The first thing I saw when I walked into the Smith House in Myers Park was a giant dancing flame above the fireplace mantel. It seemed to burn joyously, as if welcoming me to share its owner’s passion for art.

The flame’s owner is Ronald Carter, the president of Johnson C. Smith University. After touring the Smith House and listening to Carter talk about his collection, I realized the flame represents his passion for art.

It consumes him. It lead him to create an art gallery in his home and a visual and performing arts curriculum at JCSU. Carter wants to make art an integral part of the JCSU experience, for students and the community.

Carter said JCSU is an urban university with a liberal arts base. Majors such as dance, theater, photography and graphic arts must be part of the school’s curriculum, he said. He wants his university to contribute to Charlotte’s creative class. Theater and dance have been a stronghold of historically black colleges from the famous Fisk Jubilee Singers to school marching bands, Carter said.

“It’s our responsibility to protect that history and to continue to be imaginative about it,” he said.

JCSU implemented the fine arts curriculum last fall. In two to three years, the school will open an arts center on campus and have 200 arts majors, he predicts. He envisions the emphasis on arts will help the Historic WestEnd corridor become an arts destination with boutique businesses.

For now, Carter’s creative vision can be seen at the Smith House. The four-story Myers Park house is part home, part hotel and part art gallery.

“It’s a delightful place to have an art gallery,” he said. “It was built for it.”

Carter’s face breaks into a grin whenever he talks about his home. He first told me about it at a holiday party. I told him I was writing Qcity Culture to expose more young African Americans to the fine and performing arts. He told me about his large collection of South African art and insisted I attend the next event at the house.

On Saturday, I finally got my chance to see if his collection lived up to his hype during a welcome reception for Charlotte Area Transit System CEO Carolyn Flowers. The university purchased the house last year to be Carter’s private residence as well as a guest house for visiting trustees.

Tours are available to select guests by appointment, but only on the first two floors. Like most homes in Myers Park, The Smith House is beautiful, and Carter’s art adds character. (Ironically, the Myers Park Homeowners Association came under fire from the NAACP late last year after the association posted on its Web site a copy of a decades-old neighborhood deed covenant restricting home sales to “people of the Caucasian race.”

Carter says his love of art was born out of frustration that he couldn’t paint or draw.

“What do you do?” he asked with a laugh. “You can’t paint. You collect.”

He bought his first piece from a fellow graduate student while studying at Boston University. Today, Carter says he has amassed nearly 400 works, most of which are displayed in galleries throughout the country. He joins the ranks of other prominent local African American art collectors, such as former mayor Harvey Gantt and congressman Mel Watt, D-N.C.

Art in the Smith House portrays the struggle, resilience and joyfulness of African Americans and South Africans. It depicts the daily life of people in a South African village as well as the strength of one black man.

Artists featured include internationally acclaimed John Biggers, a Gastonia-born muralist. Biggers’ work is also displayed in The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts & Culture. Another featured regional artist is Cassandra Gillen, who lives in Beaufort, S.C. Her work is exhibited in Charlotte’s Shain Gallery.

The collection includes pieces by JCSU professors Hasaan Kirkland, curator of the Smith House exhibit, and photographer Cynthia Cole.

Carter’s collection extends into South Africa where Carter lived during the ’90s. He lived among South African artists, which gave him a deeper appreciation for their artistry. One of his favorite works is “Day of Creation.”

“It represents the colors of Africa, the movement of Africa,” he said. “The more you look at it, it really represents life itself.”

These days, Carter has his eye on S.C. artist Jonathan Green, whom Carter recently met. Green paints the low country in brilliant hues. It may be tough for Carter to hang any more art in his home, but I’m willing to lend some wall space at the Jameson House.

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