Charlotte gets sketchy
Plus: The top news of the week — Pay raise for city manager; York County investigating Tepper’s holding company; Atrium-Aurora merger finalized
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The Urban Sketchers monthly meetup draws people who enjoy capturing the cityscape on pencil and paper; each session ends in a ‘throwdown’ where work is shared
Last month, members of Charlotte Urban Sketchers met at Backdrop Coffee in west Charlotte for two hours to draw on-location. While some members sketched the coffee shop sitting area at large, others chose to focus on objects, like a pumpkin or a coffee roaster.
by Lindsey Banks
One Saturday morning last month, Mike Daikubara sat down at Backdrop Coffee in west Charlotte with his sketch pad to draw a Diedrich coffee roaster. He’s an industrial designer and the author of two urban sketching books. He’s also a member of Charlotte Urban Sketchers.
Urban Sketchers is a global 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with chapters in 336 cities in over 60 countries. Its mission is simple: to capture and connect the city through on-location sketching. Participants never draw from photos, and they meet somewhere different each month.
The Charlotte chapter met at Backdrop Coffee for its November meeting, and for the next hour and 45 minutes, the 10 Charlotte Urban Sketchers in attendance did what they do best — they sketched whatever caught their eye.
The group reserves the last 15 minutes of every meet-up for a “throwdown,” in which sketchers lay down their work and observe what others drew. And if you think the pieces would look similar because they were all sketched in the same place, think again. Every sketch created at Backdrop Coffee looked different.
Sketchers “throwdown” their artwork during the last 15 minutes of every meeting to see how each sketcher interpreted the location. This photo was taken of the Backdrop Coffee throwdown on Nov. 19. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte Urban Sketchers)
A few tables over from Daikubara, François and Audrey, a young couple from Canada, drew the pumpkin sitting between them on the table. It was their first time attending a Charlotte Urban Sketchers meet-up. At two other tables, years-long members Sara and Eliza began their drawings of plants sitting on shelves and hanging on walls. Sara brought a pen. Eliza had colored pencils.
Raynell Swanson, the Charlotte Urban Sketchers Facebook page administrator, sat outside Backdrop to sketch the concrete construction equipment at a business behind the coffee shop.
“It’s really engaging to go out and draw and sketch because you see different things and objects and places that you wouldn’t necessarily see,” Swanson said. “It’s also great, too, if you’re into journaling or something like that, and you want to just record your day. It’s just fun to be able to add a drawing.”
Each Urban Sketchers chapter has its own Facebook page, which can be located on the Urban Sketchers website, and has a group administrator, who selects the location and time of each meet-up. Swanson volunteered for the job three years ago.
Swanson said the Charlotte chapter was created over 8 years ago, and its Facebook page has grown to 387 members across all skill levels. It’s free to join — all you need is portable drawing materials, which for most sketchers consist of a small sketch pad and a pencil or pen. Some sketchers bring colored pencils or watercolors to add color to their work.
“I think some people get somewhat intimidated drawing out in public,” Swanson said. “I think there’s a lot of people that are interested that’s going to be hesitant about coming out, but you know, we’re really supportive of all levels.”
A typical meet-up has anywhere from eight to 25 members in attendance, Swanson said. The group used to almost entirely consist of retired individuals but has grown to include younger sketchers, ranging from their late 20s to 40s.
Past locations have included the Charlotte True Buddha Temple, downtown Fort Mill on Main Street and the “Metalmorphosis” sculpture at the Whitehall Corporate Center.
Outside of the monthly meet-ups, the Charlotte Urban Sketchers Facebook page provides a community for local sketchers. Group members often post drawings they’ve created in their everyday lives to share with others, ranging from a fall scene in a Charlotte park to a building captured on vacation in Venice.
“It's nice to have a group to meet like-minded people who like to draw,” Swanson said, “because it's like, how do you find them? How do you connect with people that are interested in drawing?”
The answer to her questions may not have been obvious before, but it is now: Charlotte Urban Sketchers.
Lindsey Banks is a staff reporter for The Ledger: lindsey@cltledger.com
This week in Charlotte: Pay raise for city manager; York County investigating Tepper’s holding company; Atrium-Aurora merger finalized
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
Concerns over CMS attendance policy: (Ledger🔒) Some are questioning whether the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools attendance policy, which bans high school students from missing more than 10 days of school regardless of the reason, is too strict.
New tutor initiative in Charlotte: (Observer) Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will partner with the Charlotte Executive Leadership Council and local tutoring organizations to launch a new initiative called Tutor Charlotte to connect volunteer tutors with tutoring organizations and increase the overall number of tutors in the county.
Politics
Affordable housing money: (Observer) The Charlotte City Council voted to spend $16M to cover cost overruns to build more than 600 affordable housing units. The increased cost of construction materials and higher interest rates led to the shortfall.
City manager gets pay raise: (WFAE) The Charlotte City Council and Mayor Vi Lyles approved to raise the total compensation of Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones, who continues to be the city’s top paid official, to nearly $490,000 in a 9-3 vote. Jones’ salary was $329,000 when he was hired in 2016.
Local news
Park worker shot: (WBTV) Police are investigating the shooting of a Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation employee that took place while he was on duty. The county said the worker was closing Friendship Sportsplex off Beatties Ford Road north of uptown on Sunday night when he was shot.
Panthers HQ investigation: (WBTV) The York County Sheriff’s Office said it is looking into how Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper and his real estate holding company that’s now in bankruptcy used public money for the failed Rock Hill headquarters project.
Business
Atrium-Aurora merger finalized: (Biz Journal) Atrium Health on Friday finalized its merger with Advocate Aurora Health to become the fifth-largest healthcare provider in the country. The Atrium name will continue to be used locally, though the combined enterprise will be known as Advocate Health.
Wells Fargo mortgage layoffs: (Bloomberg) Wells Fargo reportedly cut hundreds of jobs in the bank’s mortgage sector, but it’s unclear how many Charlotte jobs were affected.
Sports
Hornets broadcaster “Gerry V” dies: (WFAE) Longtime Charlotte Hornets sports broadcaster and radio host Gerry Vaillancourt passed away Sunday at the age of 72.
ACC Championship in Charlotte: Charlotte will host the ACC Championship game tonight at Bank of America Stadium with Clemson and North Carolina battling for the title.
Good reads
Poultry industry investigation: (Observer) The Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer co-published an extensive series looking into the environmental impacts of chicken plants across the state called “Big Poultry: How a Secretive Industry Rules the Roost in North Carolina.”
Why is Charlotte Roller rink-less? (NC Rabbit Hole) Writer Jeremy Markovich tackles the question of why a city as big as Charlotte lacks a permanent roller rink.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
Charlotte’s tech sector: The Ledger’s Tony Mecia sat down with John Espey, the co-founder and CEO of Defiance Ventures, to talk about the status of Charlotte’s tech scene amidst national cutback trends and hot tech topics like cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and the Metaverse.
$100M South End land deal: South End Business Park, which totals 45.7 acres, was purchased last week by Florida-based Ram Realty Advisors for $110,250,500. A Ram official told the Charlotte Business Journal that the site will be redeveloped into a “true mixed-use (project), with office, hotel, residential, retail and green space.”
Parents’ take on south Charlotte school boundaries: South Charlotte parents have created a petition and a Facebook group to make their opinions known about new student assignment boundaries being discussed in preparation for a new high school in the Ballantyne area.
The Ledger asked readers to send in their favorite local charities for our third annual Charity Shout-Out and compiled a list of the 64 charities for Giving Tuesday.
Wednesday (🔒)
Sustainable water bottles in Davidson: Boomerang Water, a reusable water bottle company in Davidson, filters water from the Catawba River, puts it in aluminum bottles and when the bottles came back, washes and sanitizes the containers to be used again — and it’s all delivered and picked up right at customers’ doors.
Charlotte Facebook moms help families during the holidays: A private Charlotte Moms Facebook group created a nonprofit organization called the Charlotte Moms Foundation to help families in need of financial help during the holidays.
Outcry over spiky fence in south Charlotte: A fence in the Enclave at Providence community is responsible for multiple deer deaths, and community members are asking the neighborhood to remove the spikes or add spike guards to prevent any more deer from being impaled.
WFAE recognizes union: Management of Charlotte radio station WFAE has voluntarily agreed to recognize the SAG-AFTRA union that a group of WFAE newsroom employees requested to join two weeks ago.
Friday (🔒)
Myers Park High lawsuit: A lawsuit against Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department stemming from an alleged sexual assault of a former Myers Park High School student is scheduled for trial beginning Jan. 17, after a settlement meeting last week failed to lead to an agreement. Ledger Executive Editor Tony Mecia attempted to cover the meeting but was asked to leave by the judge.
Charlotte Observer union: Management of the Charlotte Observer has agreed to a tentative three-year contract with The Charlotte Observer News Guild, which represents about 40 newsroom employees.
CDs make a comeback: Some local bankers are seeing an increase in customers interested in certificates of deposit, or CDs.
Ways of Life (🔒)
Larry Peroulas, founder of Socrates Academy in Matthews, knew the importance of education at a young age when he left his village in Greece to attend middle school in Athens. His own educational journey brought him to Charlotte, where he served as president of Socrates Academy’s board of directors up until his passing on Nov. 1 from bladder cancer.
“Catawba Crossings” bridge project: Gaston County officials are pitching a $319M road and bridge project that would cross over the Catawba River and connect Gaston and Mecklenburg counties. The project would take at least another 20 years, but environmentalists are warning of some “serious environmental consequences.”
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project