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Queen City artists see work under the public spotlight

Giant art pieces can be found all around the highways in the Queen City thanks to ArtPop Street Gallery.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If you take any of the highways around Charlotte, you may see some public artworks in unexpected spaces.

Unique pieces of art around the community consist of about 20 different pieces from local artists selected by ArtPop Street Gallery, a nonprofit organization that allows local artists to showcase their work in the Charlotte Region. 

"Having my art on the billboard is not something I would ever imagine," said local artist Kalin Devon.

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Out of nearly 200 submissions to ArtPop Street Gallery, only 20 selected artists were chosen to showcase their work for the 2022 cities program. One of the 20 winners was Celia Kulp, a high school senior.

"I was like I should just submit it and see what happens, I definitely didn’t think I was going to win," she said.

Wendy Hickey is the founder and executive director of ArtPop Street Gallery, and she says projects like this combat the starving artist stigma, and it opens doors of opportunities.

"Those 20 artists collectively received a $6 million dollar advertising campaign, education classes, and pop up shows," said Hickey

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"This is a dream come true," said local artist Kevin Harris. "I had to stop for a minute and take it all in."

Hickey says they couldn’t be more excited to promote each artist, and though every piece has a different meaning, they all share the same canvas of inspiration. 

They’re hoping to finish installing the artwork by the end of this week, and it will stay up until the end of the year. 

Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

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