McColl Center (formerly McColl Center for Art + Innovation) is an artist residency and contemporary art space located at 721 North Tryon Street in Charlotte, North Carolina. Residencies last from two months to eleven months and are available to visual artists as well as creative people in other disciplines. The mission of McColl Center is to encourage collaboration and interaction between artists and the community at large in an immersive atmosphere.
McColl Center is a 501(c)(3) organization.
Art space
Opened in 1999, McColl Center contains nine individual artist studios, a large scale sculpture facility, many common-use areas, and more than 5,000 square feet of exhibition space. In addition to studio space, McColl Center provides tools and materials for fiber arts, jewelry making, metal fabrication, printmaking, sculpture, painting, photography, ceramics, digital media and woodworking.
The galleries are open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Admission is free. Numerous public events include residency openings, exhibitions, and other events for the community and artists to engage.
History
The building housing McColl Center was originally a Presbyterian Church built in 1926. The historic, brick and stone neo-Gothic structure was an active church until 1950 when the church's membership was dissolved. The building stood empty for many years until November 14, 1984, when an accidental fire gutted the interior, leaving only an empty shell. In 1995, Bank of America bought the property with the intention of establishing an artist residency. The bank, with the help of Charlotte's Arts & Science Council, redesigned and rebuilt the interior as a place for artists to live and work. The renovated structure was designed by FMK Architects and was built by Rodgers Builders. It opened on September 16, 1999, as the Tryon Center for Visual Art. Hugh McColl, Jr., former CEO of Bank of America, was the primary patron and in 2001, to honor him, the name was changed to McColl Center for Visual Art. A third name change occurred in 2014 when it became McColl Center for Art + Innovation. In 2021, the organization announced a renewed direction to put artists first and a new visual identity under the name McColl Center.
Alumni artists-in-residence
The McColl Center has served as a working space and studio for over 400 artists including: