By Cameron Lee
April 15, 2026
The Arts & Science Council is Charlotte’s longest-operating arts organization, having invested millions of dollars in support of cultural institutions across Mecklenburg County as well as individual artists and creatives.
Founded in 1958 as a nonprofit to help fund arts, science, and history programs across the region, ASC has played a defining role in shaping the city’s cultural landscape for nearly seven decades.
Over the years, the organization has awarded a wide range of grants designed to support individual artists, nonprofits, and community-based cultural programming, including Artist Support Grants, which provide project-based funding for artists to create new work; fellowships for both creative renewal and emerging creators, focused on artistic growth, experimentation, and career development; Community Connector Grants, which support projects connecting arts, science, and history with the community; Culture Blocks Grants, funding free arts and cultural programming in neighborhoods across Mecklenburg County; Venue Access and Community Project Grants, which help cover space, production, and event costs; and public art and commissioning grants, that fund murals, installations, and public works that help shape the city’s visual identity.
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Yet despite its decades of impact and sustained investment in the local arts ecosystem, the ASC has never had a signature, large-scale showcase dedicated to presenting the full breadth of artists and performers it supports across the county.
Sasha Banks, ASC’s Program Officer for Community Engagement — and also a poet and filmmaker — set out to change that with the creation of Midnight Marathon. The event brings together a wide range of artistic disciplines, including music, theater, dance, spoken word, and multimedia performance, into a single continuous program designed both as a public platform for artists and a fundraiser for the nonprofit.
“I think it’s important for us to overcome the transactional nature of our relationship… to show everybody what you do,” Banks said. “We [ASC] support what you do, now we want to show what you do.”
The result is a sprawling showcase of talent taking place at the Carolina Theatre on April 17, featuring everything from a one-man drumming experience by Walter Boston III; poetry by acclaimed griot Hannah Hasan, Kita Mone’t, and Frank Expression; dance performances by Baran Dance and Rumbao Latin; stage work from Planet Improv and Group Hugs + Harmony; a DJ set by See Bird Go; as well as puppetry, short films, and stand-up comedy — all hosted by spoken-word artists Lady V and Kalon T. Anthony.
The concept for Midnight Marathon grew out of Banks’ previous experience organizing marathon-style artistic events, beginning with a self-produced live-stream poetry marathon, Poets for Ferguson, which raised funds for protesters who had been jailed in Ferguson in 2014. She also worked with The Poetry Project in New York City, where she helped produce the organization’s annual New Year’s Day poetry marathon.
Porsche Harwell, ASC’s Marketing and Communications Officer, is a Charlotte native who studied at Howard University before building a career in digital media and marketing across both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She says the event is also part of a broader effort to evolve the organization’s brand and public identity.
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“I want people to know that we offer more than just grants, and I think part of that is us spotlighting past artists that we worked with,” Harwell said. “Taking advantage of our socials, getting way more active telling stories… I want people to look at ASC and know that they can learn something from us about the arts community.”
The initiative reflects a larger ongoing conversation about Charlotte’s identity as a financial hub and the challenge of building a sustainable creative economy alongside rapid economic growth.
“I think Charlotte can be a little bit of a trickier place if you’re an artist who’s looking to live a creative life,” Banks said. “And I think that’s a larger conversation across, you know, the creative communities in the South at large… When your runway for opportunity sort of starts to tap out, you have to decide if you’re going to do something different or go somewhere else.”
While the City of Charlotte’s 2022 State of Culture Report found the local arts sector is growing rapidly and contributing more significantly to tourism and the broader economy, it also noted that Charlotte still trails peer cities in per-capita public arts investment. Meanwhile, the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study estimates that the county’s nonprofit arts and culture sector supports more than 6,800 jobs, though the region still lags behind comparable metros such as Nashville, Denver, Austin, and St. Louis in overall arts employment.
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Despite strong population and economic growth, retaining creative talent and strengthening the city’s arts infrastructure remain key challenges.
“Our counter to that [Charlotte’s growth] is always, but what’s making them stay? Yes, people are moving in, people are settling, but then some people are leaving after two, three years,” Harwell said. “And what we’ve learned being in the artist community is that there are artists that we’ve talked to that love Charlotte, however, to live here and have some type of decent livelihood… they can’t do it here… and they should be able to.”
Banks and Harwell hope Midnight Marathon serves as both a showcase and a bridge — connecting artists, audiences, and institutions while strengthening Charlotte’s creative ecosystem. Beyond highlighting ASC grant recipients, the event aims to foster collaboration among independent creatives and expand the visibility of the city’s arts community.
Featuring more than 25 performances spanning music, comedy, improv, poetry, puppetry, tarot readings, and photography, Midnight Marathon is designed to reflect the entire spectrum of Charlotte’s creative landscape — while spotlighting one of the city’s most longstanding cultural institutions and its ongoing investment in local artists.
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Arts & Science Council’s Midnight Marathon takes place at Carolina Theatre on April 17, featuring several local musicians, artists, poets, and filmmakers. Check out the full list of performances here.
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This article is brought to you ad-free by the Arts & Science Council.
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