Cultivating Creativity in Charlotte: Opportunity Fund Spotlight
Amidst Charlotte’s towering skyline stands a rich arts and culture scene that fuels the city’s vibrancy, offering a vital sense of identity, community and inspiration.
The Queen City has long been a melting pot for diverse perspectives and creative energy. The City of Charlotte Arts and Culture Advisory Board previously distributed nearly $1.2 million to local artists and arts and cultural groups via Opportunity Fund grants. These special grants are designed to launch new arts initiatives and expand existing efforts, creating impactful, sustainable cultural experiences that may not have been possible without an infusion of seed funding.
Get to Know the Grantees
Recipients of Opportunity Fund grants serve a gamut of artistic mediums and diverse audience, spreading creative expression, training and encouragement across the Charlotte region.
Activation Studios
Local real estate developer Logan Phillips and local artist Matt Alvis used their Opportunity Fund grant to transform an abandoned building on the former church's campus into Activation Studios. This “third space" for artists currently supports resident visual artists and more than 100 musicians with affordable space to create, perform and sell their work.
Art Beyond
To share her experience as a working and teaching artist, Elizabeth Palmisano and Art Beyond launched the Certified Teaching Artist Program with Opportunity Fund support. This free instructional program serves a cohort of 10 local artists with 10 weeks of training, mentorship and hands-on teaching experience, preparing them to design and lead impactful creative learning experiences.
Arts Empowerment Project
With support from the Opportunity Fund, the Arts Empowerment Project, located in the VAPA Center, established an art residency program focused on serving youth from underserved communities. Participants have access to creative workshops to foster confidence, self-expression and artistic growth.
Arts+
Arts+, dedicated to connecting children, adults and families to visual art and music education, converted the former Plaza Presbyterian Church into a new cultural campus, with financial assistance from the Opportunity Fund. Arts+ uses this community campus for affordable artist studios, along with spaces for art classes, events, community gatherings and Activation Studios.
Boom Charlotte
The annual BOOM Charlotte festival spotlights immigrant, refugee and Native American artists who present art forms not traditionally shown on large stages. Fueled by a grant from the Opportunity Fund, BOOM Charlotte established BOOM Echoes Expansion which is a collaboration with community partners to bring arts programming to diverse communities by removing barriers to access.
BraveWorks
The mission of BraveWorks is to empower women and families overcoming trauma and injustice by teaching skills in jewelry production and other artisanal creations. To further that mission, BraveWorks used money from the Opportunity Fund to reimagine and rebuild its shipping and storage systems, helping more than 800 women artisans fulfill orders more efficiently.
Bunny Gregory
Local artist Michelle “Bunny” Campbell-Gregory helps other artists get started painting murals with tools to guide them to success. The Mural Warriors Cohort, led by Campbell-Gregory, gives emerging muralists free instruction to get them off to a strong start. In the first round, six artists completed “in-house” training, covering contracts, material pricing, insurance and more.
Carla Aaron-Lopez
With help from the Opportunity Fund, local artist Carla Aaron-Lopez established 15 To Fame: Highlighting Local Comedy Legends, an event series designed to uplift comedians of color. Produced by Aaron-Lopez, the series featured 10 local comedians and showed performers that they could — and should — be paid for their craft and deserve to be in the spotlight.
Charlotte Gaymers Network
Charlotte Gaymers Network (CGN) created Project Saturn, an eight-week esports and STEM program focused on teaching game design and broadcasting skills to young coders. The program served 40 high school students, mainly Black youth from Title I schools, while also fostering connections with LGBTQ+ mentors.
Charlotte Pride Band
Charlotte Pride Band is dedicated to providing an inclusive environment for musicians of all skill levels. This nonprofit band, comprised of LGBTQIA+ musicians, perform throughout the Charlotte region and believe that music can bring any community together.
Cine Casual
In 2016, arts advocate and film lover, Giovanna Torres, was frustrated by the lack of access to Latin American cinema in Charlotte. So, she created Cine Casual. Today, Cine Casual’s Charlotte Latino Film Festival, aided by the Opportunity Fund, has become a much-anticipated annual event in Charlotte’s film community that draws thousands of attendees to Independent Picture House.
Dammit Wesley
For the past several years, the Hunnid Dollar Art Fair, led by artist Dammit Wesley, has taken over Camp North End during the holiday shopping season. The majority of the art on display, from a curated group of emerging visual artists, is priced at $100 or lower. This initiative serves as a jumping-off point for a new wave of young art collectors.
Depeña Studio
Artist Ivan Toth Depeña’s work is informed by his experience in art, architecture, technology and design. His multimedia art series, “Remote,” transformed every day urban, suburban and rural spaces into site-specific installations. “Remote” strives to make art accessible by turning unconventional spaces into dynamic experiences for a range of audiences.
Gambrell Center at Queens University of Charlotte
Laura Kratt led the development of Connected Campus, a multidisciplinary series exploring democracy through visual art, music, theater and design at the Gambrell Center on the campus of Queens University. Through collaboration with community partners, Connected Campus engages audiences through a semester-long series of events that explore a central theme.
Gay Men’s Chorus
With an Opportunity Fund grant, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte is creating stages for LGBTQ+ stories through the establishment of the ActOUT Theater Company. The project centers on amplifying queer voices, especially trans narratives. ActOUT Theater Company has mounted two productions, serving 150 community members.
Goodyear Arts
Co-director Eric Mullis and his team at Goodyear Arts at Camp North End identified a gap between education and the professional world for dancers and artists. With capital from the Opportunity Fund, they developed the Micro Gallery and Dance Lab, an initiative that offers emerging creatives access to free studio space at Goodyear Arts.
Greater Enrichment Project
The Greater Enrichment Project developed an immersive program designed to engage middle school students in West Charlotte in critical thinking about civil liberties under the mantra “freedom through creative expression.” Through theFahrenheit 704 Project, participating students from Thomasboro Academy have created comic books and performed at Johnson C. Smith University.
InReach
Project: Troupe 801
Thanks to the Opportunity Fund, Troupe 801, an ensemble of talented adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, expanded. Grant funds awarded to InReach, an organization providing services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, allowed them to write a new script, design puppets and sets, and dedicate rehearsal time to sharpen performances.
Lions Services Inc.
Since 1935, Lion Services, Inc. has worked to create a world where blind and visually impaired people can feel empowered through employment and community. With help from the Opportunity Fund, the organization developed the Charlotte Braille Trail, an accessible path that blends art, nature and technology.
Lorien Arts
The mission of Lorien Arts addresses a critical need identified in Charlotte’s arts and culture plan, creating access to art opportunities for under-resourced youth. In line with this mission, Lorien, under the direction of founder and executive director Michael Khoe, used its grant to provide after-school art clubs for more than 200 students inside Title I schools.
Moving Spirits, Inc.
Tamara Williams, founder and artistic director of Moving Spirits, Inc., uses the powerful medium of dance to deepen local connection to the traditions of the African diaspora. With her Opportunity Fund grant, Williams established Echoes of Freedom, a project that blends dance workshops, storytelling and intergenerational gatherings.
My Brother’s Keeper
Creative Pathways is a program from My Brother’s Keeper, a nonprofit dedicated to improving outcomes for boys and young men of color. With grant support, Creative Pathways is designed to equip Charlotte youth — especially those experiencing housing insecurity — for creative careers through hands-on training in stagecraft, media and production.
Open Door Dance Foundation
From Open Door Studios, the Open Door Dance Foundation was established in 2012 to support aspiring dancers with scholarship support and opportunities to perform. Through the foundation, with grant support, Open Door created Expand Movement. This dance program is designed for dancers with and without disabilities, bringing bodies of all types together in movement.
Phoenix Down RPG
Married couple Teil Taliesin and Dylan Lloyd, D.M.A., are musicians, gamers and live experience creators. With Opportunity Fund support, they launched Campfire Tales, a live role-playing game where actors and musicians improvise scary stories, rewrite horror movie plots and invite audiences to be part of the action.
Piedmont Music Therapy
With Opportunity Fund support, Piedmont Music Therapy (PMT) developed a workshop series for veterans that blends music, community and healing. In collaboration with Veterans Bridge Home, this eight-week music therapy program expands access to the arts while providing mental health resources to local veterans and caregivers.
POTIONS & PIXELS
POTIONS & PIXELS is a nonprofit founded by Michael Zytkow that empowers creatives of all backgrounds to explore career paths in the game industry. The group works to expand Charlotte’s gaming industry through monthly networking events, contests for game developers and more, encouraging emerging developers to grow their careers within the Queen City.
Quincy Woodward
With his Opportunity Fund grant, Charlotte creative Quincy Woodward taught workshops on digital 3D modeling to more than 100 participants, mostly BIPOC, at the Harvey B. Gantt Center, QC Family Tree and other venues. Focused on digital sculpting, modeling and projection, the classes introduced participants to new passions and possible careers.
RA Arts for All
By providing hands-on evaluations and delivering sensory toolkits to arts organizations, RA Arts for All is working to make everyone feel welcome in Charlotte’s cultural spaces. Founder Robin Stockton is building a website that allows residents and visitors of different abilities and needs to search for accessible cultural experiences.
Smithville Community Coalition
As a senior at Davidson College, Maurice J. Norman connected with longtime residents of Smithville, a historic Black neighborhood in nearby Cornelius. Inspired by their stories, Norman created “Don’t Lose Heart,” a storytelling production presented at Cain Center for the Arts with support from the Opportunity Fund to benefit the Smithville Community Coalition.
Sugar Creek Charter School
Sugar Creek Charter School provides an enriching education experience to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. With a grant from the Opportunity Fund, the school established the Arts Growth Initiative, dedicated to enhancing arts education and opportunities for students at the Title I school.
Steven Williams
Steven Williams is using his Opportunity Fund allotment to transform shipping containers into community-focused, design-forward art spaces along the West Boulevard corridor. The vision: a flexible, creative infrastructure of studios, retail spaces and gathering hubs, built from the containers, for artists and residents.
TAOH Outdoor Gallery
With help from the Opportunity Fund, muralist Osiris Rain, along with creatives Sydney Duarte, Treazy Treaz and the creative community at large, established the TAOH Outdoor Gallery. This destination for muralists is open to expert and novice artists alike. Since July 2024, TAOH has hosted more than 600 temporary murals and serves as a location for community celebrations.
VisArt Video
VisArt boasts one of the largest collections of physical media in the world. With an Opportunity Fund grant, VisArt offers affordable rental space for meetups, hands-on art classes, film screenings and art installations in a small, black box screening room and outdoor patio. Productions range from a puppet-building workshop to art installations and film meetups.
We Rock Charlotte
Creative spaces come in all shapes and sizes, but not all are accessible for everyone’s use. We Rock Charlotte addressed that with an Opportunity Fund grant, transforming an outdoor space into an ADA-compliant, inclusive performance venue. The venue welcomes families, youth performers, nonprofits and community partners with accessibility front and center.
ZABS Place
Inspired by Friendship Circle of Charlotte’s inclusive art clubs, financial assistance from the Opportunity Fund established ZABS Place, a nonprofit thrift boutique in Matthews that provides job skills to individuals with special needs. ZABS Place provides an environment for these individuals to work independently, learn new skills and make friends.
