The Charlotte is Creative Podcast

Whether you know it or not, Josh Jacobson of Next Stage and his work have likely touched your life. Josh and his team work with many of the most impactful non-profit organizations in Charlotte, and he continues to be one of the most sought-after voices in the community.

In today's episode of Creative Mornings Rewind, Tim Miner sits down with Josh to talk about his career, which began in New York City learning from some of the world's largest non-profits, his transition to Charlotte and establishing his practice, where he sees his work now and in the future, and why he decided to drop the term "consulting" from his company's name.

Connect with Josh and his team here.

"The vision is a community arts hub - visual, performing arts, hyper-local ... we anticipate that this 4237 community arts hub will be that now and for at least the next 15, 20, 30 years and maybe forever ..." - Tony Kuhn, Flywheel Group, LLC Something interesting is taking place off E. Sugar Creek Rd. -- the creation of an arts cluster intended to be the foundation of a new development blending cultural organizations and businesses with future retail, office and residential space along the light rail ling just north of NoDa. This interaction of business and creativity was the perfect chance for The Biscuit and The Charlotte Ledger to team up and explore the possibilities. The Charlotte Art League -- which already housed in this area -- is working with developers from Flywheel Group, LLC,  to establish this new arts hub. In June, they expect to move across the street into a shared facility with The Independent Picture House, OSO Skate Park and AerialCLT.  In today's batch of the Biscuit CLT Podcast, Tim Miner (The Biscuit) and Tony Mecia (The Charlotte Ledger) chat with Jim Dukes of Charlotte Art League and Tony Kuhn of Flywheel Group about their partnership, community placemaking, the challenges medium-sized art institutions and individual creatives have faced recently in affordable, long-term space, and how developers can step up to meet those needs.

Children's Theatre of Charlotte has long been revered by Charlotteans, but especially Head Biscuit Baker Matt Olin. Having spent much of his creative formative years working with CTC, Matt credits them for having made a profound impact on him and his creative work today. 

Last month, CTC hired Nao Tsurumaki to fill the vacant Managing Director position. Nao comes to Charlotte after having spent many years working in the performing arts in Washington DC, New York, and most recently, the Winter Garden Theatre in Orlando.

In today's Onboarding segment of the Biscuit CLT podcast, Matt Olin speaks to Nao about coming to Charlotte, the reverence they share for children's theatre, and what Nao hopes to accomplish in the Queen City.

At the February 2021 edition of Creative Mornings Charlotte, artist and Costa Rican native Irisol Gonzalez spoke about the global theme of promise. But what made her talk special was not the promises she was making to others, but the promises she made to herself. In immigrating to the US at just ten years old and without knowing a word of English, Irisol made a promise to herself that she would become a full-time artist. Today, she's a staple community member among Charlotte artists.   In this edition of Creative Mornings Rewind, Head Biscuit Baker Tim Miner talks to Irisol about her background as an immigrant, her collaborative nature, and some of the projects she's working on today.   Find out more about Irisol at irisolgonzalez.com.

One of Charlotte's most prolific creative forces is making a move. Boris "Bluz" Rogers has been a fixture in the local creative space for more than a decade as an independent performing artist. In 2021, he's moving into a new role with the heavily established Blumenthal Performing Arts. In today's episode of the Biscuit CLT Podcast, we debut a new segment called Onboarding, where we'll talk to Bluz about his new position, what he'll be tasked with, and the transition in working as an independent artist to a more bureaucratic environment.   Find out more about Blumenthal Performing Arts here.

Lawrence Gordon is a man who has many skills, and applies them in several different arenas. By day, he's the VP of Workforce Development at Hope Haven, a Charlotte non-profit dedicated to helping those suffering from addiction. At night, he's also a basketball coach at Carmel Christian.

Lawrence's work with his kids writing children's books, however, might be his greatest passion of them all. In the past few years, he's worked with his 12 year old daughter and 11 year old son to write the colorful kids' books "Unicorn Dreams" and "Dad, the Bully, and the Orange Ball," respectively. 

Since writing the books, Lawrence and his children have been hard at work promoting them, attending books signings, and posing for pictures. In today's episode of The Biscuit CLT Podcast, head biscuit-baker Tim Miner talks to Lawrence about his day job, his creative work, and what lessons his children get to learn by being active participants in the creative process.

Find out more about Lawrence and his books at https://www.booksbylg.com/.

In today’s episode of The Biscuit, we’ve asked several Charlotte creatives to give us what they’ve learned from 2020 and what their hopes are for 2021. You’ll get to hear from creatives like Sonya Phiffer of Elder Gallery, photographer Ernesto Moreno and painter Rosalia Torres Weiner about their hopes for the new year.

2020 has been a year unlike any other. We hope there's been room for both learning and reflection. That's what we've collected from just a small sample of Charlotte's creative force. Take a listen and then ask yourself what you want in 2021!

In 2009, local freelance writer Jody Mace was faced with a question that she heard echoed around the city: What do we do in Charlotte that's fun and not incredibly expensive. That's when Jody and her husband decided to build the aptly-named website Charlotte on the Cheap, where they would list as many of the fun and exciting events that were happening around the city that cost less than your average Panthers or Hornets game. 

More than ten years later, charlotteonthecheap.com is still the go-to source for a packed event calendar that anyone can attend. 

In today's episode of the Biscuit CLT podcast, Tim Miner talks to Jody Mace about founding Charlotte on the Cheap, what her working process is, and what some things are that creatives and promoters can do to get more visibility. 

Ricky Singh is an educator, artist and father of four, so he knows what it takes to help build individuals and communities. He put much of that knowledge and passion to work this summer after the Black Lives Matter protests, painting several murals on and around Beatties Ford Road. 

On today's Who Built Me segment, producer Andy Goh talks to Ricky about about the people he credits for building him: his four boys. Despite a difference in almost 12 years between the oldest and youngest, Ricky says they share many similarities. Ricky speaks about what he's learned from that range of characteristics, and how he's trying to help them define their own success.

This week marks the fifth birthday of the Charlotte chapter of Creative Mornings (CM/CLT). What started as an effort to gather people together once a month to share, laugh, learn and celebrate Charlotte’s creative community has inspired many collaborations, as well as the development of the HUG micro-grant program, Queen City Quiz Show and Charlotte Is Creative, the nonprofit parent of The Biscuit.

To mark the occasion, Matt Olin and Tim Miner, local organizers of CM/CLT and founders of Charlotte Is Creative, sat down to reflect on how the last years have changed their lives, what they’ve learned about Charlotte’s creative community and the challenges that lie ahead in the next five years.