QC Family Tree Culture Bearer Residency

What is a Culture Bearer?

9.29.2026 (unrefined)
Growing up in East Orange, I wasn’t taking a school bus to school. Transportation was either, my own feet, my parents driving, or city transit. In high school, for four years I took the #34 bus to and from school in Newark, NJ, and also the other way into Montclair.

On a recent visit back home in 2024, I decided to go from ride the route I was so familiar with from my youth. I rode the #34 from Newark Penn Station, to the end of the line in Montclair. This visit overall was interesting. It had been about 17 years since I’d move to Charlotte, and visits home were as nostalgic as they were unfamiliar.

Something that struck me as I rode this bus, was that after 17 years, the route had barely changed. Though some areas of the route had changed dramatically, and others stayed the same, the route followed pretty much the same path that it has followed for the last 20 years.
It made think about the fact, that I know it was running that route well before I started high school, and maybe even before I was born.

At 44 years of age, neighborhoods could change dramatically, but the bus line was a constant. It makes me wonder about things, like, how much does the infrastructure serve the people, or how much do the people serve the infrastructure.

I moved to Charlotte in Feb of 2007. In November of 2007, the Lynx Blue Line - CATS light rail in line opened, and I used to ride it from Uptown to Tyvola Rd. to go to school. Something I saw firsthand was that the Light Rail was a tool used to develop South Charlotte. While now, neighborhoods like SouthEnd, LoSo, are thriving, and development is quickly spreading up the South Blvd corridor, when the light rail opened, there wasn’t really a lot served by the lightrail. There were communities around it that could benefit from it’s existence, but most of the area it ran through was undeveloped industrial land, and the people working at those places weren’t the main ones using transit.

Today, the light rail is an attractive amenity listed to connect luxurious condos and townhouses to Uptown and “hip” neighborhoods like SouthEnd and LoSo. I wonder if at some point, the 34 and 8 bus lines were used to develop areas such as Enderly Park, and (the neighborhood Freedom Drive runs through) and at what point, do they people the staple, and demographics shift around the infrastructure.

Before, doing any research, I imagine the #8 Line was running through Enderly Park when it was an all white community, and I’m curious how much it has shifted in the 50+ years that it’s been in existence.

There’s a beautiful image that comes to my head of a singular bus that faithfully travels it’s route and continues to serve a community as it shifts completely. And though people come and go, the bus route is a steady piece of the culture of this place, faithfully connecting the people of Enderly Park to what is now called Uptown - the center of the city of Charlotte.

I’m also interested in:

What is the bus connecting Enderly Park to?

How does the city treat the bus infrastructure?

The bus as a bridge to wellness. In my 20 years (this coming February) in Charlotte, NC, much of my time has been spent utilizing public transit. 2007-2015 the bus was my primary means of transportation, and 2022-2025 the bus was my primary means of transportation.
Inexpensive. Local Monthly: $88.00 adult / Price: $30.80 for adults. /Adult (19–61): $6.60 per day you can get unlimited rides anywhere the local bus lines go. You can (as I have at certain points) just sit on the bus and ride the entire line, multiple times, you can get off and transfer anywhere. You can use both the buses and the light rail.

Not efficient (my personal opinion)

Some perks I love about public transportation are you can focus on other things while riding the bus - listening to music, or bus, or audio programs. You can just people watch and pay attention to your surroundings without the stress of driving. If you don’t have a car, you’ve negated the responsibilities of car ownership - payments, insurance, maintenance, and ever changing, often rising gas prices.

One of my favorite things was how much I walked when I ride public transportation.

In April of this year, two things happened that related to my wellness, and I want to connect to my work in this residency. In April, I got to visit New York City. Whenever I go to NYC, i just wander around, explore, and take pictures. That week, with my explorations, I was getting 15 - 20,000 steps in daily. And it made me think about how much I enjoyed walking when I didn’t have my car. At that point, I decided that when I got back to Charlotte, I would start walking more, and try to get in at least 10,000 steps daily. That’s something I held up fairly well, and along a few weeks, stacking habits, the discipline and feeling good of sticking to a routine made me want to eat better. I began …

(losing steam in writing) eating better and losing weight. A few weeks later, a conversation led me to ask Helms Jarrell at QC Family Tree if i could start a container garden on the property.

With gas prices rising, I am considering rearranging my schedule so I can park the car more, and ride public transportation more often.

9.22.2026
Note to write about: #8 Bus line. Symbolisms. and Low-hanging fruit.

9.21.2026

Sharing a studio with Hobo Husband. Today was the first day we were in the studio at the same time. We had a great conversation, discussing things like paint colors, attempts at organizing the chaos of our process, and what we want to do during this residency.

I teeter on overwhelm when I think of all the ideas I can pursue during this residency, but as I was talking with Hobo, there’s also the realization — or maybe a constant reminder — that these opportunities are for us as artists to grow. The point of this residency is to support my work and growth as an artist. I’m being asked to create work aligned with a particular theme and community, but ultimately, I should step out of this residency a stronger artist, wiser, with some work to show for it. The work is not preparing for the final showcase. The work is exploring all the ideas, collaborations, and thoughts I have capacity to dig into, and I can edit what I will share during the showcase.

I’m also thinking about the fact that often we think the most valuable part of being an artist is the art. The masterpieces. But really, the value is in the process, the lessons. The art is literally the end of the process. When it’s done, I’m done, and I’m ready to move on. One thing I ingend to do is share more of my thoughts in the final showcase. Things I’ve learned. Maybe poems and brief prose. Mqybe essays.

Valuable takeaways from our conversation included the value of digital art, especially when working with limited resources or space. Also considered that collaboration often provides the push I need to further my work. A new problem to solve. A new way to approach things. A project to execute, or a deadline to meet. I’ve already decided that I will do two Collaboration Days during this residency. One with a few friends, and another as an open invitation to the community of Enderly Park, and artists around. I think my two Collaboration Days will be creating things with ephemera with other artists, and turning those pieces of expression into mixed media art pieces.

Another thing I want to focus on, related to wellness is the value of walking. And I can use the neighborhood to get in a photowalk and my 10,000 steps.

Action: Draw something today. Sketch something that strikes me. Let the effort compound.

9.18.2026

Where I’m is today…
It’s been a week in this residency, and Andrew Simonet helped me to appreciate one thing, an artist works hard for free, and will make his job harder when someone offers resources.

”Do your work!” that what Helms, the Exec Director of this program told us on the first day of orientation. We submitted an application about the work we want to do, and we provided samples of the work we’ve done. Yet, when I enter the space, while I do start working, I also decide the work I need to do is the best work I’ve ever done — particularly, a version of my work that’s never been seen before. The best that may be in my head.

But really, I need to do two things. BE AND do.

As I dive into this residency, it makes me realize how much I don’t really work with others. Not that I can’t cooperate. Not that I don’t enjoy being around others. But working together. Communicating effectively so we can join forces. I’m either doing what I’m told, or doing what I want. But doing what we want?

Most of the days so far, I’ve roamed a section of Enderly Park just to take in the neighborhood, and to see what it is. It’s interesting. Growing up as a hip hop head, I’m used to people representing a neighborhood, as if everyone from a neighborhood is doing the same things, or on the same page. Of course, there’s a culture in a place, but i can appreciate that any place is very much made up of individuals. People doing the best they can to figure out how to live the life they want to live. And they may allow an environment to shape them, but they don’t want to be the same.

I am appreciating that before I was a part of this residency, I knew artists who participated in this neighborhood as culture bearers. I had a garden in this neighborhood. A place I showed up to daily to make a change in my life. And as an artist working in this neighborhood, however this neighborhood shapes me is how I represent it.

As I roam, I have thoughts, and as I reflect on these thoughts, and they in some way shape my perspective, that’s how I’m becoming a culture bearer or a part of this neighborhood. The people gentrifying the neighborhood as shifting the culture. And not all in the same ways. The people who live here shift the culture. And not all in the same ways. My responsibility is to participate. To share. And if I do, then I’m engaging the community, and I’m being a pat of it.