Arena Artwork

Artwork is an important component of Time Warner Cable Arena. Wherever a guest may be in the building, they will see artwork and unique displays that visually illustrate the rich sports,industry and commerce history of the region. The Charlotte Bobcats worked with the City and the Arts & Science Council to provide public art in the building as well as commissioned local artist Paul Rousso to bring the arena to life.

Public Art

The Arts & Science Council (ASC) Public Art program manages public art projects for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, viewing public art as integral to a community’s fabric for its potential to create livable cities, enhance neighborhood identity, strengthen economic development and tourism, educate children and adults and enrich the spirit and pride of its citizens. Made up of nine members appointed by the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and the ASC, the commission selected five artists to create art for the public spaces of Time Warner Cable Arena.

Mike Mandel

Watertown, Massachusetts

Artwork Location: Mosaic Tile Photo Murals, Trade and Fifth Street Entrances

Artwork Description: To create a “wow” factor for people entering the arena lobby, two large walls were identified by the design team for artwork: the left wall as visitors enter from Trade Street and the wall above the Fifth Street entry. Photographer Mike Mandel focused on two themes: The History of Basketball in the Piedmont and the action of the game. Mandel conducted personal interviews and archival research both in Charlotte and around the region to learn about basketball history in North Carolina. Mandel then digitized and fabricated the archival and contemporary photos in 1-and-½-inch colored ceramic tile.

Artist Statement: “I created designs where imagery resonates as symbols of the great legacy of local basketball. In my work I want the emphasis to be on the institutions that enable everyone to take part in the sport: high school, college, and community league and textile mill ball.”

Artist Background: Mike Mandel is a nationally recognized public artist with more than 10 years of experience in large-scale photography-based projects. His process of computerizing photos so that they can be installed as permanent porcelain tile mosaics is unique. Notable projects include Ramsay Cascades, Knoxville; Parking at the Courthouse, Tampa; and Sitting Down at Rich’s, Atlanta. Mandel holds an MFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Thomas Sayre

Raleigh, North Carolina

Artwork Location: Main Lobby

Artwork Description: Artist Thomas Sayre is interested in the action of the ball game. His inspiration for the floor design came from wondering what would happen if a series of different size balls were dropped from the arena’s second level and bounced against various walls. A series of colorful terrazzo designs illustrate the paths of basketballs, soccer and tennis balls.

Artist Statement: “The composition of the lobby floor is primarily designed to bring color, movement, and an element of the unexpected to the arena lobby to complement and augment the architectural
goals of the space and to reflect the intended usage as an entertainment venue. The design provides bold objects of color for fans that will cross the floor, primarily in crowded and hurried conditions.”

Artist Background: Thomas Sayre is a Raleigh-based artist with more than 15 years of experience working in the field of public art. Though his primary medium is sculpture, he has completed artworks that include flooring, seating, lighting, and other designs unique to the site. Notable projects include World Wall for the Exploris Science Museum, Raleigh, 1999; Terra Firma, the floor design for the SC Aquarium in Charleston, 2000; Untitled works for Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport; and for the Valley Metro Rail Station, Phoenix, Arizona, 2004. Sayre was a Morehead Scholar and graduated from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

J. Paul Sires

Charlotte, North Carolina

Artwork Location: Plaza (between Trade & Fifth Streets)

Artwork Description: The outdoor sculptures were designed to enhance the arena’s plaza architecture by providing focal points to enliven the space and provide places for pedestrians to gather. Fabricated from a variety of North Carolina granite types and monumental in size, the benches’ unique shapes maximize seating. Carved surfaces provide interest and beauty up close and from afar.

Artist Statement: “The form of ‘Tulip’ and ‘Double Leaves’ represent my response to the design of the arena in a formal manner. The tulip reflects the history of agriculture of North and South Carolina. It also is symbolic of the growth of our community, prosperity and the promise of a successful future. The image of leaves represents the important concept of teamwork. It is the teamwork necessary for society to move forward. The fallow gear represents the acceptance that the fertile age of physical mechanics is past.”

Artist Background: Paul Sires has lived in Charlotte since 1983. A professional sculptor and co-owner of Center of the Earth Galleries, his commissions include Plaza Central Identity Project, North Carolina Museum of History, and Reedy Creek Park, as well as corporate and private commissions. Sires has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kent State University, and Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Tommie Robinson

Charlotte, North Carolina

Artwork Location: Escalators

Artwork Description: Artist Tommie Robinson created two murals, one depicting diverse men and women engaged in commerce, with the image of a miner panning gold superimposed over design elements derived from contemporary business measurement tools (pie chart, bar graph, etc.). The present-day Charlotte skyline is shown in the background. The second mural depicts the evolution of public transportation and references Charlotte’s history as a transportation center. A train conductor represents the past while a mother with a child in her arms represents the future. Superimposed over images of a present-day bus and trolley, and a future light rail train, a ghostly laborer swings a sledge hammer, perhaps building the rail or trolley lines of the past, while a jet hovers in the background.

Artist Statement: “I set out to depict Charlotte’s diversity and included the different ages and races of people that make Charlotte vibrant. One panel reflects images of men and women engaged in business and industry settings and elements. The second panel includes public transportation images and shows the evolution of public transportation in Charlotte from the trolley car, buses and planes to the future of light rail.”

Artist Background: A native North Carolinian, noted painter Tommie Robinson is largely self-taught. His work has been featured in newspapers and magazines such as Art News and Watercolor Magazine. He has been commissioned for both corporate and public artworks, some of which are located in Charlotte, at the Adams Service Center, West Boulevard Branch Library, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg ABC Board offices.

Andrew Leicester

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Artwork Location: Trade Street Plaza, Fifth, Caldwell and Trade Streets

Artwork Description: The public art created for the arena’s plaza provides a sense of identity and excitement for visitors coming into this major sports and entertainment complex. Artist Andrew Leicester used forms from the textile industry in the Carolina Piedmont to create a visual language for the plaza in keeping with the building, which references mill architecture. Working with the existing 35-foot columns on Trade Street., Leicester modified the design with colorful bobbin forms, brickwork and lighting. To enrich the pedestrian experience on Caldwell, Trade and Fifth Streets, Leicester designed 23 unique colored ceramic sculptures, based upon the shapes of textile shuttles, to fit within the existing building piers.

Artist Statement: “My work derives its imagery from studying the history of the textile mill in this region. To make a grand and welcoming statement for the Trade Street plaza, I created four freestanding columns based on the theme of a giant cotton bobbin loaded with yarn in four primary colors. Additionally, the intimately scaled artworks in the alcoves circling the exterior of the arena are based on textile patterns. The introduction of color, variety and the unexpected will entice people to explore the entire arena.”

Artist Background: Andrew Leicester is a nationally recognized public artist with a career spanning 25 years. Based in Minneapolis, MN, he has created award-winning large scale design projects that create a sense of place. These include the Downtown East Station and Plaza for Hiawatha Light Rail, Minneapolis; The Ghost Series for Penn Station, Long Island Railroad; Zanja Madre, plaza lighting and water features, Los Angeles, and the Cincinnati Gateway Project for the Ohio Riverfront.

Concourse Artwork by Paul Rousso

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte Bobcats Arena commissioned local artist Paul Rousso to create artwork for the modern “trees,” or the back-lit, high-hung displays, that line the arena’s concourse “streets” and visually represent different aspects of the city. The art-filled trees link to the arena’s themed galleries, which serve as destinations for dining and entertainment. Themed streets and galleries represent the many great attributes of the community and show Charlotte as a city that recognizes its past, enjoys the present, and transforms itself for the future. Through the artwork, visitors are welcomed to the corners of the Carolinas.

“The Charlotte Quilts”

 

Location: Club Concourse; Carolinas Marketplace
We asked local artist Paul Rousso to capture images of many of the citizens who now call Charlotte home. The artist conducted an open call to Charlotteans to be photographed for a collage of images representative of Charlotte’s diversity. These “faces” of Charlotte are arranged in an intertwined, quilt-like pattern to celebrate our differences and embrace our similarities.

Artist’s Statement:
“I view a quilt as a visual metaphor for my hometown. Charlotte is now, more than ever, a mixed bag of people from all over the country who have come together to make a city; much in the same way pieces of cloth are stitched together to make a quilt.”

 “Queen Charlotte”
Location: Club Concourse; Queens Road
Queen Charlotte is most often visually represented as she looked at the time of the founding of the city. Here we bring Charlotte’s namesake into modern times and interpret her appearance and thoughts through art.

 

Artist Statement:
“I wanted to address the subject of Queen Charlotte (facial image) in an abstract fashion, so I decided to go from my unconscious mind and let an image emerge. What would Queen Charlotte’s opinion be if she were alive and could let us know how she feels about the city? Perhaps she would be proud of our progress and at the same time upset over the loss of its past.

The sister image of Queen Charlotte (standing) is a pure unconscious response to the first image. In it, Queen Charlotte steps in the next century and pauses to look into the past, perhaps beckoning us to join her.”

“Piggy Banks”
Location: Club Concourse; Easy Street
Banking transcends generations in this whimsical tribute to the industry through colorful piggy banks. What better way to embrace the positive values of saving and investing for the future than a child’s piggy bank?

 

“What’s Up With That?”
Location: Uptown Concourse; Settlers Trail
All of Paul Rousso’s six arena pieces were his response to themes given to him by former Time Warner Cable Arena COO Barry Silberman. This illustration helps answer some of the common questions that arise when traveling the city, such as:

 

• “What’s up with the Meck Dec?”
• “What’s up with Trade and Tryon?”
• “Why the Mint Museum?”
• “What are the stories behind Latta, Davidson, Caldwell, Graham and Polk?”
• “Who’s Captain Jack?”

Artist Statement:
“I set out to create an image that provided important points of Charlotte’s history. This piece creates a general look and feel of Charlotte’s founding, while trying to promote a few important points about the people and the times that were so important to our historical beginning.”

“Charlotte Wall”

 

Location: Uptown Concourse; Memory Lane
A companion piece to What’s Up With That? on the south side of the Uptown Concourse, the Charlotte Wall celebrates the more recent history of the city in the 20th century as it moved into the 21st century.

Artist Statement:
“This piece is my gift to all who were born here–truly a labor of love. I wanted to capture all of the fond memories of the people, places and things that were, and in some cases, still are uniquely Charlotte. These memories commemorate the entrepreneurial business spirit that has brought Charlotte to where it is today. I tried to re-create the soul of Charlotte by imagining that people had layered paper and images on a brick wall, left untouched (except through time and weather) for a century, focusing on the last 50 years.”