Levine Museum finds a new home in Charlotte, with an assist from Wells Fargo

Levine Museum of the New South has a new home.

In March, the museum said it sold its uptown Charlotte building to a New York-based development firm. The deal was for $10.75 million, and the buyer, Vela Uptown LLC, plans to turn the 7th Street property into a high-rise apartment building.

The Levine announced on Thursday that its new location will be at the edge of uptown’s arts district, in space gifted by Wells Fargo.

The prominent history museum will re-open in the fall at at the Levine Center for the Arts at Three Wells Fargo Center on South Tryon Street. It will occupy 6,000 square feet of ground-floor space, and move in this summer.

The museum said the new location will provide ample exhibit and program space.

Museum officials closed their previous location in May with the intent to revamp traditional exhibits with interactive, digital-focused programs.

“This arrangement helps ensure Levine Museum can continue the award-winning exhibits and programming we’re known for while also expanding our offerings to new audiences and locations,” Kathryn Hill, president and CEO of Levine Museum, said add in a statement.

For the first three years, Wells Fargo will not charge Levine Museum for the space, as the museum and bank evaluate long-term space needs.

“We take pride in supporting Charlotte, as well as the arts and culture in our local communities,” Mary Mack, CEO of Consumer and Small Business Banking for Wells Fargo, said of the arrangement.

Coming ‘full circle’

One of the interactive programs that the museum offers, a walking tour of the former uptown Brooklyn neighborhood, launched last summer. The area was a thriving Black neighborhood until it was razed in the 1960s. The museum will serve as a launching point for those taking the tour.

The Levine also hopes to offer a small retail shop.

The museum was founded in 1990. “Our new home also brings us full circle,” Hill stated, “since our very first exhibits were staged in bank lobbies uptown.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:13 PM.

Charlotte Kramon

The Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Kramon is a news intern for the Charlotte Observer. Originally from Los Angeles, she is a rising junior studying public police and policy journalism and media studies at Duke University. She also covers local politics at The 9th Street Journal. Email her at charlotte.kramon@duke.edu.