This summer, instead of building campfires, why not build on your creative potential at Summer Studio? Not your typical summer camp, Summer Studio puts students in a hands-on, collaborative environment, where they learn new skills in the fields of design, culinary, media arts or fashion. This five – day summer program at The Art Institute of Charlotte is open to high school juniors and seniors and offers workshops in Design, Media Arts, Fashion Marketing, and Culinary Arts. Under the guidance of industry-savvy instructors, students will complete an awesome final project and have get the opportunity to see if a creative

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The 2012 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Senior Centers (CMSC) Golf Classic will take place on Monday, June 18th at Pine Island Country Club. Proceeds from the event will help CMSC meet their commitment to continue to provide quality programs and services to more than 4,000 older adults each year at their four locations in Mecklenburg County. Registration and Breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m., a shot gun start at 9:00 a.m. and an awards luncheon following play. Entry fees are $100 per person if received on or before May 1st, and $125 per person after May 1st. Entry fees include; cart and green fees,

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Fifty-seven percent of working mass affluent Americans expect to retire later than they planned a year ago, according to the latest Merrill Edge Report. This shows a 36 percent increase from January 2011. The report, released today by Bank of America, is a semi-annual quantitative and qualitative study of the financial concerns and priorities of the mass affluent (consumers with $50,000-$250,000 in investable assets). “While the economy is showing signs of a turnaround, our data indicates the outlook among the mass affluent is not quite as positive,” says Dean Athanasia, Preferred and Small Business executive at Bank of America. “In

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Today the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County clarified plans for respecting and accommodating citizens’ and visitors’ First Amendment right to free speech and peaceable assembly during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) scheduled September 4-6, 2012. The US Supreme Court has characterized public streets, sidewalks, and parks as “traditional public forum.” The use of traditional public forum property is not, however, free from all government regulation. Specifically, reasonable time, place, and manner regulations may be applied so long as they are content-neutral, narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest, and leave reasonable alternative avenues of communication. For example, one

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The Mint Museum has added four new exhibitions to its lineup for 2012, beginning with one opening this month that pays tribute to two treasured patrons of the local arts community, Emily and Zach Smith. Colorbind: The Emily and Zach Smith Collection will be on view at Mint Museum Uptown from April 28 through August 12, and runs concurrently with the previously-announced multimedia Matthew Weinstein spotlight exhibition on view April 28-August 19. Colorbind consists of nearly two dozen paintings, lithographs, etchings, and drawings collected by the Smiths. “Colorbind offers our visitors the opportunity to experience a selection of works by

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Early voting is under way in Mecklenburg County for the May 8 Primary Election. The primary location for early voting is the first floor of the Hal Marshall Annex at 618 North College St. and additional locations will open April 30. Dates and times for Hall Marshall are as follows: April 19 – April 27 (Weekdays) 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM April 30 – May 4 (Weekdays) 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM May 5 (Saturday) 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Dates, times and additional Locations: Beatties Ford Road Library 2412 Beatties Ford Rd., Charlotte Cornelius Town Hall 21445 Catawba Ave.,

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Hunting for a memorable gift for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day this year is easy – just stop at one of the two convenient locations of the Mint Museum Shops for some gorgeous finds: at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, or at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road. “Shoppers may sometimes forget how many one-of-a-kind gifts are available at the Mint Museum Shops, and how convenient the two shop locations are for Charlotteans,” said Sandy Fisher, Museum Shops Manager. “Shoppers can have the double reward of purchasing gifts their loved ones will

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For the first time and as part of Charlotte Africa Business Week 2012, Charlotte is host to a major conference on doing business in Africa. Doing Business in Fast-Growing Africa: A Focus on Regional Markets and Economic Hubs is organized by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Afribiz, Global Business Roundtable, and Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is being held on Friday, April 27, 2012 at the UNC Charlotte Center City Campus at 320 E. 9th Street from 9 am to 5pm. Charlotte’s competitive strengths in Banking, Finance, and Investment, Energy, Healthcare, Education, Technology, as well

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From May through July, Orvis will offer free fly fishing lessons nationwide through Orvis retail stores (including Charlotte) and participating dealers (www.orvis.com/ff101). This season Orvis hopes to introduce even more outdoor lovers to the sport with Fly Fishing 101 and 201 beginning in May 2012. Classes are complimentary to the public and a great way for families and friends to enjoy the outdoors together. “The past two years’ success of Fly Fishing 101 is truly amazing and encouraging,” explains Tom Rosenbauer, Marketing Director of The Orvis Company. “Based on the success of the program, we’ve been delighted to welcome many

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Johnson C. Smith University will present a one-day symposium “Phasing Up to New Possibilities” Supporting Youth through Higher Education on April 27 at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The annual symposium is for public and private agency staff involved with foster youth, universities, students, church leaders, public officials, businesses and community members interested inpromoting independence, self-sufficiency and educational advancement for youth “aging out” of the foster care system. Sponsors for the event include Johnson C. Smith University, the Department of Social Work and the Mecklenburg County Department of

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