Even though they got the grant, the leaders are still asking people to give money to their cause.
“Donations are important because they let us help young artists who couldn’t afford paint.” So we can hold workshops to teach aspiring artists how to turn their hobby into a job, including how to run a business. Most artists are good at making art, but they don’t know how to get contracts, market themselves, or even get started. “We want to get rid of the starving artists mindset,” says Duarte.
From now until February, the park will be at 2200 N. Brevard Street. After that, organizers will have to find a new place for it. Duarte and Rain are telling people in the neighborhood to come together and speak out while they still can.
As kids, Duarte says, “adults told us things like, ‘You need to get a real job, you can’t be an art, you can’t be a career.’ But that’s not true.”