The Gorelick Galleries and the importance of art in public places

I can recognize talent and beauty in art, but I have no ability to recognize the qualities that make the Mona Lisa special in comparison to your typical street art.

Therefore, when Alice Jenkins (leading community outreach) reached out to tell me about the Gorelick Galleries on CPCC campuses I immediately thought she had the wrong person.

But after visiting the Levine Campus of CPCC and seeing the new exhibit of Penland School of Crafts artists, I began to understand why it might be appropriate for me (a representative of the art illiterate masses) to write about it.

After talking to Alice and walking around the gallery, I began to see that art is meant to be enjoyed by everyone, not just stuck in a gallery where only the special few can see it. This was the plan of the benefactors, Bill and Patty Gorelick, when they began this project and it is obvious by the location of the exhibit in the main hallway of the Levine Campus.

When they started these galleries*, the Gorelicks stipulated that they were to be open to the public and always sit in the public areas with traffic. That way, students and people like myself could stop and actually look at the work. Not necessarily to judge or critique it, but to appreciate the beauty or complexity.

As a growing, modern city it’s important for Charlotte to have these opportunities for people see beauty or be challenged by art in their daily lives. As someone who spends 90% of their day on a phone, computer, or playing video games I found it refreshing to take the 15 minutes to walk through the exhibit and appreciate what I was seeing.

If you need a quick mental break or are on one of the CPCC campuses, be sure to stop by and visit these exhibits.

*The exhibits are currently located on three campuses (Levine, Harris, & Cato). These exhibits change every semester with plans to eventually have galleries on each campus of CPCC.