Not certain if you saw it but Food Truck Friday was named Best Regular Foodie Event in Charlotte Magazine’s annual Best of the Best Awards! Special thanks to Gaines Brown (owner of the lot at Camden and Park), the Food Trucks and all of you that faithfully come out to South End to support! See you all Friday!

This past Saturday the South End Neighborhood Association hosted another successful Community Day. We hosted our first Community Day a year ago with the desire to have a series of work projects as a way to spruce up the neighborhood. Projects focused on adding or improving flower beds or public art projects and having another great partner in the neighborhood, the Charlotte Community ToolBank, we were able to supply the necessary tools to make the projects happen.

We had approximately 25 volunteers that were mostly South End residents but also included folks from Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church, area businesses Ciel Gallery + Mosaic Studio, Charlotte Art League, The UPS Store and some property managers from Colonial.

One team helped us replant the pots by the Trolley Museum.

Another team (I was on this team) did some demo work to remove the Phat Burrito dumpster at the corner of Camden and Park Ave.

The majority of the volunteers worked on a zip-tie public art project along the light posts on Camden. The idea for this project started about a year ago from the wonderful folks at the Ciel Gallery + Mosaic Studio as they shared a similar idea from the streets of NYC.The South End Neighborhood Association partnered with Ciel to work through the design for each post along Camden and Adam with SENA did an incredible job with all the logistics so teams could work quickly and efficiently to zip-tie 10,000 zip-ties!

The final product is pretty cool….Urban Totems are how I have been referencing them. I’ve included some images for you but you really need to come see it for yourself. Not only do they add a great pop of color to the street, they also add a creative texture to the sidewalk pedestrian experience.

The Urban Totems will stay up for about 3 months and when they are finally removed, we have partnered with local South End business Fabrix, to take the plastic zip-ties and recycle them. Fabrix produced the light post banners along Camden and the  Light Rail, which were made from recycled plastic bottles.

Special Thanks to all the volunteers that came out….to SENA for organizing….to Ciel Gallery + Mosaic Studio….to Charlotte Community ToolBank for lending us the tools and time….to Common Market and Phat Burrito for breakfast and lunch….and to North American Landscape for the pots and flower bed support!.

For a while now you may have noticed the large question mark on the back of the Design Center Water Tower.  That question mark will be replaced shortly with the new artwork above from Jeff Thomas who was selected the winner in the 2013 Highest Design Competition.  This year’s theme was “What Rythm Do You Pick Up in South End?” and if you look closely at the images within the design you’ll see they are photos from his time spent in South End over the past year. Congrats Jeff. The full press release is below with more details about Jeff and the CMS school he partnered with who will be the recipient of the art and school supplies.

2013 “Highest Design” Water Tower Art Contest Names Winning Artist and

Awards Billingsville Elementary Art & Learning Supplies

Charlotte, NC – May 9, 2013 – The Design Center of the Carolinas unveiled the winning work of art in its 4th annual “Highest Design” Water Tower Art Contest, sponsored by Ram Realty Services, at a special Design Center event on May 9. Jeff Thomas and his original work “6/8” garnered 2,322 votes to capture the prize. Jeff also won the contest in 2012 with his work, “I Am/We Are.”

Local artists competed online for votes to win the opportunity for their work to be displayed on the highest canvas in the city, a 125’ water tower, the landmark of Historic South End. “6/8” will be replicated onto a large horizontal vinyl canvas and installed on the Design Center water tower in June. This year’s theme was “What rhythm do you pick up in South End?”, allowing artists an opportunity to illustrate the vibe that inspires them in South End. The contest began January 22 and online voting ran from March 27 – May 3, 2013.

Jeff was presented with a $1,000 check by Ram Realty Services. Thomas said about his inspiration for the winning piece, “South End is a lot of things. It’s loose and light, and full of creativity. It’s the inspiring and the inspired. It’s the song you’ve known for years being played by a band you’ve only just heard. It’s a little quirky. A little loud, a little off center. It’s an Irish jig in a Mexican restaurant and it’s awesome.”

Ram Realty Services is donating art & learning supplies to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School, Billingsville Elementary, that Jeff championed. Principal Arlene Harris was on hand to accept the award. The supplies will be delivered at the start of the 2013-2014 school year. Mrs. Harris shared, “Jeff has been a strong supporter of Billingsville Elementary for the past two years. Our school staff, faculty and parents worked hard to get out the vote. We even had our church families voting daily. These supplies really make a difference to our kids.”

“When we see the community support for this contest, we know we really have created something that goes beyond the Design Center and truly makes a difference. Every year the contest grows and the water tower has become a canvas that showcases the creative energy that is South End.” said Ivy Greaner, Chief Operating Officer, Ram Realty Services.

About Design Center

The Design Center of the Carolinas is ideally located between Camden Road, West Tremont and Worthington Avenues in the Historic South End of Charlotte, NC, along the LYNX Light Rail at East/West Blvd. A signature example of adaptive reuse of historic buildings, DCC is comprised of three distinct buildings featuring exposed brick, expansive windows and compelling architectural details, giving a vintage vibe to contemporary workspace. Its trademark water tower is also a landmark of Historic South End and a symbol of its urban redevelopment. This unique workspace is designed to bring life to a progressive mix of showrooms, studios, offices and event spaces, resulting in a one-of-a-kind gathering place for creativity and forward-thinking businesses. For more information, please visit www.designcentercarolinas.com or contact Peter Katz at (704)971.6522 or peter.katz@cbcmeca.com regarding leasing opportunities.

About RAM

Ram is an affiliated group of companies and partnerships that acquire, develop, manage and finance retail and residential properties in the Southeast. The group also selectively acquires debt secured by retail and residential properties. Ram has raised two closed-end private equity real estate funds: Community Reinvestment Partners LP and Ram Realty Partners II LP. Since 1996, the company has deployed $1.5 billion in real estate transactions. Ram is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and has offices in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, Florida, Charlotte and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For more information, visit www.ramrealestate.com.

Food Truck Friday and a little live music tonight from the Jon Linker Band. As a way to encourage folks to either bike or take the Light Rail to Food Truck Friday….if you arrive via Light Rail or Bike we’ll have a special South End giveaway under the branded South End tent. Just show Andrew your Light Rail Pass (dated for Friday) and/or your bike and we’ll give you either a South End Pint Glass Koozie, Bottle Opener or Tasting Glass.

Also, the seating that is provided gets occupied very quickly so please feel free to bring a blanket or bag chairs. No outside beer or wine but you can purchase from Common Market or Phat Burrito, bring unopened to the lot and consume on the lot with your food.

See you Friday!

One year ago we hosted our first South End Community Day, a Saturday morning dedicated to landscaping and art projects to spruce up the neighborhood. In partnership with the Charlotte Community ToolBank and the South End Neighborhood Association (SENA), we have planted several new flower beds and spruced up an old dumpster over the last 2 community days and this Saturday we’ll be focusing on a public art project along Camden Rd.

We’ll begin the day at 7:30am (I know that is early on a Saturday for many of you) but we’ll meet at Common Market and provide breakfast and coffee to you for FREE! We’ll share all the work projects, break into teams and head out. We hope to be wrapped up by lunch time and we’ll be providing lunch to everyone from Phat Burrito.

If you’d like to volunteer, please email me, Ted Boyd, at tboyd@charlottecentercity.org. RSVP is not required but appreciated!

Landscape Projects: Planting flowers in a beds along Camden.

Public Art Project: The South End Neighborhood Association partnered with Ciel Gallery and Mosaic Studio on the public art project which will be zip-tie art along the light posts on Camden between S Tryon and Park Ave. Below are a couple examples from other cities. The additional cool factor in this project is that after about 3 months, we’ll remove the zip-ties and a local South End company, Fabrix, will take the zip-ties to recycle and repurpose!

We are in the middle of Bike Charlotte and one of the many events happening during this time is the Big Bingo Bike Ride. South End has been supporter of this event as it has taken shape over the years and something for the whole family. Grab your bike and come join us at Icehouse at the Atherton Mill. For more details check out Bike Charlotte and CABA.

(this photo was taken from the CABA website. Check out more of their great photos here.)

Also, one of the great features of South End is the Light Rail and Trail running through the neighborhood. If you have the opportunity to use one of the park and ride stations further south and use the Bland Station for Food Truck Friday or the East/West Station for Movie Night. South End is very walkable once you get here. If you are able to walk or bike, that is great too!! We have 2 Bike Share Stations at both of these Light Rail Stations mentioned above so feel free to put them to use!

See you Friday!

Funds to Farms

Sunday, May 12, 2013 6:30-8:30pm

Triple C Brewery

$20 Per Person

http://www.fundstofarms.com

Join us Sunday, May 12^th for an evening filled with Triple C brews and a community dinner prepared by Roots.Good.Food. While you eat, Charlotte-area beginning farmers and food entrepreneurs will present their individual projects that need micro funding with the hope of securing your vote. Be part of our ever-expanding Charlotte food culture.

Everyone wins!

A portion of the evening’s proceeds will go to benefit all of the Funds to Farm presenters. Join us for the first in what will surely be a series of great events connecting you in a tasty way to the people who feed us. 

To register for the dinner please visit here.

The South End Neighborhood Association is bringing back the popular Outdoor Movie Night that they started last summer. The plan for now is to have 3 Outdoor Movies that would be on the 2nd Friday of May, June and July. We are changing up the location this year and will be hosting under the trees at Atherton Mill (corner of Tremont and South Blvd). The grassy area will be reserved for those bringing blankets and we’ll have seating in the parking lot for those bringing bag chairs.

The movie will start at dark, which will be around 8:30 but don’t hold us to that. Atherton Mill has lots of great restaurants so feel free to stop by Icehouse, Zucca Pizza, Big Ben, Luna’s Living Kitchen or across the street at Pike’s, Sullivan’s, Luciano’s or Tyber Creek for a bite to eat before the movie or get it to go and have a picnic under the trees before the movie starts. We’ll have a few sweet treats for folks to purchase as well as popcorn, along with some outdoor tailgating games.

Atherton Mill is a 3 minute walk from the East/West Light Rail Station and if you are able to take the light rail, this is highly encouraged as well as walking or biking. If you are coming via car, there is parking in Atherton Mill and would ask that you park on the far side, between By Design and Icehouse.

Atherton Farmers Market

South End Super Flea – Saturday, May 4th
After a year hiatus, the South End Super Flea is returning this Saturday to the corner of Camden Rd and Park Ave. Markets play great roles in cities for animating space and creating interesting places for folks to hang out and interact and the Super Flea is a place you’ll want to check out on Saturdays from 9am to 3pm. Details are on their Facebook page.

South End Neighborhood Association Movie Nights
The South End Neighborhood Association is bringing back the popular Outdoor Movie Nights like they did last year. There will be 3 movie nights, all on the 2nd Friday of May, June and July. This year we will host them at Atherton Mill in the grassy area where we set up the South End Holiday Tree. Details! 

Big Bingo Bike Ride – Saturday, May 11
The Big Bingo Bike Ride is part of a whole series of bike related events happening as part of Cycle Charlotte. This event is designed for the non spandex biking crowd so if you have a cruiser then this ride is for you. You can find all the details here.

South End Community Day – Saturday, May 18
South End Community Day is scheduled for Saturday, May 18th starting with breakfast at 7:30am at Common Market. This year we will spruce up and mulch the beds we’ve recently installed and will also be working on a public art project along Camden Rd. If you’d like to volunteer please click here for more details. 

Healthy Home Market Annual Customer Appreciation Day, Saturday May 18th

Firefighter’s Pancake Breakfast – Saturday, June 1
Save the Date for our Annual Firefighter’s Pancake Breakfast at the Atherton Market. It’s a great morning for the whole family to come out and eat pancakes for a great cause. We’ll send more details soon but here some pictures from last year.

You can access more content and stories on the South End Website and Blog. If you have a story to share or an upcoming event please let me know by sending an email to tboyd@charlottecentercity.org.