Copper cladding that recalls traditional African textiles wraps the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture in front of you, one of the most significant cultural institutions in the American South dedicated to the Black artistic tradition. The building, a sculptural copper-clad form that recalls the weaving patterns of traditional African textiles, opened in 2009. It is named for Harvey Gantt — the first African-American student to integrate Clemson University in 1963, and the first Black mayor of Charlotte, serving two terms from 1983 to 1991.
Gantt also ran twice for the U.S. Senate against Jesse Helms, in 1990 and 1996, in campaigns that became national referenda on race in North Carolina politics. The center houses galleries, performance spaces, and educational programs dedicated to African-American visual art, music, dance, theater, and literature. Its permanent collection and rotating exhibitions draw from the full breadth of Black creative culture, from the Harlem Renaissance to contemporary artists.
The building's location in the Levine Center, steps from the Mint Museum, reflects Charlotte's intention to place Black cultural life at the center — not the margins — of its civic identity.