Charlotte's Fall Arts Season: Exhibitions and Shows

Fall is a busy season for art and stage in Charlotte, and the Levine Center for the Arts, as AFAR notes, groups several of the main venues in one spot. The Mint Museum Uptown, at 500 South Tryon Street, has the biggest lineup right now. The Caravaggio | Revolution: Baroque Masterpieces from the Roberto Longhi Foundation exhibition closes Sunday, October 25, so there's only a short window left for it. Two newer shows are already on view: Corey Pemberton: Living Well, running from September 19 through January 31, 2027, and Grace Stott: The Artifacts of Being Human, through March 7, 2027. The Mint's Randolph location, at 2730 Randolph Road in Eastover, has Interventions: Weaving Joy, Woven Resistance on view through October 1, 2027, and a new show, Brilliant by Design: The Handbags of Judith Leiber, opens Saturday, October 24.

A few blocks away, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art at 420 South Tryon Street has three exhibitions running. Making an Impression: Pioneering Latin American Printmakers opens September 26 and stays up through February 1, 2027, and includes Regina Silveira's engraved aluminum piece Touch #11, which measures 85 5/8 by 124 1/8 inches. Next to it, New Narratives: Recent Acquisitions in Dialogue also went up September 26, featuring Clare Rojas's Untitled from 2019. The smaller Collection, Reframed: Jiha Moon stays through November 9, and it's built around Jiha Moon's porcelain piece Jay Skin 4 (Nest). The museum also hosts Jazz at the Bechtler on the first Friday of each month in the lobby, and its Wednesday Night Live events have free admission.

The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, at 551 South Tryon Street, is closed to the public today, Wednesday, October 21, but it's open the rest of the week. Three exhibitions are on view: Repossessions through January 3, 2027, Sown Together: New Voices in Contemporary Textile Art through January 24, 2027, and Yashua Klos: Cornerstones through January 22, 2027. Adult admission is $10, while college students, educators, military members, seniors, and youth ages 6 to 17 pay $7. Members and children 5 and under get in free. Upcoming programs include an artist talk with April Bey, Kandy G. Lopez, and Josie Love Roebuck on Tuesday, October 27, at 7 p.m., and Wednesday Night Live: Nobuntu at the Gantt on Wednesday, October 28, from 7 to 8 p.m. The center also has an artist talk with Yashua Klos on November 10 and Algorithmic Sovereignty: Jazz as Source Code on November 12, from 5 to 9 p.m.

If theater is more your thing, Theatre Charlotte at 501 Queens Road in Myers Park has a strong season ahead. The group was founded in 1927 as the Charlotte Drama League, and its first production this fall is Frankenstein, running October 30 through November 15. A Christmas Carol follows from December 11 to 20, marking the 20th annual production, directed by Stuart Spencer. The season then moves on to Lost in Yonkers, which runs January 22 through February 7, 2027.

Finally, the restored 1927 Carolina Theatre at 201 North Tryon Street books a steady run of shows through the season. Matt Fraser's Undeniable Life After Death live readings come on Friday, October 23, at 8 p.m., followed by Cheyenne Jackson's That Guy From That Thing on October 24. Bruce Cockburn performs with Livingston Taylor on October 30, and the Halloween weekend brings the sCarrie Prom on October 31, with a pre-show party at 6 p.m. and a 50th anniversary screening of Carrie at 9 p.m. Tickets for the horror and cult-cinema events are sold through Ticketmaster. Later in the year, Stewart Copeland appears on November 22 and Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite is set for November 28.