Romare Bearden Park.

This 5.4-acre public park was dedicated in honor of Charlotte native and internationally acclaimed artist, Romare Bearden. Dedicated in 2013, Romare Bearden Park is located just a block from where the artist was born. The park is designed in a collage motif to honor the artist's best-known style and features two formal gardens, a courtyard, a playing field, and several waterfalls. The park is utilized by a broad spectrum of the Charlotte community for varying purposes including fitness and cultural arts programs.

Bearden is widely regarded as one of America’s most important artists of the Twentieth Century. Known primarily for his work in collage, Bearden was a pioneer in the medium of collage, literally assembling random pieces to create beauty, harmony, and meaning. Collage also serves as an apt description for Bearden, both the artist and individual as his primary contribution was as a social activist, breaking down the race barrier for African American artists both for himself and for other underrepresented artists.

In his early work life, Bearden supported himself and his wife by working as a social worker. However, by the end of the 1960s, Bearden was well-established as an artist to be able to leave his work at the Department of Social Services and focus full-time on his art. To provide context on the experience of African American artists such as Bearden, The Metropolitan Museum of Art's 1969 exhibit Harlem on My Mind: The Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968 failed to feature any works by African American artists in the show. Over half a century later, that exhibit remains a reference point when art and cultural organizations fail to include Black voices within exhibits, panels, and events.

In the 1970s Bearden was represented by the prominent New York gallery, Cordier and Eckstom. He had solo shows at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Modern Art. He received many awards, including the Freedom Fighter Award from the Atlanta Chapter of the NAACP and the Frederick Douglass Award from the NY chapter of the National Urban League. 

President Reagan award Bearden the National Medal of Arts in 1987. Bearden died in 1988 but his work continues to inspire.

Romare Bearden Park. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://www.mecknc.gov/ParkandRec/Parks/ParksByRegion/CentralRegion/Pages/Romare-Bearden-Park.aspx

Staff, Q., & Staff, Q. (2020, January 21). Sculpture by Bearden peer, Richard Hunt, installed at Romare Bearden Park. Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://qcitymetro.com/2017/05/14/sculpture-bearden-peer-richard-hunt-installed-romare-bearden- park/

Romare Bearden Park. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2020, from https://www.mecknc.gov/ParkandRec/Parks/ParksByRegio