Levine Center for the Arts (Uptown cultural cluster)

The Levine Center for the Arts

Mint Museum Uptown, 500 South Tryon Street, holds the museum's Craft + Design collection. The institution behind it is the oldest of its kind in the state — founded in 1936 as North Carolina's first art museum, and founded in a building that had been a United States branch mint. Mary Myers Dwelle led the campaign to save the structure, with federal support between 1933 and 1936. That original building is the museum's other site, Mint Museum Randolph on Randolph Road, where the historic pottery and porcelain, the art of the ancient Americas and the fashion collections are shown.

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, 420 South Tryon Street, opened in 2010 in a building by the Swiss architect Mario Botta. Its collection came from one family: Bessie and Hans Bechtler began buying modern art in Zurich in the 1950s, knew many of the artists, and assembled nearly two thousand works including Picasso, Warhol, Giacometti and Calder. Their son Andreas, who lives in Charlotte, gave the family's portion to the city. The museum shows the collection through changing exhibitions rather than a fixed hang, so check what is on before you come for something specific.

The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, 551 South Tryon Street, describes itself as celebrating the contributions of Africans and African Americans to American culture, and as a community centre for music, dance, theatre, visual art, film, arts education, literature and outreach. It publishes guided tour information and a dedicated page of assistance for visitors with disabilities.

The Knight Theater completes the group, operated by Blumenthal Arts, whose resident companies include Charlotte Ballet, Charlotte Symphony and Opera Carolina.

Practical. Opening hours differ between the four, and at least one posts occasional full-day closures, so check each before you plan a run of them. Blumenthal publishes parking and accessibility information for the Levine Center campus — start there if you are driving or need to plan access.