Wanted to share the details for the 3rd Annual “Highest Design Contest” that the Design Center of the Carolinas is hosting. Great contest that supports local CMS schools!

The Design Center of the Carolinas Announces Charlotte’s Third Annual “Highest Design” Contest

The Winning Artwork Will Be Displayed on Water Tower Landmark

Deadline for Entries March 16, 2012 and Online Voting Begins March 19, 2012

Charlotte, NC – The Design Center of the Carolinas (DCC) and Ram Realty Services announce an opportunity to showcase local creativity through their third annual art contest for Charlotte’s design and arts community. The winning artist will have his or her work displayed on the highest canvas in town, a 125’ water tower, plus win a $1,000 check in this year’s Highest Design Contest. The theme is “What inspires your creativity?” The contest begins January 17 with entries due by March 16, 2012. Online voting will run from March 19 – April 30, 2012.

The Charlotte professional arts community including designers, photographers, illustrators and other artists are invited to participate. The winning selection will be determined by public online voting. In addition to the artist winning a $1,000, Carolina Pad will donate an additional $5,000 in classroom supplies to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg School championed by the winning artist.

Entries must be submitted by March 16, 2012 by email to getinspired@designcentercarolinas.com. Submission requirements are available online at www.designcentercarolinas.com. All artwork will be judged online by open voting from the Charlotte community. Participants are encouraged to ask friends and family to vote for their work and the artwork with the most votes wins.

Each artist is encouraged to share his or her vision of what is inspiring artisans today. Entrants may work in a variety of two-dimensional mediums, but need to work in a horizontal format. The winner’s artwork will appear on the Design Center of the Carolinas water tower for a twelve-month period. The water tower is a South End landmark and symbol of the surrounding creative community. The winner and the winning school will be spotlighted in a special ceremony in May at the Design Center of the Carolinas in Historic South End.

Ivy Greaner, chief operating officer of Ram Realty Services spoke of the ongoing tradition of this contest, “We love that the Design Center is thought of as a place full of creative energy that ties with the creative community of Charlotte.  It is there for all to see when you look up at the water tower.”

The contest is open to professionals at least 18 years of age. Required working size is 18”w x 12” h horizontal. Artists are encouraged to enter from Charlotte’s design community working in businesses such as advertising agencies, photography studios, graphic design firms, printing companies, architectural firms as well as arts programs at local universities and community colleges.

The artwork will be replicated onto a large horizontal vinyl canvas and installed on the Design Center of the Carolinas water tower in place of the 2011 artwork Jane’s Dancing Addiction. The winning entry will be selected by the Charlotte community through a web and viral social media campaign on the Design Center of the Carolinas web site. www.designcentercarolinas.com.

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 Meredith Dickerson at (704) 971-6517 or meredith.dickerson@cbcmeca.com regarding leasing opportunities.

About Carolina Pad

Carolina Pad™ is a leading supplier of fashion school, office and organizational products. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, with offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Carolina Pad is one of the fastest

Growing stationery companies in the world. Its school, office, and arts and crafts products can be found at mass merchant, office supply, grocery, and drug stores. The Carolina Pad™ portfolio of brands include

Studio C™, Note2Self™, Ghostline®, Notebound®, Sasquatch™, and u:create™. Learn more about Carolina Pad at www.carolinapad.com.

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.

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Contact: Kim Counts, kcounts@carolina.rr.com, 704.507.4158

I get a lot of requests for unique, creative places to host a company brainstorming session, a breakfast meeting, luncheons, or civic groups and the great thing about South End is that we have several great places to offer. Many folks are familiar with Byron’s in the Design Center of the Carolinas, which offers great indoor and outdoor options in what used to be the Neble Knitting Mill.  Another great place is the Charlotte Trolley Museum, which many are probably familiar with but didn’t realize it could be used as a meeting space or special event venue. Finally, one of the most creative spaces yet not as well known is the Magellan Idea Center located in the Atherton Lofts at Atherton Mill. 

One of the things I like about Magellan is that they will help you configure the space to accomplish your specific goals. Personally, I dread going to meetings, typically because they are not organized, don’t have clear direction and last way too long so I asked Sandy at Magellan if she could share a few things that make Magellan a great meeting place and some tips for planning a successful meeting. See below for her recommendations and hope you’ll consider South End for your next meeting or event!

Top 10 Tips for a Successful Meeting

Located in historic South End, Magellan Idea Center is a creative meeting space designed to visually stimulate, encourage open dialogue and inspire news ways of thinking. Both small companies and large corporations utilize Magellan Idea Center for off-site meetings that are always a memorable meeting experience.

Magellan Idea Center believes that the right environment is necessary for groundbreaking ideas to emerge and team-building to effectively occur. Truly creative ideas that lead to breakthrough ideas are far more likely to surface in risk-free zones that inspire and energize people.

Make the most of your meeting time. Here are Magellan Idea Center’s Top 10 Tips for a successful meeting.

1. Set objectives before the meeting
2. Give participants a task to complete before they gather for the meeting to get them in the right frame of mind
3. Provide an agenda before the meeting – a brief description of the goals for the meeting and topics to be covered
4. Set ground rules for the meeting and stick to them, such as:

• Keep an open mind
• Participate fully (emphasis on ‘we have lots of brain power and want to hear from everyone’)
• Risk (say what’s on your mind!)
• Listen actively and respectively
• Cell phone free zone (switch to OFF or place on foyer bench)
• Be comfortable (complimentary socks in bin next to audio system)
• Have fun!

5. Appoint a facilitator – or better yet, hire an outside facilitator – to keep the conversation on target and moving

6. Schedule breaks for people to check their email and phones

7. Use a whiteboard or flipchart to record group ideas for everyone to see (if whiteboard used, take photos before erasing)

8. Create a “parking lot” for issues that are not related to your meeting, but do need to be dealt with at a later time

9. Assign action items

10. Create an effective meeting follow-up plan before you leave

Magellan Idea Center is offering friends of South End a 15% discount for meetings booked by the end of March to organizations that mention this blog post. Contact Sandy@CenterForIdeas.com for more information or to rent the center. Now, GET OUT OF THE OFFICE and into the zone at Magellan Idea Center!

A brand new clothing store, The Benjamin Bear, recently opened on the bottom floor below Pewter Rose. It’s a small (maybe 500SF) space but owner Patrick Hill has given it a very modern feel. Patrick designs some of the clothes and carries unique brands to the Charlotte market. Make certain to stop in, say hello, and try on something.

Want to keep up with CLT Food Trucks? Follow my Twitter list https://twitter.com/#!/Greenmarketguy/clt-food-trucks

For all you social media folks coming to Gallery Crawl and Food Truck Friday, please use the Hashtag #SEcrawl. Please share pics of food and art and share your thoughts! #SEcrawl

This Friday we are combining two great events into one: First Friday Gallery Crawl and Food Truck Friday. South End is home to the largest number of galleries in Charlotte and each month you can count on a gallery crawl on First Friday. Additionally, we’ve started to host a couple Food Truck Festivals and they’ve been well received. This Friday we are combinging these two events into one so you can come Crawl the Galleries and also experience the food truck scene as 6 trucks will be set up at the Lunch Lot at Camden Rd and Park Ave.

All the details for the Gallery Crawl are below as well as the flier for the participating food trucks. A couple things to note about Food Truck Friday. This event is a BYOB hybrid. You can bring and consume alcohol from the Food Truck Friday lot provided it was purchased from the Common Market, just a few steps away. The weather forecast is looking great with a high of 60 so bring your bag chairs if you want to hang out. There will be limited seating at the food truck lot.

Friday will be a great fushion of art and food so make certain to be in South End!

When:     Friday, February 3^rd, 2012

Gallery Crawl is 6:00pm – 9:00pm

The first Gallery Crawl of 2012 is this Friday, February 3^rd     Come explore and experience the South End Gallery Crawl where you’ll find unique paintings, sculpture, jewelry, music, refreshments and more at our participating galleries!

South End is home to the largest number of galleries in Charlotte and below are a few highlights for the gallery exhibits taking place this month.

Camden Rd area is always a buzz on gallery crawl with Charlotte Art League with a theme of Roots to Renaissance on Friday, February 3^rd from 6-9pm.  Also, the third Tuesday, February 21, 2012, Lance Main, President and Founder of Occhuzzie Paint Company in Charlotte, a family-based business dedicated to providing artists with unique, handmade oil paints will be open to the public. This is a FREE event that begins at 7pm.

The newly expanded Ciel Gallery presents Survey, a representation of Charlotte artists, February 3-25^th, 2012. Receptions will be held Friday, February 3rd and Friday, February 17^th from 6-9:00pm. Ciel Gallery is open Tuesday-Friday, 11am-6pm and Saturday 10am-5pm.

Lark and Key Gallery presents New Works by Angie Renfro and Julie Covington, on view from February 1^st through March 31^st. Angie Renfro’s impressionistic oil paintings capture the quiet, unassuming beauty of everyday objects and landscapes. Her multi-layered technique and paired down compositions take the ordinary and transforms it into something extraordinary. Opening reception is from 6-9pm, February 3^rd during South End Gallery Crawl.

SoBo Loft Boutique and Gifts will have great local art and a wide range of local and creative items. See new works from local artist Elizabeth Arzani who is a senior at UNC Charlotte and a favorite at the boutique. Her work can be seen on the Sobo Loft Facebook page, website, UNC Charlotte and at galleries in NODA.

Unexpected Finds is hosting their monthly Wine Tasting and Gallery Night. Unexpected Finds will be showcasing Dolls in their gallery and hosting their first poetry reading with the help of Poet John Rice. They’ll also have the help of Tab Hot Dogs throughout the day and evening, so come and enjoy.

Elder Art Gallery will NOT be participating in Friday’s Gallery Crawl but will open a NEW exhibition, 35 Years of Painting at their pop-up gallery at Atherton Mill Friday, February 10^th from 5-8pm. Over 100 paintings and drawings will be on display and will feature new selections from the collection which have not previously been exhibited. The exhibition is scheduled to run through February 29^th.

In addition to the Gallery Crawl, Modern Fabric, Niche, BlackSheep, Savory Spice Shop, SoBo Loft, The Benjamin Bear (new store), Vin Master and Boulevard at South End will be open with great shopping opportunities. Gil Gallery, Coffee & Thompson Gallery, and Doma Gallery Connection are all must stops but they are a little spread out so probably best to drive rather than “crawl” to these locations. Have dinner at The Liberty, Pewter Rose, Sullivans, Icehouse, Big Ben British Pub, Common Market or Phat Burrito.

A special addition to the February Gallery Crawl will be Food Truck Friday’s at the Lunch Lot at Camden and Park Ave. While you are out crawling between galleries, stop by the Lunch Lot for some great food truck cuisine. This event is not BYOB but you can purchase alcohol from Common Market and consume at the Lunch Lot.

South End guides are located at galleries, Atherton Market and Common Market.

For more information, please contact Ted Boyd at tboyd@charlottecentercity.org

We had about 55 people join us at Atherton Mill for the noon start. The tour lasted about 2 and a half hours and the route took us from Atherton Mill, down Camden Rd, over to South Blvd and back up to Atherton. We made lots of stops along the way at local businesses and concluded with a wine tasting at Vin Master.

We will definitely plan another walking tour as this was a lot of fun and great way to explore South End and if you’re interesed in taking part next time please email me at tboyd@charlottecentercity.org.

Hope you enjoy the images below from the tour and you can also see the realtime tour captured via Twitter through Storify which Bridget Sullivan but together…just click here.

THE BREWER:     SCOTT KIMBALL

The Dilworth and South End neighborhoods were the pioneers of breweries in Charlotte, NC. Dilworth Brewing Company opened March 1, 1989 on the corner of Kenilworth and East in the space which is currently Sutton House (old Picasso’s). Six years later in 1995, South End Brewery and Smokehouse opened on South Boulevard in Atherton Mill (currently Icehouse). I’ve heard many stories of Panther’s players hanging out in South End Brewery after games and how the space was so large they would throw footballs inside the brewery. I don’t know the exact year South End Brewery closed but believe it was around 06/07 so in similar fashion to Dilworth Brewing Company, it ran for about 10 years. The brewery and restaurant died but the beer equipment lived on and found a new home with Olde Mecklenburg Brewery which began production in 2009.

While it’s hard for me to call something a tradition that is only about 20 years old, I am happy to see Charlotte continue the tradition of breweries and to know we are home to Four Friends Brewing, Rock Bottom Brewery, NoDa Brewing Company, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery and Birdsong Brewing. I am also happy to share that the Dilworth/South End area that pioneered breweries in Charlotte is welcoming Triple C Brewing Company to South End.

Triple C plans to be open in late spring/early summer of 2012 and is located a couple blocks from the New Bern Light Rail Stop at the corner of Fairwood and Griffith, which is the area I refer to as South of South End. Still very much a part of South End but in the southern most portion of South End. They have a 20,000SF building with about an acre of land (right across from The Furniture Connector) so great opportunity for brewery, tap room and maybe some outdoor music and events.

The name, Triple C, refers to the three owners, Chris H, Chris M and Christina M who will each handle different aspects of Triple C’s operation. They are in the process of hiring a brewmaster and look to their website for that announcement to come in the near future.

It’s great to have a brewery back in South End and look forward to good beer and good times at Triple C Brewing Company later this year! Follow Triple C Brewing Company on Facebook or Twitter.

I want to credit the following sources for collecting my Charlotte beer history data above. If I missed a current brewery I truly apologize so please let me know and I will update:

http://beerinator.com/north-carolina-beer-history/

http://www.charlottebeer.com/

http://charlotteeats.blogspot.com/2009/09/dilworth-brewing-company.html

A couple weeks ago I stopped in one of South End’s signature showrooms, DCI Home Resouce, for a cooking demo featuring Blue Star kitchen ranges. Demo’s are a great way to learn about products and in some cases (like this one) taste the results. A nice group of about 10 folks joined for the demo and I wanted to share a few pictures from both the DCI showroom and the demo. If you want to attend a future demo at a South End showroom simply contact the showroom directly to see if they have anything planned. For specific future demos at DCI Home, please click here.

The first of this two day charrette began with a tour of South End. We met at the CTC Light Rail stop, rode the light rail down to New Bern Station where we met our bus for a tour of the area. Although it was a rainy day, we all had umbrellas and made a few stops to allow everyone to see and feel some of the existing conditions. One specific stop was getting everyone to cross South Boulevard from Atherton Mill over to Chipotle to see the challenge to the pedestrian at crossing this road.

We all gathered back at the Trolley Museum where we working until 6:30pm listening to a wide variety of presentations about the existing conditions of South End. Topics discussed: South End General Data & Statistics, 2020 Vision Plan, South End Vision and Goals, Land Use and the South End Station Area Plan, Infrastructure, Development, Placemaking, Recreation & Play, Neighborhood Amenities, Business Recruitment, Streets & Transit and Quality Design.

What were some of the big ideas from the day? Connectivity, Walkability & Traffic Calming, SE Lacks a Center/Town Square, Amenities for Residents, Better Mix of Housing Types, Focus to be Resident-Centric, Boutique Hotel, Rail Trail Nurturing, Need for Open Space, Outdoor Seating, Pocket Parks, No Real Nodes, Food Events, Gateway Identification, Public Art and Grocery Store.

There are plenty more than could be named but these were a few of the highlights and ideas that will guide the events of Day 2 of the charrette and the experts will really dig into the 4 key areas and make refined recommendations.

Today is the final day of the charrette and will conclude by sharing these recommendations from 4:30-6:30pm at the Trolley Museum.

Leading up to this week, Erik Spanberg, Senior Staff Writer with the Charlotte Business Journal did a feature story on the South End Expert Charette. Click the story title, “Sizing up Charlotte’s South End”.

You’ve probably already heard about them via Twitter or Facebook but World of Beer South End will be opening soon at the corner of Bland St and South Blvd in the Circle of South End. Live music Wed-Sat (note the elevated stage in the video), order from a menu portfolio of surrounding restaurants, over 500 bottles and over 50 rotating drafts are just a few of the things to come. Sounds like a pretty good world if you ask me.

Enjoy this short video from the World of Beer on Clematis St in West Palm Beach.