I spent Wednesday morning marveling at rugs, sculptures, metal works and paintings that once filled the Bechtler family home in Switzerland. Son Andreas Bechtler now lives in Charlotte, and the 1,400 works of art collected by his family over 70 years make up the backbone of the city’s soon-to-open Bechtler Museum.

The museum feels personal. Each piece has a story, a connection to the family. The collection and the museum it spawned is a story of familial love. Andreas’ sister grew up watching TV in front of a lithograph that now hangs in the museum. A bright blue painting on the museum’s fourth floor inspired Andreas to paint as a child. And then there’s Andreas’ determination to honor his family’s love of art by sharing it with Charlotte.

Although the works featured in the museum aren’t black art, African Americans can relate to the stories of love and determination that permeate the museum. I wonder, though, how many will try.

My name is Tonya Jameson, and I’m launching this column, Qcity Culture, because I believe “culture” is so much richer than the skin color of the artist holding the brush or the singer grasping the microphone. My editors here share that belief.

I want African Americans here to claim the Bechtler Museum as their own, along with the city’s other fine arts institutions and programs.

I worked at the Charlotte Observer for 15 years before leaving in November. I covered a variety of events, from pop concerts to operas, in the newspaper’s “Paid to Party” column. In Qcity Culture, I return to my entertainment roots, but with an emphasis on arts and culture.

While covering entertainment for the Observer, I was saddened to see so few black people attend operas and plays. It seems as if some of us think fine arts and performing arts are for whites only. We act as if we’re allowed to step inside the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center only to see Alvin Ailey or the musical “The Color Purple.” We act as if we’re still being pushed to the back of the bus.

The $20 million Bechtler Museum is in the heart of the Wells Fargo Cultural Campus, which also features the Mint Museum Uptown, which opens next fall; the Knight Theater, which opened in early October; and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, which also also opened in October.

The Gantt Center opening drew Charlotte’s black elite, its wannabe elite, and a mix of everyone else. We packed the place. It was our day to shine and spotlight black culture. But black culture isn’t limited to our museum.

Andreas Bechtler wants everyone to feel welcome when the 35,600-square- foot museum opens Jan. 2. After all, it is an extension of his home.

The museum features works by prominent artists of 20th century modernism. It has an Andy Warhol painting of Marilyn Monroe, a sculpture made of watch springs, and rugs that would delight an interior decorator. There are pieces that look like the painter randomly splashed and swirled colors onto a canvas. There’s a sculpture of a dancer that looks more like one of those balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

I don’t pretend to understand it all, but that doesn’t stop me from admiring it.

Wednesday was media day at the museum. After a tour, Andreas Bechtler (Insert) said novices shouldn’t be intimidated by the museum. The collection has fun as well as intellectually challenging pieces, but a real person made every painting, rug, and sculpture, he said.

“Don’t stress it,” he said in his thick accent. “It’s a cool place. These pieces are all done by humans I have personally known. They’re like us. They go grocery shopping. When you walk through here, if you have that in mind, it might be less frightening.”

It was also humans who collected the works that fill the museum. Bechtler’s parents bought what they liked and what they could afford. They built relationships with artists and nurtured them. Many of the pieces in the collection were gifts. Now their son is sharing those gifts with us – all of us.

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