Charlotte Arts Districts Face Challenges, Study Finds
Since the 1990s, the NoDa neighborhood surrounding North Davidson and 36th streets in Charlotte has been branded as the city’s arts district. But in recent years the galleries that once clustered there have dwindled. Is NoDa still an arts district? Or has South End, along South Boulevard near uptown, overtaken it?
Morgan Hamer, an artist and geography graduate student at UNC Charlotte, decided to study the city’s arts clusters: How many exist, and where? Do they have factors in common? For her master’s thesis, Hamer took a deeper look at Charlotte’s arts districts. Compared to some other cities, she found, Charlotte lags in the number of arts establishments. Another conclusion – that galleries need to be accessible to affluent clients – points to a key difference between South End and NoDa.