Intersection

Crafted by artist Juan Logan, Intersection is conceived as two sculptural experiences that convey its theme. The term "intersection" highlights contact and association. Thus, the design is envisioned as an evocative space for interaction and discussion as well as for reflection and contemplation.

Situated in downtown Charlotte at the corner of West Brooklyn Village Avenue and South Tryon Street, it connects the Harvey B. Gantt Center with other cultural facilities, such as the NASCAR Hall of Fame complex, the Bechtler Art Museum, the Mint Museum, and the Knight Theater, while cross-cutting historic Brooklyn, the center of Charlotte's African-American community in the late 1800s. The plaza's dominant motif, dynamic patterning inspired by Central African Kuba textiles, embodies intertwined relationships between the historical occupants of this site, current residents moving through the downtown area, and future generations of contributors to society.

The Plaza Floor

Kuba textile patterns from the Democratic Republic of Congo easily lend themselves to symbolizing maps intersecting diverse peoples. The infinite variations in the crossing patterns are metaphors for the richness of human difference in Kuba culture. The chevron and diamond forms prevail, but each one is different. Asymmetry is key to the patterns' dynamism. The Kuba patterned floor is a model for urban renewal that eliminates the act of erasure. The textiles are constructed one pattern at a time, with the maker building on the previous pattern. Individual chevron patterns engage aspects of those surrounding them. It's the relationships between the variations—old and new—that make it dynamic. In this ongoing process, the past nurtures the present and the future. Mapped onto the plaza floor, Kuba patterns interrupt the "straight path" paradigm, shifting visitors diagonally back and forth. But then the pattern stops and takes on a new form. In this way, the floor encourages visitors to explore new possibilities for moving through downtown Charlotte and the world.

The Beacon

A head-shaped sculptural form in one corner of the site introduces the touchstone, a different form of mapping. In our minds, we map our memories and hopes in expansive ways. The past exists with the present and the future. With the names of African-American communities and streets in Charlotte, past and present, engraved in layers on this stone, this sculpture imagines connections between geographic and metaphorical spaces. Seating extends from the stone to provide a space for remembering and discussion.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1946 and currently residing in Belmont, North Carolina, Juan Logan began painting, drawing, and sculpting in 1960. Logan has shown his works widely nationally and internationally since 1969, both as an individual artist and in group exhibits. Recent exhibits include one-man shows at Spirit Square, the Jerald Melberg Gallery, and the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina, and at St. John's Museum of Art in Wilmington, North Carolina. Group exhibits include the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art in Ohio.

Logan's works are also included in numerous public and corporate collections, including the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles' Museum of African-American Art; Bell South in Atlanta, Georgia; Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina; and the Art in Embassies Program in Lomé, Togo.