CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — ArtPop Street Gallery is an organization that has helped bring a lot of art projects to the Queen City and surrounding area.
But, the organization is in jeopardy of closing due to lack of funding, even though the Charlotte city council has dedicated more money to the arts.
The city actually has two million dollars that has yet to be distributed because an administrator to oversee the funds hasn’t been hired. The founder of ArtPop says that by the time that happens, her organization will be closed.
Over the last 12 years, ArtPop Street Gallery has been dedicated to promoting local artists and creating ways for the artists to make money while adding color to the city.
Founder Wendy Hickey tells Queen City News there were plenty of grants and funding coming in when she started the nonprofit, but in 2024, she started seeing a slowing of donations from public and private partners. Plus, some of the grants were ending.
Many know the organization by the art that is posted on billboards in Charlotte and the surrounding area. However, ArtPop has many other programs, and many of the murals around the city have been commissioned by artists with a connection to ArtPop.
Hickey says many vibrant and successful cities always incorporate the arts. “Seeing local artists on billboards and murals and public art and all those types of things really shine a light on the artists who live right here in this community,” added Hickey. “We are doing everything we can through lots of different art organizations, not just through ArtPop, to promote the local artists and make them successful. Happy artist, happy community.”
In order for ArtPop to remain in operation, they need $350,000 according to Hickey, and then the hope is to establish a yearly endowment of $500,000 by 2026.
“We’ve completed 72 projects over the last four years, and we’ve paid local artists in our community $719,000,” said Hickey. “This mission is impactful and powerful, and it supports local artists and helps them to have successful small businesses. We need to be supported, and so do the other grassroots arts organizations in our community and that is how we came up with saveartfromdeath.com.
A spokesperson for the city of Charlotte released the following statement:
The city has not decreased funding to the arts and has in fact helped increase arts funding significantly over the past several years. Prior to FY 2021, the city typically contributed around $3 million to support arts and culture. In FY 2022, the city and Charlotte business community, led by the Foundation For The Carolinas (FFTC) embarked upon a three-year initiative to stabilize the arts and culture sector, while developing a longer-term plan. The city committed to $6 million/year for FY 2022 – FY 2024 for a total of $18m over the three years, while the private sector committed to raising $18m to match the public sector investment and ultimately raised $23 million resulting in a total three-year arts investment of $41 million. Following FY 2024 and the development of the first Charlotte Arts and Culture Plan, the city nearly doubled its arts investment from $6 million/year (FY 2022 – FY 2024) to $11 million in FY 2025. This funding has remained a priority because the city understands that a thriving arts and culture ecosystem is an important component to a vibrant city, and key driver of local economic activity.
Pre-covid, the city contributed $3.2m to the Arts & Science Council (ASC) to distribute via their grant programs. From FY 2022 – FY 2024, the city and private sector jointly appointed a board, the Arts and Culture Advisory Board, to direct funding in the amount of $12m per year. In FY 2025, a large portion of the city’s funds are used to support organizations who initially received annual operating support from the ASC in FY 2020 and FY 2021. There remains $2m that will administered into the community in the coming months. The city is currently in a solicitation process to select an organization to administer these funds on behalf of the city (RFP is closed, and we are in the evaluation period).
The funding organizations receive depends upon what grant programs currently exist and if an organization applies for/receives that award.
City of Charlotte
The Save Art From Death rally is Thursday, April 3, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
