Longtime Charlotte nonprofit, community leader arrested for meth possession
Art Gallagher, a prominent longtime Charlotte community leader, was arrested last week at a Lake Wylie fishing hole for possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, according to a police report.
The 71-year-old Gallagher was president of the Johnson & Wales University Charlotte campus for 12 years and currently serves as interim executive director of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont.
Stowe Botanical Garden lies just across and southwest of a cove on the lake from where the incident occurred. Queen City News first reported Gallagher’s arrest.
Gaston County Police arrested Gallagher at 3:39 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at Allen Fishing Area along The Hot Hole Road near Belmont. The road is flanked by thick woods.
Gallagher was booked in the jail at 5:52 p.m. that day and released on a $5,000 secured bond a half-hour later, according to jail records.
He’s scheduled for trial Aug. 9 on the meth possession charge, which is a felony, court records show. The other charge is a misdemeanor.
Gallagher was appointed to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden post in September 2020, according to his bio on the garden website.
He previously was interim executive director of several Charlotte non-profit agencies and organizations, including the Nevin School, which supports teens and adults who have an intellectual or developmental disability; Charlotte Family Housing; A Child’s Place; and Temple Beth-El.
Those positions followed a long career in higher education, including 24 years at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and 15 years at Johnson & Wales.
He also was vice president for the foundation and community engagement at Novant Health from 2014 to 2017, according to his bio.
The circumstances of Gallagher’s arrest weren’t clear Thursday.
A Gaston County Police spokesman said police are releasing no further information than what’s on the public police incident report, which lists only Gallagher’s name, address and charges and the location of his arrest.
Gallagher and a spokeswoman for Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden didn’t reply to phone messages from The Charlotte Observer.
Gallagher joined Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden through Charlotte-based LevRidge Resources, which provides interim executive director services to nonprofits experiencing leadership transitions. LevRidge hired Gallagher in 2017, according to a LevRidge news release at the time.
Staff Writer Gavin Off contributed.
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 3:34 PM.