Levine Center for the Arts in Charlotte, NC - a lovely surprise

9/9/2014

Bechtler Museum, Charlotte, NC

A weekend getaway in Charlotte, North Carolina included the obligatory trip to IKEA, one of my favorite places, but also included some wonderful art surprises.

1. The Bechtler Museum, designed by Mario Botta, was the "art" itself and we spent a lot of time just learning about his buildings around the world. He designed a fascinating exterior covered in terracotta tiles made from NC clay. Pictured here are two sculptures at the museum. The Flashy "Firebird" on the right seems to be a bit of a departure from the more organic building that Mario Botta created.

2. The Mint Museum Uptown was right next door and housed American art both new and old. An exciting exhibit they had was called Ten Ten Ten which featured ten of the world's most innovative craft artists who created works especially for the The Mint Museum. They were all amazing, creative and young!

The Levine Center for the Arts also included the Knight Theater and the Harvey B. Gantt Museum of African American Art & Culture. These amazing places are literally right next door to each other in the heart of Charlotte, so how's a penny pinching art lover to decide which museum gets the green? Well here's the best part of the entire weekend...

3. Surprise- Bank of America's Art on Us program allows BOA credit or debit card holders to get in participating museums FREE during the first weekend of every month. There are museums all over the country that participate in this program. Yippee and thank you!