Art classes and creative workshops in Charlotte

Charlotte’s creative classes are scattered across the metro in mills, strip centers, church basements and back rooms, which is why nobody can find them. This guide gathers what’s in the directory by discipline, adult and child, with what each place actually teaches. It’s a directory-driven guide: facts about each business come from its own listing or site, and the category is still growing, so if you teach something we haven’t listed, list it.

The arts councils and centers

Start with the nonprofits that exist to teach. ClearWater Arts Center & Studios in Concord is putting its neighborhood on the map through creative place-making, per its site, with artist studios, galleries and rentable event space under the banner Art Is Social; its resident artists teach and its galleries show. The Union County Community Arts Council in Monroe supports artists through exhibitions, youth programs, workshops and cultural events, and is moving to a new location. Cain Center for the Arts in Cornelius is the Lake Norman hub for visual and performing arts with classes alongside its shows. The Kannapolis African-American Museum and Cultural Center runs cultural programming. Our read: the arts councils are the cheapest classes in the metro and the best teachers, because the people teaching are the working artists who rent the studios.

Visual art for kids

Kidcreate Studio in south Charlotte is the dedicated kids’ art studio: classes, camps and parties where every child leaves with a project, and it names the colors and the tools, which is the early-literacy side of art. Blue Goose Art Supplies near Winthrop in Rock Hill is a locally owned supply store with art classes for all ages and skill levels. iCode Charlotte teaches game design, which is visual art with a keyboard. The library branches run free craft programs, and the literacy guide lists them.

Music

School of Rock Fort Mill and School of Rock Waxhaw teach guitar, drums, piano, bass and vocals through performance-based programs, which means every course ends in a show. Charlotte Academy of the Arts in Matthews runs private instrument and voice lessons, music theory and musical theater productions for beginners through lifelong artists. The North Carolina Youth Orchestra in Cornelius offers programs for all levels with instruction from some of the state’s best musicians. The Piedmont Choral Society, an auditioned volunteer chorus since 1986, is the adult version. For the adult who wants a teacher, Jeff Brown, a working solo musician on guitar, harmonica and ukulele, is the kind of player who teaches on the side; ask.

Theater, dance and improv

Showtime Academy in Rock Hill runs a triple-threat program in singing, dancing and acting with a leadership track built in. Bella Ballerina in Huntersville teaches dance from the youngest ages. Davidson Community Players, Old Courthouse Theatre in Concord and the community theaters in the museums guide run youth programs and open auditions, which is the free acting class. The Comedy Arts Theater of Charlotte teaches improv to adults and kids and puts students on stage in its $10 shows; improv is the class we’d recommend to any adult who’s afraid of a room.

Fiber, needle and craft

Tangles Knitting on Main sells yarn and teaches knitting; a yarn shop’s class is the most social hour in any town. Two’s Company Needlepoint does the same for needlepoint. The Crystal Shoppe in Indian Trail personalizes glass and hosts the occasional workshop. The quilting and sewing side of the metro isn’t in the directory yet, and it’s large; R.T. Barbee has supplied sewing forms to the apparel industry for 90 years, which is the industrial ancestor of every quilt guild in the region.

Wood, metal, clay

McSwain’s Handmade Furniture, three generations of craftsmen, is the woodworking tradition; ask about apprenticeship and demonstrations. Hive Design and Porcelain works in ceramics. The pottery studios and the makerspaces with laser cutters and welding bays exist across the metro and aren’t listed yet; when they are, this section grows. Pointer’s Ace Hardware in Concord sells the tools and, like every good hardware store, runs the occasional Saturday clinic.

Food and drink as craft

The distilleries and wineries teach: Vetus Distillery in Monroe runs tastings that explain rakia; Kefi Vineyards hosts events in the vines; Lost Worlds Brewing offers beer school and tours. The Sweet Life in Concord and the bakeries in the bakery guide run decorating classes by request. Graze & Piece teaches charcuterie-board building. A cooking class is a creative workshop with dinner at the end.

Photography and film

The working photographers in the photographer guide teach workshops between shoots; Tice Studios in Huntersville and Genesis Film do video production and, for the business that wants to make its own content, coaching. Evermore Productions in Kannapolis does event production and content creation in house.

For seniors, and for everyone

Pathways NC runs free Saturday courses and hands-on workshops for seniors. Levine Senior Center in Matthews has an arts program for the over-50s. The community colleges’ continuing-education catalogs, Central Piedmont‘s above all, are the biggest art schools in the metro and the least advertised: pottery, painting, photography, jewelry and welding, cheap, at night, at six campuses.

Starting

Pick the discipline, find the nearest nonprofit teaching it, take one class before buying equipment. Adults: the arts council or the community college. Kids: Kidcreate, School of Rock, the theater’s youth program. Anyone afraid: improv. The things to do directory and the education directory list the rest by town. Teach a class we’ve missed? List it.