Enlarge Flora Snow and artist Luis Enrique Alvarez talk about their creations.

Posted: September 23rd, 2009 Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman

Amazing things happen when you bring seemingly different people together. For instance, it's likely you'll find they are much more alike than they are different.
On Sept. 19, Urban Ministries held it 8th annual art show and silent auction, hosted by its ArtWorks 945 program. Proceeds from the sale are split with the artist and the program.

The center, founded in 1994, is an interfaith organization serving poor and homeless people with, as they put it, "love, compassion and tangible help that comes in countless forms."

"It's great for both the community and our neighbors," says Penny Mann, ArtWorks 945's director. "The community gets to see what we're up to and our neighbors receive validation."

By neighbors, Mann means the homeless who tuck themselves away in plain sight all across the Queen City.

The event showcases talented artists, who also are homeless, while drawing people who might not otherwise cross paths.

My grandmother, Flora Snow, was in town, so I thought I'd take her with me. She was raised during the Great Depression on a ranch in Nebraska where the minority race was Black Elk's fading Lakota Sioux tribe, who, according to grandma, was full of troublemakers and alcoholics.

Today, she lives in Montgomery, Ala., where, as she puts it, "The city's all black now."

I'm not sure she hears herself when she says things like that and I don't think she would consider herself a bigot. In fact, I don't think she'd consider herself anything below completely pious. She and my grandfather dutifully donate to charity and volunteer at a soup kitchen. They pay attention the news and bear witness to today's troubles.

Despite that, she remains somewhat removed and uninformed about many of the issues facing today's urban poor. And, frankly, so do I. And I believe, so do most of us.

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Posted: September 22nd, 2009 Katrina Dietz

Know Your Farms held its first Annual Farm Tour on Sept. 19, giving local residents the opportunity to do just that.

Nine farms stretching from Stanley to Concord, Mount Ulla to Huntersville, flung the barns doors open for the day to offer tours and a peek at what’s growing in Charlotte’s backyard.

The experience at each farm directly reflected the crops and/or livestock and the individual farmers’ personalities. Bradford Farm’s parking lot was lined with stands selling pumpkins, baked goods, and lunch. A small petting zoo with llamas, goats and rabbits sat to the side of the barn, whose doors were opened to display the organic farming displays and products available and blacksmith Jack Hurley hard at work.

Farm explorers boarded the hay wagon tour in front of the store, which offers goods grown and made on the farm as well as crops and products from other Carolinas farms. Owner Grier Bradford, who paused to send a quick text message on his Blackberry before setting off on our tour, discussed the farms history, the small apple orchard currently being developed, the stand of American Walnut trees planted for his grandchildren. Riders also learned about more scientific efforts such as the use of farm waste to extract liquid nitrogen for use in fertilizing their organic crops, before returning to the store for a bit of shopping.

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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.”

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Posted: September 18th, 2009 Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman

Tonight, La Noticia, Charlotte's Spanish-language news source, is hosting their 11th annual Excelente Awards at the Westin in Uptown.

This year's award winners include seven people and two businesses. New this year, an award for the Diversity and Inclusion Company of the year. Two companies are being honored, People's Bank and Compass Group North America.

Also, Nhora S. Gomez-Saxon, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg teacher, is being honored as the Latina teacher of the year. Her award includes a $2,500 scholarship for professional development.

"This is the most significant event of the year for the Latino community in Charlotte," says Hilda H. Gurdian, La Noticia's publisher and CEO. "Everyone looks forward to it."

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