Posted: September 20th, 2009 Crystal Dempsey

Video and Text by Tonya Jameson

They work in clay, seeds, acrylic and whatever else moves them to create art.

They are young and old, white and black.

Some have lived in Charlotte forever. Others are preparing to leave.

They are the emerging artists who will use their talents to incorporate Crossroads Charlotte themes into art during Festival in the Park.

The dozen or so artists met Sept. 17 to learn more about the Crossroads Charlotte initiative and to be inspired for their pieces.

Some of the artists were old friends, but many met for the first time during the training at the Carole A. Hoefner Center (610 E. 7th St.).

They easily fell into conversation about the good and the bad of Charlotte. For example, we have Southern hospitality, but we rarely acknowledge strangers. We are a city of transplants, but we try too hard to conform.

“I want to find what’s different,” said Carlleena Person, an abstract painter. “That’s how you build community.”

Catherine McElvane, a colored pencil artist, lamented how the city is developed in a way that allows residents to cocoon in their communities.

Once a person leaves home they can go to work, shop and their children’s school and never venture outside their side of town or their comfort zone. McElvane called that comfort zone a triangle.

“How do we get triangles to intersect?” she asked.

Organizers of Festival in the Park and Crossroads Charlotte hope art will help encourage people to expand their triangles and create new ones. The Emerging Artists venue is a new addition to Festival in the Park, which was founded in 1964.

Festival board chairman David Dalton hopes to eventually launch a spring emerging artists’ festival.

For now, he hopes the partnership with Crossroads will expose area residents to more local artists and encourage people to talk about what kind of community they want Charlotte to become.

Festival in the Park is Sept. 24-27. Click here for full schedule and map.

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