Dennis Reed Jr.

On Friday 3/3/23 we’ll be ushering in March with the world-renowned fiddler Mark O'Connor as our special guest speaker, alongside his formidable fiddle-wielding partner, Maggie O'Connor. It will be an inspiring, music-filled event that will set the tone for your entire month! We’re being generously hosted at The Hamilton Event Spaces at NC Music Factory. Doors will open at 8:15 a.m. for music, mingling and more, and then our program will run 8:45-10:00 a.m. We’re at a waiting list at this point, but fear not – our friends at Charlotte Star Room will be filming it for you to watch later if you’re unable to be in the room with us this month. Learn more at https://creativemornings.com/talks/mark-o-connor

On Friday, February 3, we’ll be exploring our monthly global theme of “Touch” with The Queen City’s first-ever Poet Laureate, Jay Ward. Believe us, you haven’t been touched by words until you’ve been touched by the astonishing, heart-stirring words of Jay Ward. We’re being generously hosted at the Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement at Queens University – so grab your backpack and hacky sack, sneak past the RA’s dorm room and meet us on campus for an inspiring morning of creativity, connection…and of course, coffee. Doors will open at 8:15 a.m. for music, mingling and more, and then our program will run 8:45-10:00 a.m. Our friends at Charlotte Star Room will be filming it for you to watch later if you’re unable to join us this month. Learn more and grab your FREE ticket at https://creativemornings.com/talks/jay-ward #CMtouch

We hope you’ll be in the room with us on Friday, November 4, 2022 as we dive into our global theme of “Truth” with the incredible DeNeer Davis. Many thanks to our friends at Carolina Farm Trust for hosting us in their new distribution center in the Historic Hoskins neighborhood in Northwest Charlotte. And hey, our friends at Charlotte Star Room will be filming it for you to watch later if you’re unable to join us this month. Learn more at https://creativemornings.com/talks/deneer-davis #CMtruth

Charlotte is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. With the city’s expanding population and surging development, there is a need for revolutionary changes to address the growth of the coming years. Over the past two years, a group of multidisciplinary designers called “Curators“ have been working on a macro- and micro-level to present research on the city’s growth, identify potential areas of development, and offer suggestions for how our city may continue to serve its growing population. One of their creative suggestions is ‘The Next City’ – their vision for a radical new type of building in the City of Charlotte, for twenty years from now. Intrigued? Then join us on Friday, August 5 at The Independent Picture House to see designer Surajeet Das give us a glimpse of the Queen City’s future. Learn more at https://creativemornings.com/talks/surajeet-das. #CMcritical

What is the creative wilderness that calls you home? Where do you go to wander? How do you honor what is wild and unruly inside of you? If such questions intrigue you, then you’ll want to be in the room with us on Friday, June 17 at the Mint Museum Uptown, where we’ll boldly trek into our June theme of “Wilderness” with one of the Queen City’s most intrepid creative leaders, the wild-and-unruly David Furman. As a legendary architect, artistic visionary and creative provocateur, David will be inspiring us with tales from his decades of rebellious projects – work that has allowed us all to wander, to lose ourselves, to commune with each other, and to find enchantment. To boot, you’ll also be able to visit Carla Aaron-Lopez’s new LOCAL/STREET installation, featuring the work of 60+ local artists. (The exhibit will have just had its sold-out opening the night before, so you’ll be among the first Charlotteans to see it!) And hey, our friends at Charlotte Star Room will be filming our conversation with David for you to watch later if you’re unable to join us this month. Learn more at https://creativemornings.com/talks/david-furman  #CMwilderness

We’re excited to be getting back to our traditional “First Friday” schedule when we gather together this Friday, April 1st at 8:15am at Wray Ward. Our speaker will be the one-and-OH-nly Ohavia Phillips taking on our global theme of “Kismet.” Ohavia will be spreading her OH-mazing brand of love and wisdom … and it’s going to spread all the way to our creative brothers and sisters in Ukraine as we start our meeting with a live conversation with a member of our Kyiv chapter. We are holding all of our Ukrainian community members in our hearts. https://creativemornings.com/talks/ohavia-phillips

Our first in-person CreativeMornings/Charlotte event in 21 months (!) is finally happening on Friday, November 12! If you were unable to secure one of our limited in-person tickets, you can still join us via YouTube livestream at 8:45 AM that morning! Our speaker will be Charlottean and civil rights icon, Dorothy Counts-Scoggins, speaking on our global theme of “Liminal.” You can join the meeting live via YouTube by clicking on https://youtu.be/-oTiPZa2sa4 at 8:45 AM. Everyone Is Welcome! #CMliminal #charlotteiscreative

Are you hoping to attend our virtual CreativeMornings/Charlotte event on the theme of “Design” on Friday, October 15 from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM? You’ve come to the right place! Our speaker will be the Queen City’s queen of design, Destiny Wilson (AKA TheArtvst). We’ll also be treating you and guests from around the world to a wake-up DJ set spun by Harvey Cummings (8:00am), followed by an 8:30am lineup of inspiring Charlotte creatives, special guests, live performances, HUGs+Bolts+Pitches, and a few more surprises! You can join the meeting live via YouTube by clicking on https://youtu.be/HOb-Lrjyqi4. If you registered for this event, a Zoom link was also emailed to you. Everyone Is Welcome! #CMdesign #charlotteiscreative

Are you hoping to attend our virtual CreativeMornings/Charlotte event on the theme of “Dare” on Friday, September 10 from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM? You’ve come to the right place! Our speakers will be the daring and dynamic husband-and-wife duo, Tracey and Josh Adams, owners of Adams Literary, a Charlotte-based boutique literary agency dedicated to children’s & YA authors and artists. They dared to leave NYC to run their creative business from a place called “the Queen City” rumored to be all about conservative banking – and their dare paid off. If you’ve ever found yourself daring to launch something, leave something, write a book or chase a creative dream, then this talk is for you! Harvey Cummings will also be treating us to a “wake up” DJ set at 8:00 a.m. followed by a packed hour celebrating Charlotte’s creative community at 8:30am sharp. You can join the meeting live via YouTube by clicking on https://youtu.be/whTh8zG8Sik. If you registered for this event, a Zoom link was also emailed to you. Everyone Is Welcome! #CMdare #charlotteiscreative

Are you hoping to attend our virtual CreativeMornings/Charlotte event on the theme of “Release” on Friday, August 13 from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM? You’ve come to the right place! Our speaker will be our good friend, Jim Dukes, Executive Director of Charlotte Art League. His story is a powerful one, as is the impact he’s having on our city. Harvey Cummings will also be treating us to a “wake up” DJ set at 8:00 a.m. followed by a packed hour celebrating Charlotte’s growing creative community at 8:30am sharp! You can join the meeting live via YouTube by clicking on https://youtu.be/WAtoA227qVg. If you registered for this event, a Zoom link was also emailed to you. Everyone Is Welcome! #CMrelease #charlotteiscreative