Charlotte has a lot of talented artists and not enough seats at the table for them. That's co-founder Tim Miner's diagnosis, and Charlotte Is Creative exists to fix it. The nonprofit adds chairs. Sometimes it builds a whole new table.
Miner and Matt Olin founded it in 2015 for emerging artists, makers, and creative entrepreneurs in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. By its own count, it has funded more than 600 local creatives through HUG Micro-Grants, hosted more than 350 events and workshops, and put more than 1,200 Charlotte creatives to work in paid jobs. The Creative Entrepreneurs Initiative runs cohorts for people turning a passion into a paycheck.
The gatherings are where most people meet it. CreativeMornings/Charlotte, Coffee with Creatives, OneBand, and the Queen City Quiz Show all exist to get creative people in the same room. In 2019 it added The Biscuit, a newsletter and storytelling platform that spotlights local artists and passes along opportunities that might otherwise go unseen.
The group treats creativity as infrastructure, not decoration: part of how a fast-growing city builds jobs, mobility, and belonging.
Talent was never the problem. Seating was.