An inside look at the Mint’s groundbreaking exhibition Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood & His Contemporaries PLUS 24 hours in the life of artist Katherine Boxall 13 don’t-miss events
The story behind W | ALLS , a stunning photographic journey coming in May
Open their eyes to inner creativity at Mint Museum summer camps. Small class sizes, high-quality art materials and instruction from professional teaching artists make Mint Museum summer camps sizzle. Members receive a 25 percent discount on camp tuition.
Enrollment begins Jan 27 at mintmuseum.org/summercamps
Our celebration of the “Year of Black & Light” continues as we gear up for the members-only opening of our newest exhibition, Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood & His Contemporaries on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Mint Museum Randolph. Classic Black will include more than 100 ceramic objects, ranging from ornamental vases to vibrant sculptures, with special, never-before-seen loans from public and private collections in America and England. The exhibition will be accompanied by a beautiful, fully illustrated catalogue, published by D. Giles Limited, London. And the exhibition’s presentation—one of the most stunning and contemporary designs in recent memory—is sure to amaze and delight visitors of all ages. See page 31 for an in-depth look at the exhibition—the first globally to focus solely on the timeless splendor of black basalt sculpture— and a handful of details you won’t want to miss.
I also hope you will join us for The Mint Museum’s Coveted Couture Gala: A Special Evening of “Black & Light” on Saturday, April 25 at Mint Museum Randolph. This year’s gala will celebrate Classic Black and the closing of Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint . You won’t want to miss this incredible event focused on fashion, fun, and philanthropy—our signature fundraiser of the year (see page 23 for details).
We are also proud to be bringing back Live at the Mint on Wednesday nights. Season one of the popular series launched last fall, and every Wednesday night at Mint Museum Uptown we offered a combination of free performances, live music, art-inspired gallery chats, and pop-up makers spaces.
This season’s event series will feature cultural collaborations with some of the city’s top arts organizations such as the Charlotte Ballet and Opera Carolina, as well as some musical talent you won’t normally find inside a museum setting (Junior Astronomers, anyone?). There’s also a cash bar, so grab some friends, get a drink, and enjoy the unforgettable event series that the city is buzzing about. Visit mintmuseum.org/events for the full Live at the Mint lineup, as well as a host of other cool, inspiring events happening every week at the Mint.
Enjoy your latest issue of Inspired with our compliments and deepest gratitude for your loyal support. We expect 2020 will be our best year yet!
Sincerely,
Todd A. Herman, PhD President & CEOJEN COUSAR
BENJAMIN ELROD
HEATHER MARTIN
Design Team
HILLARY COOPER
JEN COUSAR
BRIAN GALLAGHER
HEATHER GWALTNEY
MICHELE HUGGINS
CAROLINE PORTILLO ELLEN SHOW
JONATHAN STUHLMAN
JEN SUDUL EDWARDS
JOYCE WEAVER
Contributing Writers
Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood & His Contemporaries is generously presented to the community by Presenting Sponsor Wells Fargo Private Bank.
The STAR (Student Artist) gallery at Mint Museum Uptown is generously sponsored by Piedmont Natural Gas.
Free Wednesday evenings are generously sponsored by Bank of America, Publix Super Market Charities, and the Mint Museum Auxiliary.
Additional support provided by Moore & Van Allen and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
Live at the Mint is generously sponsored by Fifth Third Bank with additional support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary.
The exhibition catalogue was fully funded by the Delhom Service League and an anonymous patron.
The Grier Heights Program is financially supported by Bank of America and the Mint Museum Auxiliary.
Thank you to our media sponsors Adams Outdoor and Kelso Communications.
The Mint Museum is supported, in part, by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, and the Arts & Science Council.
Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint is generously presented by PNC with additional support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary and Duke Enery–Piedmont Natural Gas. This program is also supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.
The Mint Museum Crown Society is generously sponsored by J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
The inimitable Bronson van Wyck planned the fall gala for the New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center in New York City. Learn more about van Wyck’s one-of-a-kind parties on page 40.
29 | Staff Feature | Laura Lynn
Her mom was a Rockette and she has flown on the Concorde plane. Find out more about the fascinating life of this Mint staffer.
31 | Breaking the Mold
An inside look at the Mint’s groundbreaking exhibition, Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood & His Contemporaries.
37 | W ALLS
A look at the upcoming exhibition
W | ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine , opening May 13 at Mint Museum Uptown.
40 | Born to Party
Legendary party planner to the ranks of Beyoncé and Madonna, Bronson van Wyck talks cocktail parties, entertaining faux pas, and one unforgettable heist.
Photo by Julie SkarrattNew year, new you! We know you’ve got resolutions and goals galore, and we’re here to help. The Mint Museum Store is full of items to inspire, challenge, and help you grow into your best self in the new decade.
PHOTOS BY CASEY HENDRICKSON PHOTOGRAPHY
We’re paying homage to this classic and admirable resolution with cookbooks, chic kitchen gadgets, artfully designed water bottles, and more to keep you motivated and eating those veggies every day.
As we say in yoga, the light in me sees and honors the light in you. We admire your goals of self-love and getting your meditation on, and are here to help with a host of candles, teas, books, and more that can help you de-stress, decompress and take all the deep breaths your soul needs. Namaste!
Creativity isn’t just for the artists in our galleries. We’re here to bring more play and color to your life every day. We’re stocked with pencils, games, color guides, and more to help you break free from institutional-beige walls and channel your inner Monet (or Warhol, if that’s more your style).
Kids are absorbed in smartphones and video games like never before, so why not bring back a little of that childlike wonder with puzzles, games, and vibrant toys? There’s no better time to play together away from the glow of those ever-present blue screens.
Large abstract paintings may be Katherine Boxall’s lifeblood, but she’s no hippie artist. In fact, the 26-year-old Ottawa, Canada native finds freedom—and creativity— in the near-scientific precision she applies to her daily schedule. Boxall, who moved to Charlotte from San Francisco in 2018, is the new Constellation CLT artist, whose work will be on display in Mint Museum Uptown’s public spaces beginning Feb. 21. She currently splits her time between her 25-hour-a-week marketing job at Jerald Melberg Gallery and her west Charlotte studio, a haven for her work with acrylics, spray paint, pastels, and oils. While wrestling her golden retriever puppy, Sophie, out of a mud puddle, Boxall walked us through her typical Wednesday.
6:10 AM I wake up. I literally do not even get out of my bed until I’ve had two espressos with some oatmeal cream that my fiancé brings to me. We have a golden retriever puppy, Sophie, who will then come in and jump on my side of the bed. So it’s double espresso, then pet the dog. 6:30 AM My fiancé drops me off at Burn Boot Camp in Elizabeth. When people say, “enjoy your workout,” I think that’s crazy. But I do it, and it feels great. Then I walk back to our home in Elizabeth. 7:20 AM I pick up Sophie and we go on a walk around the block. Everyone wants to pet her. No one knows my name, but they all know her name. She gets catcalls from across the street. It takes us 30 minutes to go one block. 7:50 AM I have a green smoothie every morning: spinach, cucumber, avocado, banana, celery, and protein powder. I try to ensure I do all my good habits Monday to Friday because I don’t want to think about doing any good habits on the weekends. Like zero.
9 AM I get to Jerald Melberg Gallery. Technically I’m the social media manager, but we don’t do titles there—Jerald and his wife, Mary, are sticklers about that: not creating a hierarchy. Everyone is expected to be a team player. We usually gather around the coffee pot for 10 minutes. Then I go to my desk in the back and edit pictures and write copy. I have a fake Instagram account, so I can test out how certain things look. I post 10 different things and then log in as a user and see how someone would see it. No detail is too small. It’s about how you make people feel when they’re interacting with your brand. NOON I meet with Jerald for 10 minutes before I leave to go home and feed Sophie. Then she takes me for a walk. It’s usually breakfast tacos for lunch. I’ll scramble eggs and put them in tortillas or do a cheese board with cheese, crackers, and olives. It’s not measly. The worst thing I could ever do is under-eat at lunch. It will sabotage my afternoon at the studio. I can’t think about anything when I’m hungry.
1 PM For the next hour, I sit on my couch and do business and admin stuff: answering emails, scheduling art shipments, applying for new opportunities and awards, and managing my website and social networks. Then I change my clothes. I literally wear the same raggedy Lululemon sweatpants, a vintage Nike sweatshirt and a polar fleece I’ve had since I was 11 years old.
2 PM I get to my art studio on Wilkinson Boulevard. It’s 650 square feet and perfect for what I want to do.
2:05 PM I set everything up and clean up my last session. It helps me get back in the zone. I put on a couple
of playlists I’ve been listening to for years. On Spotify, it’d be categorized as “brain food”—ambient, repetitive, electronic, indie. Nothing with too many lyrics or anything that would affect my mood that much because that will affect the way I paint. I usually have two or three large, 8-feet-by-sixfeet paintings in my studio at a time, and I also have small ones scattered everywhere. I use the smaller pieces to test out different colors and textures. Then when I go to the big painting, I’m super confident and it just flows.
on my Instagram. It’s fun for people to see, and it keeps me from psyching myself out. 3:30 PM I take a break. My best artist friend calls me and we talk for an hour about painting. That really helps me feel like I’m still part of the community in California. We are in two different warehouses across the world, but we’re still collaborating and thinking about the same thing.
4 PM I take the pictures I took of my work and upload them to my computer, where I test a bunch of things in Photoshop. It helps me have even more confidence in my designs. It’s a digital sketchbook. 4:30 PM This is the moment where I decide, “Am I going to beat traffic and go home, or am I going to push it until 6:30 p.m.?” It’s usually flipping a coin. Some days I need to do more thinking and work on my computer. Some days I am completely in the zone.
7 PM I’m home and my fiancé and I make dinner. I usually marinate salmon in the morning for us to have for dinner that night. He always grills the vegetables.
A lot of times I come at the smaller ones with such an intuitive eye that they end up being just as good or better than the big ones. So, there’s not a hierarchy between the works— it’s just my process, a way for me to say, “This is low pressure.” It’s a mind game. I don’t want to see the struggle on the large works. For me, it’s also about knowing when to stop, leaving a lot of negative space. That’s control.
3 PM I take some pictures of the work. I love putting progress pictures
8 PM I take Sophie for a walk and then try to be as lazy as possible. At night, we watch a lot of Netflix and HBO. We just finished “You.” 10:30 PM Bedtime. I’m definitely not a hippie artist—I’m a type-A artist. I think if you’re trying to take it seriously, you have to take it seriously. If you don’t treat it like your day job, it’s not your day job. It takes a lot of constant effort.
katherineboxall.com
— As told to Caroline Portillo, Director of Marketing & Communications
Charlotte Storytellers group reprises its popular performances from last fall with stories composed in response to Mint Museum Uptown’s special exhibitions. Mint Museum Uptown. Cash bar will open at 5:30 PM. Programming starts at 6 PM. Free.
Enjoy light bites and a tour of the exhibition (see p. 31 for details about the show) that features more than 100 ceramic objects by Josiah Wedgwood and his contemporaries. Objects include life-size portrait busts, statues, vases and other fully three-dimensional, ornamental forms.
Mint Museum Randolph. 1–5 PM. Members only.
Tour the Mint Museum Uptown galleries, enjoy live performances by Jazz Arts Charlotte, plus other special activities as part of ASC’s Connect with Culture Day. Mint Museum Uptown. 11–6 PM. Free to the public.
At the Classic Black public opening, learn about black basalt, Wedgwood, and the exhibition from curator Brian Gallagher and British scholars Gaye Blake-Roberts and Dr. Gregory Sullivan. Mint Museum Randolph. 1:30–5:30 PM. Free with museum admission.
Enjoy a conversation with artist, educator, and quilter Beverly Smith, featured in Coined in the South Afterward, stick around for an hour of traditional Caribbean steel drums. Mint Museum Uptown. Cash bar will open at 5:30 PM. Programming starts at 6 PM. Free.
Join us as Duke Energy lights up the Mint! Mint Museum Uptown visitors can experience family-friendly, illuminated activities on the plaza, music, light-wand painting, and spotlight tours in the galleries. Mint Museum Uptown. Festivities begin at 5:30 PM. Free.
Dutch design is described as minimalistic, experimental, innovative and unconventional, all while retaining a sense of humor. Join Mint curator Annie Carlano in a discussion about 21st-century Dutch design. Mint Museum Uptown. 6–7 PM. Free with general admission. Reception to follow.
Enjoy a panel discussion entitled “Angels to Anathema: What to Do When Artists Behave Badly” with Emily Nussbaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for The New Yorker, and John W. Love, Guggenheim Fellow and Creative Capital Awardee artist and provocateur, moderated by chief curator Jen Sudul Edwards.
Mint Museum Uptown. Cash bar will open at 5:30 PM. Programming starts at 6 PM. Free.
Enjoy a live performance by local indie-nostalgia band Junior Astronomers.
Mint Museum Uptown. Cash bar will open at 5:30 PM. Programming starts at 6 PM. Free.
Live at the Mint: Cabaret in Dark Places
In collaboration with UNC Charlotte, we present Cabaret in Dark Places with singer Rachel Joselson performing cabaret songs composed in the Theresienstadt ghetto during World War II. Following the performance, UNC Charlotte music historian Jay Grymes will discuss the poignant importance of the songs.
Mint Museum Uptown. Cash bar will open at 5:30 PM. Programming starts at 6 PM. Free
Tanja Smeets, artist and professor of Textile Design at the Royal Academy of Art, will give a talk about Dutch design entitled “Liquid Garden.”
Mint Museum Uptown. 6–7 PM. Free with general admission. Reception to follow.
Coveted Couture Gala: Black & Light
Socialize, dine, and dance the night away with some of Charlotte’s top leaders, while you support the Mint at our premier fundraising gala. Mint Museum Randolph. Starts at 6 PM. $650 per ticket for Crown Society members, $750 for nonCrown Society members.
This special exhibition, curated by the Mint’s Chief Curator Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD for the Annenberg Space for Photography, explores various aspects of walls, their proliferation, and how they define our world.
Mint Museum Uptown. 6–9 PM. Cash bar opens at 5:30 PM.
Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous supporter, you don’t have to leave town to see a painting by one of the great painters of the 20th century. The Mint Museum is proud to present Marc Chagall’s Le Violoniste , 1937, on view at Mint Museum Randolph throughout 2020. The beautiful, colorful and whimsical work on paper is sure to delight visitors of all ages, but especially children. The watercolor depicts a violin-playing, fantastical man-goat, while a tiny woman—thought to represent Chagall’s wife—is perched on his left shoulder.
Chagall was a Russian-French artist of Belarusian Jewish origin, and art critic Robert Hughes once referred to him as “the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century.” An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in a wide range of artistic formats, including paintings, drawings, book illustrations, stained glass, ceramic tapestries and fine art prints. “If I create from the heart, nearly everything works,” Chagall once said. “If from the head, almost nothing.”
We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share Chagall’s heart and art. This special loan is from a private collection via art advisor Vicky Love Salnikoff with Love Fine Art in New York. —Hillary Cooper
When the Mint Museum opened its doors on Oct. 22, 1936, it was thanks to the efforts of a passionate sisterhood devoted to bringing art to the Charlotte community. At the helm was the Mint’s fairy godmother Mary Myers Dwelle. Hailing from a family who made it their mission to advance culture in Charlotte, it was fitting that she was the driving force behind the creation of the first art museum in North Carolina. As Charlotte Woman’s Club art department chair, Dwelle organized art exhibitions and lectures that were eagerly attended.
Recognizing the need to give the arts a permanent Charlotte home, sights were set on the historic-butcondemned U.S. Mint building on Tryon Street. The task of transforming the Mint into an art museum was daunting until a passionate speech for saving the U.S. Mint building was presented in February 1933 at a luncheon hosted by Dwelle. The speech inspired a spontaneous donation, and a significant sum was given toward the purchase of the building—that was already in demolition—
The Mint Museum Library Book Sale is back! From 1–5 p.m. Saturday, March 21 at Mint Museum Randolph, take your pick of a stunning array of art books, perfect for coffee tables or those built-in bookshelves you’re trying to fill—and all at great prices. Mint members get in an hour early—at noon— and all proceeds benefit library conservation efforts.
—Caroline Portillofor rebuilding on another site. The generosity was contagious. Within two days, the required funds were raised and paid to the demolition contractor. A developer donated the Eastover neighborhood land on which Mint Museum Randolph sits today. Dwelle continued with her determination to establish the art museum. She tirelessly wrote letters to government aid agencies from Raleigh to Washington, D.C. lobbying for reconstruction funds. In her Mint Museum Association leadership roles, she coordinated the rebuilding process, built relationships with other arts organizations and garnered public support. She also courted art acquisitions, including the now iconic portrait of Queen Charlotte donated by Jane Hall Liddell Battle. The Mint Museum opened its doors three years later with an inaugural gala. Dwelle’s determined efforts made what seemed impossible, possible, and her devotion to the arts is the perfect way to celebrate Women’s History Month this March. —Ellen Show
4
Inspired by the Mint’s exhibition Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint , Charlotte Ballet created three new commissioned works for its winter series Innovative Works: Beyond the Mint . The outstanding choreographers are N.C.-based Duane Cyrus, resident choreographer of The Nashville Ballet Christopher Stuart, and Charlotte Ballet company dancer Chelsea Dumas. The ballet gave a sneak-peek performance at the first Live at the Mint of the season on Jan. 15. Want to see Innovative Works in full? Mint members get $5 off select tickets with the code MINT5. Tickets start at $27, and the series runs through Feb. 15.
—Michele Huggins Charlotte Ballet courtesy of Todd Rosenberg
The Crown Society Travel Program offers our most generous and loyal Crown members exceptional experiences that can enrich and inspire the most worldly traveler. The trips are all about seeing fabulous art in cool places while forging friendships and having a memorable vacation. Mint trips feature special access to private collections, behind-thescenes tours, and studio visits that only the Mint can organize with help from artists and other supporters. Participants stay in lovely accommodations, and enjoy fine wine and creative cuisine. Extraordinary destinations in the works for 2020 include the New York Armory Show, Saint Louis, Penland School of Craft, Asheville and Linville, the South of France, and Art Basel Miami. Want to join the fun? Contact Leadership Giving Manager Kitty Hall at 704.337.2034 or kitty.hall@mintmuseum.org —Heather Gwaltney
She’s a valued Mint Museum Board of Trustee. She’s an active and engaged docent and former docent president. She’s a loyal Crown Society member and advocate for the visual arts. Just call her Superwoman or better yet the Mint’s own toni Kendrick. We love Kendrick because she represents someone who champions and supports the museum at every level. She shares her passion, positive energy, time, talent, and treasure in a myriad of ways that always elevates the Mint’s brand and drives our mission forward. She’s the friendly face and fountain of knowledge greeting school tours in the Carroll Gallery at Mint Museum Uptown. She’s the creative mind generating good ideas and raising relevant questions in the board room. She, and her husband, Alfred, add fun, festivity, and style to every Mint event. She is an extraordinary member of the Mint family. Art is part of her heart and the museum fits her to a “t.” —Hillary Cooper
In 2019, artist Meredith Connelly, a member of the Mint’s Advancement & Communications team, left the Mint to pursue what she calls her “pinch me” project: creating a half-mile-long outdoor art installation at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Known as Lights , the immersive installation was unveiled this winter in conjunction with a 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink and beer garden. But Lights deserves fanfare all its own. Over the course of just three months, Connelly created 200 illuminated forms, ranging from giant mushrooms made from cast fiberglass to a phosphorescent riverbed flowing with 17,000 pounds of photo-reactive gravel, and “honeycombs” created with PVC thermoplastic tubing and repurposed rope lighting. A Cornelius-based artist, Connelly is known for using light and technology to create illuminated forms in galleries. She took inspiration from the Whitewater Center’s natural environment to create these outdoor works of art. As of press time, more than 80,000 people have experienced Connelly’s Lights . —Caroline Portillo
In the fall of 2019, the Mint partnered with Camp North End on the Next Plate event series to take works that were once inside the walls of the museum and bring them out into the world. Held at the historic, creative hub Camp North End, Next Plate pairs chefs with visual and performing arts organizations to create immersive dining experiences. At the October Next Plate event, sponsored by The Mint Museum, Chef Ryan Allen of Reid’s Fine
Foods joined culinary forces with Chef Quientina Stewart of Johnson & Wales University to create a fivecourse meal inspired by Constellation CLT artist Crista Cammaroto and her recent work: ephemeral installations Terra Forma . Cammaroto spoke about her process and inspirations for each piece, while walking diners through the connections between her work and the meal.
—Heather Gwaltney9 10
This year’s annual Coveted Couture Gala is a special Evening of Black & Light. The annual spring fundraising gala celebrates the exhibition Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood & His Contemporaries , as well as the closing of the blockbuster exhibition Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint . The annual spring tradition is a black-tie dinner and dance for 400 of Charlotte’s most prominent civic leaders, stylish supporters and museum patrons. This special evening is presented by the Wells Fargo Private Bank, a loyal and generous corporate supporter of the museum. Stalwart Mint Museum and fashion supporters Ann and Michael Tarwater are graciously serving as the 2020 gala chairs. —Heather Gwaltney
WE WERE THE TALK OF CHARLOTTE TALKS
Over the last six months, the Mint made many an appearance on WFAE’s popular morning show Charlotte Talks with everyone from award-winning author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi promoting Never Abandon Imagination to Studio Drift artist Lonneke Gordijn teasing Immersed in Light . And in October, South Carolina artist Leo Twiggs, 85, and the Mint’s Community Relations Director Rubie Britt-Height gave the small studio audience goosebumps, as they discussed the power of art to start critical—albeit difficult—conversations about race. Each interview served as proof that powerful storytelling is the perfect complement to a gallery experience. —Caroline Portillo
Get an insider’s look at the world of fashion while discovering the extraordinariness of the everyday in the Mint Museum Library’s installation Documenting Fashion: Ephemera from the Special Collections . The Ephemera installation gives a snapshot of lifestyles and fashion in a specific era by showcasing discarded catalogs, magazines, sales flyers, and promotional postcards. Some pieces tell a story like a 1902 brochure from a long-gone retail store that shows early womens clothing as is transitioned from homemade to ready-to-wear. Some items make you wonder, such as a Depression-era style magazine emphasizing a sporty lady of leisure. And others, like a fashion comic book, are just plain fun. See Documenting Fashion: Ephemera from the Special Collections at Mint Museum Randolph through April 2020.
—Joyce Weaver
Seasoned yogis and enthusiastic firsttimers alike come every Monday at 6 p.m. for a one-hour yoga class at Mint Museum Uptown (free for Mint members, $10 for non-members). The weekly classes are through a partnership with NC Yoga Bar and are taught by a rotating group of seasoned instructors. Namaste! —Jen Cousar
Constellation CLT kicked off its second season with a bang, featuring the work of not one, but three artists, each of whom explored different aspects of mural-based work: Elizabeth Palmisano, Brett Toukatly, and Mike Wirth.
Mike Wirth’s installation in the atrium combined a dynamic, swirling tree upon which hung four paintings of women from Jewish history. Wirth is a founding member of the Southern Tiger Collective, a group dedicated to promoting murals in the Charlotte area, and is also involved with Talking Walls, a citywide public art festival.
On the Mezzanine, artist and educator Elizabeth Palmisano combined her innovative papermaking techniques and fiber-based practice to create a meditative three-dimensional environment featuring floating cloud-
like forms. She often uses recycled materials, breathing new life into objects not typically considered for use in the creation of art.
Level 4 featured a new piece by Brett Toukatly, the winner of the inaugural Battle Walls competition, a summer collaboration between The Mint Museum and the Southern Tiger Collective in which local street artists competed head to head over four rounds, culminating in a grand finale on the lawn of Mint Museum Randolph in August. Behold! featured one of Toukatly’s signature monstrous characters (with a face made up of skulls and eyes on its hands), rising up from an undulating sea.
—Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD
The Mint Museum launched its free event series called Live at the Mint in the fall of 2019 at Mint Museum Uptown. Live at the Mint, presented by Fifth Third Bank, shines a spotlight on Charlotte’s dynamic arts community with a feature lineup that includes everything from performance art to provocative films, and conversation with artists and arts partners throughout the city.
In 2019, guests watched MercuryCarter belt out his raw, powerful vocals on stage. Other featured performers included swing dancing with Gottaswing Charlotte, Elton John impersonator Carl Rosen, Charlotte Storytellers, Charlotte Youth Orchestra and many others that are helping to shape the Queen City’s arts and culture landscape. The 2020 Live at the Mint Lineup features
a string quintet performance by Charlotte Symphony, Charlotte storytellers, and a rocking showcase by local Indie band Junior Astronomers.
“Fifth Third is proud to be the presenting partner for this exciting new series,” says Lee Fite, Fifth Third Bank regional president of the Mid Atlantic. “Live at the Mint represents the same values we do—collaboration, inclusivity, and community.”
Live at the Mint happens 6-9 p.m.—with a cash bar that opens at 5:30 p.m.—Wednesdays at Mint Museum Uptown. A perfect way to wind down after a long day. See the full Live at the Mint lineup of performances at mintmuseum.org/lineup. —Michele Huggins
On Tuesday, Dec. 17, billionaire Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper stood in Mint Museum Uptown’s atrium and announced that Charlotte will be home to the newest Major League Soccer expansion team. The museum underwent a transformation for the official press conference announcing the latest addition to Charlotte’s pro-sports lineup. The yet-to-be-named club will kick off in 2021 at Bank of America stadium.
—Michele HugginsA new mobile tour program aptly named “Art on the Go” is engaging members of the Mint audience who may not be able to visit the museums in person. Led by dedicated docents toni Kendrick and Deborah Langsam, the program showcases the Mint’s ever-growing art collection to residents at assisted living or retirement facilities through docent-led slide presentations. The inaugural tour took place Oct. 8, 2019 with more to come during the first half of 2020.
—Jen CousarRubie Britt-Height , the Mint’s Director of Community Relations, was given the “50 Most Influential Women of 2019” award by the Mecklenburg Times. The award honored Britt-Height for something we’ve always known: the work she does connecting diverse audiences with art—and using art as a catalyst for tough conversations—plays a key role in the greater Charlotte region’s economy and society.
Joyce Weaver , our Director of Library & Archives, was given the “2019 Meritorious Achievement Award” from the Carolinas Chapter of the Special Library Association. The award honored Weaver’s “outstanding contributions in the chapter and the library profession.” If you’ve never chatted with Weaver yourself, head to Mint Museum Randolph and visit the museum’s incredible library—and its fearless leader.
Anyone who’s ever worked with graphic designer extraordinaire Jen Cousar on the Mint’s Marketing & Communications team knows she’s immensely talented (she designed this magazine!). And last year, she took the gold in the Southeastern Museums Conference Publications Competition for the program she designed for the 2019 Coveted Couture Gala. The 14-page booklet was a stunning piece of art in itself.
—Caroline PortilloI was born and raised in New York City, in Manhattan. My first-grade teacher, Mrs. Roth, turned me on to art. She taught me about Picasso.
Before I was born, my mom was a Rockette. My dad was a classically trained percussionist from Juilliard. He was a drummer for ballet companies, outdoor concerts in Central Park, The Nutcracker , and different shows at Lincoln Center and on Broadway. After the Rockettes, my mom was an airline stewardess.
Growing up, I would occasionally play hooky to go to museums. The Met, the Frick, the Museum of Natural History, and MoMA, especially the outdoor sculpture garden. I went to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, the one from the 1980 film Fame
and clarity.
I worked for talk show host Phil Donahue for seven years and worked with hundreds of celebrities , such as Michael J. Fox and Carol Burnett. She’s the sweetest lady ever, by the way. Acted like I was her daughter.
Those times were very glam. The perks were incredible . We once chartered the Concorde to fly to Europe. We went from New York City to Nice, France in three hours. I also got to go to the daytime Emmy Awards and ride on Donahue’s private yacht that circled Manhattan.
In the late 1980s, I helped set a Guinness World Record A dancer for years, I was one of 3,000 tap dancers dancing in front of Macy’s on 34th Street.
I married my college sweetheart, Elliot And whenI had our first child—the first of two sons—my whole world changed. I decided to be a stay-at-home mom, and we moved to Boca Raton, Florida.
We moved in Charlotte in 1994, when Elliot got a job in studio operations at ESPN . We live in the Fahrenheit building.
I became a docent seven years ago, when I answered a newspaper ad in The Charlotte Observer . I really love the Craft & Design collection. Now, I work in guest services, but I still give tours. I like to wear both hats.
I also volunteer bottle feeding baby orphan kittens at Animal Care & Control. I always hope they get fostered and adopted. The majority do make it. I also work with the homeless at Room at the Inn through my church, Threshold.
Look for more staff spotlights in upcoming issues.
Coined in the South , the Young Affiliates of the Mint’s fourth-annual juried art show, put 45 artists’ dynamic works of art on display at Mint Museum Uptown. For the first time in the art show’s run, prizes were awarded totaling $16,000. The exhibition, on view through Feb. 16, showcases established and emerging artists currently working in or from the Southeast.
Johannes Barfield of Winston-Salem was awarded the $10,000 Atrium Health “Best in Show” Award for his two mixed-media pieces. His photograph and mixed-media work The Green House on Cornell Blvd —the striking work that greets you as soon as you walk into the Level 4 gallery—is inspired by his childhood memories playing with his cousin, who is portrayed in the photo. Red clay soil on a yellow canvas is incorporated into the artwork to represent connections between the South and Africa. In The Bilge Again , his second piece in the exhibition, was inspired by Jim Crow-era guidebook The Negro Motorist Green Book , which included data on safe spaces for black people traveling in America.
Davidson resident Katie St. Claire was awarded $5,000 as the winner of the “YAMs Choice” Award for her piece, Wayside . The dynamic work of art is a time-based
installation of spheres made of locally collected debris held together by ice and suspended over a canvas to melt over time. Guests who attended the public opening on Oct. 10 saw the piece evolve over the course of the night.
Georgia resident Ken West won the $1,000 “People’s Choice” Award for his photo on metallic paper titled Black Boys Cry . West’s two works of art in Coined in the South , including his photo Father of Man , encourage audiences to reevaluate how they view black men and masculinity.
Read about all 45 artists and the inspiration behind their art at mintmuseum.org/coined-in-the-south .
In 1774, renowned Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood wrote those words in a letter to his business partner, Thomas Bentley. He was describing his obvious pride in his black basalt, a fine-grained, dark-colored stoneware that he had perfected by 1768. In the following years, other Staffordshire potters, such as Humphrey Palmer and John Turner, began producing their own basalt wares.
These stunning works are the focus of the Mint’s newest show Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood & His Contemporaries . An international loan exhibition organized by The Mint Museum, Classic Black focuses exclusively on this beautiful ceramic body, and is on
An inside look at the Mint’s newest exhibition, Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood & His Contemporaries
BY BRIAN GALLAGHER, CURATOR OF DECORATIVE ARTS
view from Feb. 9 to Aug. 30 at Mint Museum Randolph. And the presentation is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before—at the Mint or elsewhere.
Although basalt was used to produce utilitarian wares, such as objects for the tea table, Classic Black showcases ornamental basalt sculpture, a topic that has never been the sole focus of a special exhibition anywhere across the globe. Among the more than 100 works on view in the exhibition are life-size portrait busts, small and medium-size statues, and vases with strong, sculptural components. Works in low relief include large tablets,
ever.”Above: Josiah Wedgwood and Thomas Bentley. Sir Isaac Newton (detail), circa 1775, stoneware (black basalt). Gift of the Starr and Wolfe Families in memory of Lydia and Bernard Starr. 2018.68.3. Collection of The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC Photo by Benjamin Elrod
portrait medallions, and medals. The exhibition’s checklist features loans from major museums in the United States and England—the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Wedgwood Museum, among others—as well as from notable private collections in America. Some of the private loans are very important, one-of-a-kind objects that have never been on view in a museum setting.
Many of the basalt objects on view in the galleries were copied directly from works of art made in ancient Greece and Rome, such as busts of Alexander the Great and Socrates, statues and bas-reliefs of Hercules, Mercury, and other gods and goddesses, and coins with portraits of Julius
Caesar and his successors. Other basalt pieces in Classic Black derived from works made much later. For instance, a small basalt statue of the Roman god Bacchus is based on a life-size marble sculpture by renowned 16th-century artist Michelangelo. A basalt figure of Neptune derives from another life-size marble sculpture, this one by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, titan of the art world in 17th-century Rome. Among the 18th-century sculptors represented in the exhibition is Louis François Roubiliac; his bust of the great English mathematician and scientist Sir Isaac
Newton is beautifully rendered in Wedgwood’s smooth basalt body. Wedgwood and other Staffordshire potters also hired talented modelers and artists—John Flaxman, William Hackwood, Elizabeth Upton (Lady Templetown), to name a few—to create new designs for their ornamental basalt wares.
One noteworthy aspect of the exhibition is its completely groundbreaking, contemporary design. With the help of the prominent Charlotte muralist and street artist known as Owl, each of the exhibition galleries features a specially commissioned graphic mural. Owl painted her murals on walls colored in striking, sunset hues that were selected by the Mint’s exhibition designer, HannaH Crowell. The creative team’s animated graphic patterns and bright color choices challenge visitors’ expectations and enliven the historical basalt pieces, making them more relevant to the modern viewer. And while completely unconventional, the exhibition’s design aesthetic nevertheless recalls a fashionable 18th-century interior space, when all aspects of the room’s architecture and furnishings worked in harmony to create a unified decorative scheme. In Classic Black , the scheme has been reinterpreted—and re-energized—for the modern-day audience.
Classic Black is also the Mint’s first exhibition dedicated completely to sculpture. And because the museum is known for its historical British ceramics collection, it is appropriate that its first sculpture show draws
from an aspect of that collection. Fifteen of the basalt pieces in the exhibition are from the Mint’s permanent holdings, including the portrait-size busts of Socrates and Sir Isaac Newton.
Classic Black is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, published by D. Giles Limited, London. It includes extended object entries and introductory essays contributed by Wedgwood scholars Robin Emmerson and Gaye Blake-Roberts, classicist Nancy Ramage, and sculpture historian MG Sullivan.
The exhibition was made possible with generous support from presenting sponsor Wells Fargo Private Bank. Additional support was provided by Moore & Van Allen and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. The exhibition catalogue was fully funded by the Delhom Service League and an anonymous patron.
The exhibition opens to the public Feb.9, but Mint members get an exclusive preview 1–5 PM on Feb. 8. Details on page 14.
Triton Candle Holder (detail), 1770–80, stoneware (black basalt). Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art; The Buten Wedgwood Collection, gift through the Wedgwood Society of New York, AFI.414.2008 and AFI.415.2008 Above, below, A view of the gallery as painting is in progress. Photo by HannaH Crowell Opposite from Top: Wedgwood and Bentley. Somnus , circa 1774, stoneware (black basalt). Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art; The Buten Wedgwood Collection, gift through the Wedgwood Society of New York, AFI.1239.2008 \\ Detail shot of Owl’s visual language. Original photo by HannaH Crowell \\ Wedgwood. Papyrius and His Mother , circa 1775–79, stoneware (black basalt). Gift of the Starr and Wolfe Families in memory of Lydia and Bernard Starr. 2018.68.4. Collection of The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC \\ Unknown artist. Wedgwood & Byerley, York Street, St James’s Square. For No. 2 of R. Ackermann’s Repository of Arts , 1809, print. Photo ©Wedgwood Museum/ WWRD
1. Be sure to “meet” Mr. and Mrs. Clarke , 18th-century figures drawn by Joel Smeltzer, the Mint’s head of school and gallery programs with a penchant for illustration. You’ll be introduced to the Clarkes in the first gallery, and then you can accompany them as they walk through the exhibition’s “showrooms,” looking for a new basalt sculpture to purchase for their home.
2. Seek out Wedgwood’s life-size statue of Somnus, god of sleep in Roman mythology. Notice how its basalt surface changes—the god’s body is smooth and lustrous while the rocky bed on which he sleeps on is rough. Other works in the show have similar surface contrasts, all to heighten their naturalistic appearance.
3. Notice how muralist and street artist Owl uses her black and white “blobs,” as she calls them, to suggest energized, three-dimensional shapes. The goal: to complement and reinforce the dynamism of the basalt pieces nearby.
4. Discover the fascinating stories depicted on the exhibition’s plaques and medals, and marvel at the impressive variety of handles on the vases. Look slowly as you wander through the galleries so that you don’t miss all the wonderful, small details on the works of art.
5. Examine the large graphic of Wedgwood’s London showroom. Remember that Josiah Wedgwood was the first Staffordshire potter to showcase his luxury products in this way. He was also the first to employ traveling salesmen and money-back guarantees. As a marketer, he was without peer.
A look at the upcoming exhibition
W | ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine , opening May 13 at Mint Museum Uptown.
BY JEN SUDUL EDWARDS, PHD, CHIEF CURATOR AND CURATOR OF CONTEMPORARY ART
On November 9, 2019, the world celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. Most can easily call up images from that exhilarating evening in 1989: young Germans in T-shirts and jeans destroying the concrete dividers with sledgehammers, armed soldiers looking on with stoic reserve, people rushing through holes and rubble to embrace their counterparts on the other side. The world saw the joy of people uniting, and as the end of the 20th century approached, the toppled wall felt like the dawn of a new age of reason. As the violence of World War II receded into history, it appeared that so, too, was the ancient, simple brutality of dividing people with walls.
And yet, the numbers offer a different narrative. When the Berlin Wall came down, there were 15 border walls around the world. As of May 2018, there were more than 77, according to Elisabeth Vallet, a geography professor at University of Quebec-Montreal. Over one-third of the world’s nation states now define their borders with a barrier. And new walls keep going up.
This central issue is at the heart of an exhibition coming to Mint Museum Uptown: W|ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine. I began working on this show two years ago, when Katie Hollander, the director of the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, asked me to tell
the story of the role of walls in human history through a photography exhibition. The result went on view in October 2019 at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, a free exhibition space devoted to photography founded by Wallis Annenberg and the Trustees of the Annenberg Foundation in 2009. I am delighted that the exhibition will open in May at The Mint Museum.
The show, which will run from May 13 to Sept. 6 in the Level 4 gallery space at Mint Museum Uptown, explores various aspects of “walls,” whether they are made of stone, steel, sand, or wire. The space is divided into six sections—Delineation, Defense, Deterrent, The Divine, Decoration, and The Invisible—with each section anchored by a central photo essay. Two of those essays were commissioned for the exhibition by the Annenberg Space for Photography. Magnum photographer Moises Saman documented the Peace Walls in Northern Ireland, while SHAN Wallace photographed Detroit’s Eight-Mile Wall, a painted-over wall that was originally built to segregate a black community from an adjacent white community.
While many of the images in the exhibition connote division, some show unity. Consider the way neighbors converge before the stepwell wall in Jaipur, India, captured in Ami Vitale’s Ripple Effect . Artist Swoon converted a wall into a canvas for a monumental art project that celebrates community at the site of Prevention Point, the groundbreaking addiction treatment center in Philadelphia. And during her work in Detroit, SHAN Wallace found families who chose to embrace the Eight-Mile Wall, rather than be hindered by the history embedded in the bricks and mortar.
Photographers have been shooting walls from the earliest days of photography. In fact, one of the first known photographs is Joseph Nicéphore Niépce’s 1827 heliograph showing the monumental walls outside his window in Le Gras, France. And while walls may be built for one reason, they often stay up for another. The Moroccan city of Essaouira and the Croatian city of Dubrovnik once fortified their ports for protection; today, tourists visit them for their picturesque quaintness. The Western Wall in Jerusalem started as a retaining wall for King Solomon’s Second Temple, but it has become one of the most holy sites for the Jewish people and is considered hallowed by many other religions.
What’s the attraction of walls for photographers? Perhaps it’s that, like photographs, walls are human constructs that describe and circumscribe space. And, like walls, photographs can represent hope or conquest. Both can be admired for their beauty and power, and both can make us feel protected or intimidated.
Walls aren’t limited to a particular culture, region, or era. The exhibition feature 130 images spanning six continents and 67 photographers of all stripes: commercial photographers, documentarians, photojournalists, artists, protestors, explorers, and in one case, a Tibetan Buddhist monk.
Some walls featured occur naturally, like the glacier in the Jango Thang plain. Others are constructed with intention, such as Linda Foard Roberts’ aptly titled Divided in Death photograph that captures a low stone graveyard wall, delineating the buried bodies of the enslaved from the whites.
We constantly contend with walls, whether they are solid, porous, real, or imaginary. This photography exhibition invites you to reflect on the omnipresence of walls and to consider your own. Where do the barriers start in your life? And do you need them to live the life you want?
When the Berlin Wall came down, there were 15 border walls around the world. As of May 2018, there were more than 77.SHAN Wallace, from The Makeover of Progress , 2019. Credit: SHAN Wallace. W | ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine Produced and originated at the Annenberg Space for Photography
When one of the world’s leading authorities on hospitality offers advice, you listen. And when Bronson van Wyck took the stage at the Mint Museum Auxiliary’s Fall EnrichMINT Forum Nov. 14—just weeks after the release of his first book, Born to Party, Forced to Work: 21stCentury Hospitality —he had a rapt audience.
An Arkansas native who grew up on a farm, van Wyck founded event planning company Van Wyck & Van Wyck with his mother, Mary Lynn, in 1999. Van Wyck (rhymes with “hike”) now lives in New York City and is lauded for throwing epic international parties for everyone from President George W. Bush to Madonna, Beyoncé to Jerry Seinfeld.
The sold-out Fall EnrichMINT crowd loved hearing his stories of working under Pamela Harriman, an iconic courtesan and U.S. Ambassador to Paris. (Van Wyck was one of eight people who helped maintain her room of index cards, each card detailing key information about every person she spoke with.) And they swooned over the scope of van Wyck’s own “Homeric Ball” on the Greek island of Mykonos for his 44th birthday party. (Dressed as Dionysus, van Wyck hosted 400 friends and celebrities in custom-built ruins of a Doric-style temple, as Duran Duran played.) The Mint sat down with van Wyck to discuss everything from hostess faux pas to how to be the perfect guest. Lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
There are two great gifts a guest can give to a host. One is the gift of time. If the invitation is for 7 p.m., don’t arrive before 7:15 p.m. Give the host or hostess 15 minutes of grace. The other thing you can do is find the biggest loser in the party and spend 15 or 20 minutes with that person. You may not know why they’re there, but the host or hostess knows why. Give something back to the person who is taking care of you for the night. Help someone integrate.
What are some entertaining faux pas?
Never complain, never explain. Nobody knows that you were going to serve soufflé and it didn’t rise, unless you tell them. Also, don’t be the host who spends the entire night with your head in the oven because you’ve created some scenario that’s beyond what you can do. Either get some help with friends or hire someone. People are coming to see you smile. They’re not there to see you stressed out or to not see you at all.
You’ve designed events for presidential inaugurations and for P. Diddy. How do you approach each differently?
With the political work we’ve done, there’s a certain tone that’s appropriate. It might be an event or celebration, but you’re reflecting the sober majesty of the state, the occasion, the republic. That always had to be kept in mind, as well as the notion that, if a ceremonial occasion like this is happening, it’s happening for the people, even if everyone isn’t there. When P. Diddy is having a party, he’s doing it to have a blast, as he should be. When people are celebrating their birthdays, their weddings, these are occasions for joy.
You once worked on sets at Paramount. What did you learn there?
I learned how to use a hot glue gun, how to use zip ties, how to use a staple gun and scotch tape. I also learned how to distinguish between what was going to be in focus and what was not. That’s really important because we never have enough time to set up an event to do everything the way you would with a house. And, frankly, we rarely have a budget that allows us to do everything. But you don’t need to—part of it is learning what’s going to be in the background.
I hear you have strong feelings about why dinner parties trump cocktail parties. By the time most cocktail parties start, I want to be in the bath. And a cocktail party is a drive by. I don’t like to be driven by and I don’t really like to drive by. I like to be the destination. And I like to spend time with people whom I consider worth being the destination.
What was something you learned on the farm in Arkansas that you still use today?
How to change a spark plug, how to change a tire. We were doing an entire wedding once and had everything packed up in a transfer truck. It was late at night, and the team had put a padlock on it but hadn’t closed it before they went inside to take a break. Then somebody stole the truck. Dude jumps out, hot wires it and takes off in the 18-wheeler. It disappeared: the tent, all of the tablecloths, the girl’s wedding dress. The wedding was in five days. We were going to have to replace basically everything. I was on the phone, getting Vera Wang to get her seamstresses geared up, and then they found the truck four miles from the warehouse, sitting on the axles. They put us through 24 hours of hell, and all they’d taken were the tires.
To read an extended version of our interview with Bronson van Wyck—and see some epic pictures of parties he’s planned—visit mintmuseum.org/news-press.
The Delhom Service League joins forces with Friends of the Mint to welcome ceramic artist, clothing designer and furniture maker Shae Bishop for a program entitled “(tex)Tile” at Mint Museum Randolph on March 18. DSL is also hosting “Passion for Porcelain,” a conversation with Leah Leitson, a ceramic artist and Warren Wilson College Professor of Ceramics, at 10 a.m. April 21 at Mint Museum Randolph. mintmuseum.org/delhom-service-league
Introducing Stroller Tours ! The Mint’s youngest visitors and their caregivers are invited to Mint Museum Uptown at 10:30 a.m. every second Wednesday of the month as the Mint collaborates with the Bechtler and the Gantt Center for Stroller Tours. Short on time? Free museum admission is offered on the third Thursday of the month at the Mint, the Bechtler or the Gantt, beginning at noon, for 30-minute tours. mintmuseum.org/adult-group-tours
Founders’ Circle hosts the sixth-annual Mint Oyster Roast 2–6 p.m Feb. 1 on the lawn at Mint Museum Randolph. Enjoy beverages, a low-country boil, gourmet s’mores, and oysters for as long as they last! For tickets, visit founderscircle.org.
Art returns to the garden when the Charlotte Garden Club and the Mint present the Art in the Garden Tour on May 16–17, followed by an after-tour party at Mint Museum Randolph. charlottegardenclub.com
The Mint Museum Auxiliary takes “A Walk on the Wild Side” Feb. 8 when it hosts the annual Winter WonderMINT party at The Collector’s Room. On April 8, renowned London-based interior designer Veere Grenney is the keynote speaker for the perennially sold-out Spring Decorative Arts Symposium at Charlotte Country Club. mintmuseumauxiliary.org
Don’t miss the incredible collection of pieces in the Young Affiliates’ fourth juried art show, Coined in the South , at Mint Museum Uptown, on view until Feb. 16. Join the YAMs on May 2 for their 30 th-annual signature event: Derby Days . Enjoy live music, mint juleps, food trucks, and a big-screen viewing of “the most exciting two minutes in sports.” youngaffiliates.org
Join the Friends of the Mint on Feb. 19 at Mint Museum Randolph, as UNC Charlotte’s Director of Galleries Adam Justice (also a former assistant curator at the Mint) hosts a conversation called “All Art Has Been Contemporary.” And don’t miss the screening of the documentary Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World on April 22 at Mint Museum Uptown. mintmuseum.org/friends-of-the-mint
From artist visits to exhibition openings, last fall at the Mint was bustling. Here’s a look back at the works, the events, and the people who put the “art” in party.
The crowd was as diverse as the art at the opening celebration for Coined in the South , the fourth-annual Young Affiliates of the Mint’s juried art show, organized for the first time in partnership with The Mint Museum. The YAMs, artists, jurors, special guests, sponsors, and the public got the first look at the show and were present for the announcement of two awards. The Atrium Health $10,000 “Best in Show” Award was given to Johannes Barfield and the $5,000 “YAMs Choice” Award went to Katie St. Clair.
On Tony DiTerlizzi’s return trip to Charlotte, the awardwinning artist and author stopped by Billingsville Elementary on Sept. 26, as the Mint partnered with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library for a morning of reading, fun, and games. The following day, DiTerlizzi returned to Mint Museum Randolph for a family night of creative artmaking, games, book readings, and a special screening of the movie The Spiderwick Chronicles .
The Mint was aglow when Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint opened on Sept. 19 for a memberonly preview. Studio Drift cofounders Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta flew from Amsterdam for the weekend-long celebration, and were joined by Joost Taverne of exhibition sponsor DutchCultureUSA. The dance floor was lit with glow sticks and lightsabers while guests danced all night to the sounds of Charlotte band u-Neek Flavur.
Significant works from the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection are highlighted at the new J.P. Morgan Private Bank Client Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Speaking to the southern region’s culturally rich heritage, the over 40 artworks installed exemplify the diversity of the collection and Charlotte’s commitment to its arts community.
Founded by David Rockefeller as “Art at Work” in 1959, the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection is the oldest and most established corporate art collection and program in the world focusing on modern and contemporary art. By integrating artwork within the architecture of new buildings and incorporating an original approach to acquisitions, this forerunner of corporate collections became a model for other companies worldwide.
The Art Collection celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2019 and now includes works from 15 legacy institutions that followed The Chase Manhattan Bank Art Collection including First Chicago Corporation, Chemical Bank, J.P. Morgan & Co., Texas Commerce, among others.
Spanning styles and periods that celebrate creativity across cultures, today the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection is recognized for its impressive examples of modern and contemporary painting, photography, prints, sculpture, works on paper, and media art, with the majority adorning the JPMorgan Chase walls.
“Art at Work” continues to uphold the original vision of collecting emerging artists who live and work in the communities where the firm does business, recognizing that artists are entrepreneurs and vibrant participants in the creative economy.
To learn more about J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Charlotte visit jpmorgan.com/privatebank/charlotte
Room within a room , 2014
Pigmented inkjet print
Acquired in 2016
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection
Courtesy of the artist and Barbara Davis Gallery Houston
The Seasons , 1973 – 1974
Oil on canvas, triptych
12 x 21 feet
Commissioned in 1973
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection
Kenzo Okada fused Japanese and Western traditions and attitudes in art, fully demonstrated in his triptych painting
The Seasons , commissioned for the Tokyo office of The Chase Manhattan Bank. The format mimics traditional Japanese screens, while sophisticated color harmonies predominate in a semi-abstract landscape, conveying the mood of each season and a sense of time passing.
Chase Manhattan Bank Mural (Drapeau Americain) , 1959
Oil on canvas
8.2 x 38 feet
Acquired in 1961
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection
Painted in vibrant red, yellow, and blue on a single roll of canvas, this painting was installed as the centerpiece of The Chase Manhattan Bank’s midtown New York meeting center. Among the largest works in Francis’ oeuvre, it became one of the most iconic artworks in the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection.
CROWN SOCIETY CO-CHAIRS MRS. MARY BEAVER AND MRS. POSEY MEALY
THE CROWN SOCIETY IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY
SAPPHIRE CIRCLE
MR. AND MRS. MICHAEL F. GRACE
MRS. JAMES E. ROGERS
MARTIN AND LEIGH-ANN SPROCK
DIAMOND CIRCLE
MR. AND MRS. WESTON M. ANDRESS
KELLE AND LEN BOTKIN
BETSY AND ALFRED BRAND
MARY ANNE DICKSON
MR. AND MRS. JAY FAISON
MOZELLE GRIFFITH
BEVERLY AND JIM HANCE
CHANDRA AND JIMMIE JOHNSON
DR. ALFRED AND TONI KENDRICK
ASHLEY AND SCOTT MATTEI
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM B. MCGUIRE, JR.
AMY AND MATTHEW MOORE
MARÍA-JOSÉ MAGE AND FRANK MÜLLER
EMILY AND BILL OLIVER
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ANONYMOUS
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CRANDALL AND ERSKINE BOWLES
LAURA AND SAM BOWLES DR. LARRY BRADY
J. FRANK AND KATHY BRAGG
ANGELA AND RALPH BREEDEN
KATHIE AND TERRY BRODERICK
HILARY BURT AND PETER BOVE
SUSAN AND BOB CALTON
ELLEN AND DAN CAMPBELL
DAVID AND TERESA CARROLL
MICHELLE AND CHRIS CICOLETTI
DERICK AND SALLIE CLOSE
GINNY AND JOHN COLLETT
MR. AND MRS. JOHN JULIAN CULBERTSON
GWIN BARNWELL DALTON
LISA AND PERRIN DARGAN
PAMELA AND BOB DAVIES
BILL AND CATHY DAWSON
NANCY AND DAVE DENTON
JANET DALTON DICKINSON
ANDRES AND SIDNEY LOGAN ECHEVARRIA
DR. JEN SUDUL EDWARDS AND MR. GAVIN EDWARDS
RACHEL AND JONATHAN ELLIS
KATHY AND TOM EWING
LIZ AND LANE FAISON
LINDA AND BILL FARTHING
CHRISTA AND BOB FAUT
WHITNEY AND MITCHELL FELD
SANDY AND GEORGE FISHER
OLIVIA AND JOHN FORTSON
NICOLE AND RON FREEMAN
MOLLY AND HENRY FROELICH
MIKE AND LIBBA GAITHER
MICHAEL GALLIS AND BERHAN NEBIOGLU
KATHY AND JOHN GIANNUZZI
LEIGH AND BILL GOODWYN
DIANE AND MARC GRAINER
SUSIE AND TED GROSS
SPENCER GUTHERY
LARRY AND HEATHER GWALTNEY
LISE AND TRAVIS HAIN
KATHERINE G. HALL
TRACEY AND H. K. HALLETT
ANNA AND JOHNO HARRIS
ANDREW AND JOANNA HAYNES
AUBREY HILLIARD
LIZ HILLIARD
JOHN AND AMY HINES
BETH AND BILL HOBBS
DEXTER AND LAURA HOBBS
DR. CHIP AND MRS. VICTORIA HOWELL
LANIER AND DOUG HOY
LEIGH AND WATTS HUMPHREY
MARIA AND JOHN HUSON
KATRINA AND RYAN HUTCHINS
MR. AND MRS. JAMES E. S. HYNES
HERB JACKSON AND LAURA GROSCH
CACI AND MAX JAEGER
DR. MARIE-CLAIRE MARROUM-KARDOUS AND MR. KAL KARDOUS
JOAN KIRSCHNER
ADAM AND SHELLY LANDAU
LORNE E. LASSITER AND GARY P. FERRARO
JANET LECLAIR AND JOHN BRAGG, JR.
DR. A. DAVIS LIGON, JR.
GEORGE LINDEMANN
DAVID K. LINNAN AND CYNTHIA LEE MORENO
DR. JORDAN D. LIPTON AND
DR. SIU CHALLONS-LIPTON
NAN AND BILL LOFTIN
MARY AND BOB LONG
CAMERON FURR AND VINCE LONG
ROGER AND DEBORAH LOVELETT
MOSES AND LORI COLLINS LUSKI
SUSAN AND ALASDAIR MCBARNET
JANE AND HUGH MCCOLL
RENEE AND HUGH MCCOLL III
ANNA AND JOHN MCCOY
MRS. HAMILTON W. MCKAY, JR.
ANNE AND CARL MCPHAIL
BURT AND PHYLLIS MELTON
KATIE CAUSEY MILLER AND ANTHONY MILLER
ARRINGTON AND BURCH MIXON
KIMBERLY AND GEOFFREY MIZE
LAURA AND RANDY MOORE
LORRAINE MULLIGAN
JANET AND LOWELL NELSON
MARIAN NISBET
PATTY AND TOMMY NORMAN
MICA AND KEITH OBERKFELL
VICTORIA AND JAMES OLSZOWY
AMY LIZ PITTENGER
MR. AND MRS. SAMUEL B. RANKIN
EDWIN RASBERRY
DEBORAH HALLIDAY AND GARY RAUTENSTRAUCH
PATSY REAMES
LINDA AND GEORGE ROBERTS
SALLY AND RUSSELL ROBINSON
MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
SARA GARCÉS ROSELLI AND DAN ROSELLI
PAULA AND DALT RUFFIN
JEAN AND MATT SALISBURY
JANE AND WILLIAM SALTER
AIDA AND GREG SAUL
SALLIE F. SCARBOROUGH DEE SCHWAB
VIRGINIA AND HARRY SHAW
MOLLY SHAW AND DAVID WEBB
WAYNE B. SMITH AND INDUN PATRICK
MISSY STEWART AND RICHARD MASCHAL
MR. AND MRS. J. A. STEWMAN III
MR. AND MRS. D. HARDING STOWE
ANN AND WELLFORD TABOR
GAYLE AND CARL TALLARDY
REBECCA AND RUFFIN TANNER
EBONY THOMAS
MEREDITH AND JIM THOMPSON
KRISTY AND BILL THOMPSON
BEN AND SANDI THORMAN
PATTI TRACEY AND CHRIS HUDSON
IRINA TOSHKOVA
MARGARET AND CHRIS ULLRICH
SALLY S. VAN ALLEN
JENNIFER AND AL WAUGH
DONALD G. WENZEL
RICHARD “STICK” AND TERESA WILLIAMS
CAN’T GET ENOUGH CLASSIC BLACK ? GET YOUR COPY OF THE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE AT THE MINT MUSEUM STORE.
