136. Jerald Melberg Gallery
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (704) 365-3000
Address: 625 South Sharon Amity Rd.
Description: Owner Jerald Melberg, the former curator of the Mint Museum of Art, opened this well-respected gallery in 1983. The gallery presents a continuing series of individual artist exhibitions and theme and invitational shows, with artists represented from Alaska to Argentina. Paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures are showcased, many times by big-name artists such as Charlotte native Romare Bearden, the master collagist of the 20th century; Dale Chihuly, the world’s preeminent glass artist; and Wolf Kahn, often considered America’s premier living landscape painter. The gallery also has a private presentation room so clients can view its extensive inventory at any time. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon through Sat.
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Address: 1530 East Blvd.
138. Mccoll Center For Visual Art
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (704) 332-5535
Address: 721 North Tryon St.
Description: Once a burned-out, dilapidated eyesore on the edge of Uptown, this former First A.R.P. Church was converted into a gleaming stone and glass artists’ colony—one of the largest in the country. Much of the funding for the center was provided by Bank of America; the center is named in honor of the bank’s former chairman, Hugh McColl Jr.Artists-in-residence have work space at McColl Center and put on occasional showings, including one that involved burning hundreds of chairs in a huge pyre. Five new exhibitions are presented each year, along with several open houses. Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tues through Sat.
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Address: 2730 Randolph Rd.
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Address: 500 South Tryon St.
141. Red Sky Gallery
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (704) 377-6400
Address: 1244 East Blvd.
Description: An expanding player in Charlotte’s arts scene, Red Sky has grown to three locations, including its latest gallery in the EpiCentre in Uptown. Red Sky showcases more than 500 local, regional, and national artists in its fine-art and crafts galleries. Owner Kellie Scott features contemporary paintings and two-dimensional art, as well as exceptional fine crafts in glass, metal, ceramics, wood, and basketry. You’ll find functional and decorative home accessories, tableware, lighting, garden art, furniture, sculpture, and jewelry. Red Sky also offers art consultation and corporate gift services. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon through Sat, except for the EpiCentre location, which is closed on Mon and opens at 11 a.m. daily. The EpiCentre gallery is open until 7 p.m. each evening.
142. Spirit Square Center For Arts & Education
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (704) 372-1000
Address: 345 North College St.
Description: Spirit Square is a multi-arts complex providing classrooms, studios, art galleries, performance centers, and office space for small arts organizations. The center, now affiliated with North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, opened in 1975 in the renovated First Baptist Church and has added two adjoining buildings. Adults and children can take classes in clay, fiber arts, drawing, printmaking, and theater. Spirit Square has two theaters: the 720-seat McGlohon Theatre in the former church sanctuary and the 180-seat Duke Power Theatre.
143. Central Piedmont Community College
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (704) 330-2722
Address: 1201 Elizabeth Ave.
144. Community School Of The Arts
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (704) 377-4187
Address: 345 North College St.
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Address: 1900 Selwyn Ave.
146. Carolina Romance Writers
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Description: Affiliated with Romance Writers of America, Carolina Romance Writers meets at 11:30 a.m. the first Sat of the month at Hickory Tavern, 9010 Harris Corners Parkway. Open to published and nonpublished writers since 1984, this active group sponsors conferences and weekend workshops with professional guest-speaker writers and editors.
147. Charlotte Writers’ Club
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Description: Since 1922 this group has welcomed professional and amateur writers for programs, annual workshops, and contests in poetry, fiction, short stories, and nonfiction. The goal has always been to provide the encouragement and support to elicit the creative best from members. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. the third Tues of each month from Sept through May at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in the SouthPark Mall and are followed by an open-mike session and light refreshments. All activities, including regular meetings, are open to both members and nonmembers. The Charlotte Writers’ Club has added a branch club in recent years, CWC-North in Davidson.
148. North Carolina Writers’ Network
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (919) 967-9540
Description: This nonprofit statewide organization publishes a bimonthly newsletter, sponsors an annual conference, and offers a wide variety of information and support for fiction and nonfiction writers and poets.
149. Novello Festival Of Reading
City: Charlotte, NC
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (704) 416-0100
Address: 310 North Tryon St.
Description: Charlotte Public Library’s Novello is a weeklong festival held each year in mid-October with top-name authors such as Pat Conroy, Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison, Patricia Cornwell, Maurice Sendak, Dr. Cornel West, and Mitch Albom. In addition to nationally renowned writers, Novello also encourages local and regional writers to give workshops and speak at other functions.