Nearly one century after the birth of acclaimed, African American artist Romare Bearden, the spirit of his work lives on in uptown Charlotte.

A group of 11 art students at Hopewell High School, working in partnership with the Arts & Science Council, the Charlotte Knights baseball team and the McColl Center for Visual Art, recently finished 22 computer-generated panels inspired by the work of Bearden, who was born in Charlotte 99 years ago.

You won’t find their work hanging in an art gallery, however – at least not yet. To catch a glimpse, look to the boarded-up windows of the old Virginia Paper Co. building in uptown’s Third Ward.

It all started in March when various groups approached ASC about finding ways to beautify the abandoned building, which sits just blocks from uptown’s glittering skyline.
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The Knights plan to demolish the county-owned building some day to make room for an uptown ballpark, but until then, city boosters had grown concerned that the redbrick structure had become an eyesore.

Enter ASC, the McColl Center and the Hopewell students.

As fate would have it, Hopewell High is one of the few Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools with a dedicated computer center for young artists. Working with Annabel Manning, a former artist-in-residence at the McColl Center, and their teacher, Ben Permeaux (a future McColl Center artist-in-residence), the 17 students studied Bearden’s work and were given their assignment – to create computer-generated panels that might reflect Bearden’s work if he were alive today.

Bearden was born Sept. 2, 1911 and became famous for his work in several artistic media -- including cartoons, oils and collages -- long after he left the Qcity. Much of his work depicted African American life in the 1930s and ’40s. He died in New York City on March 12, 1988 at the age of 76.

Join the Mint Museum's Romare Bearden Society.

The Hopewell students were asked to re-create scenes from around Charlotte and were given just two weeks to complete the work. The panels they designed show young people frolicking near buildings, in parks and in scenes that use uptown landmarks as backdrops.
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On Monday, workers used a big, green lift to hang the panels over some of the boarded-up windows in the uptown building. The Knights organization, which rents the building from the county for $1 a year, paid for installation.

Christie Kahil, education program director at ASC, called the project “a wonderful opportunity for students to do something real-world that has community service applications.”

She said plans call for keeping the artwork in place for about two years, after which time the panels might be displayed elsewhere.

With the centennial of Bearden’s birth less than a year away, the Mint Museum Uptown, which houses a collection of Bearden’s work, is planning commemorative events for 2011. A Romare Bearden Park is planned for a location not far from the Virginia Paper Co. building, assuming county officials can find the money.

As for an uptown ballpark, Dan Rajkowski, vice president and general manager for the Knights, which play in the AAA league, said plans are ongoing. He estimates the project would cost about $54 million, down from projections of about $65 million a year ago.

“We’re still very interested in doing this but realize we’ve got some obstacles facing us,” he said. “Certainly the economy is a big element to it. But we’re very confident this is the right location, and hopefully that will happen in the near future. It’s a good time to build, just a tough time to borrow.”

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