WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.530 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.530 --> 00:00:05.762 align:middle line:90% And this is a sequence for-- 00:00:05.762 --> 00:00:07.220 align:middle line:84% I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina, 00:00:07.220 --> 00:00:08.600 align:middle line:90% in the middle of North Carolina. 00:00:08.600 --> 00:00:10.010 align:middle line:90% It's the biggest city. 00:00:10.010 --> 00:00:12.230 align:middle line:84% But it's named after Queen Charlotte, 00:00:12.230 --> 00:00:15.650 align:middle line:84% who is the wife of Mad King George who lost the colonies. 00:00:15.650 --> 00:00:18.860 align:middle line:84% But she was from Germany, and she was an anti-war person, 00:00:18.860 --> 00:00:20.360 align:middle line:84% even though she was the queen, but-- 00:00:20.360 --> 00:00:21.300 align:middle line:90% [CHUCKLES] 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:21.800 align:middle line:90% 00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:23.870 align:middle line:84% There's a portrait of her that I grew up 00:00:23.870 --> 00:00:26.330 align:middle line:84% looking at in the Museum of Charlotte. 00:00:26.330 --> 00:00:28.070 align:middle line:84% And she has some African heritage, 00:00:28.070 --> 00:00:30.470 align:middle line:84% and I didn't know that until I grew up. 00:00:30.470 --> 00:00:31.610 align:middle line:90% From PBS, I found out. 00:00:31.610 --> 00:00:33.090 align:middle line:90% [CHUCKLES] 00:00:33.090 --> 00:00:33.590 align:middle line:90% 00:00:33.590 --> 00:00:36.308 align:middle line:84% But I looked at the portrait, and I saw the different things 00:00:36.308 --> 00:00:37.100 align:middle line:90% about her features. 00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:38.933 align:middle line:84% There's a lot of different portraits of her, 00:00:38.933 --> 00:00:42.020 align:middle line:84% you can see different interpretations of her face. 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:44.435 align:middle line:84% But this is called, "A Crown for Charlotte." 00:00:44.435 --> 00:00:46.580 align:middle line:90% And it's in progress. 00:00:46.580 --> 00:00:48.215 align:middle line:84% And it's got a quote by Romare Bearden, 00:00:48.215 --> 00:00:49.340 align:middle line:90% who was a Charlotte native. 00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:52.100 align:middle line:84% The great collage artist, Romare Bearden. 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:55.170 align:middle line:84% "You have to go back to where you started to gain insights," 00:00:55.170 --> 00:00:56.960 align:middle line:90% he says. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:59.480 align:middle line:84% We made a special trip in a yellow school bus 00:00:59.480 --> 00:01:02.270 align:middle line:84% to visit your likeness, Charlotte of Mecklenburg. 00:01:02.270 --> 00:01:05.090 align:middle line:84% Your palanquin parked near your portrait six-feet 00:01:05.090 --> 00:01:07.490 align:middle line:90% high, yet not life-sized. 00:01:07.490 --> 00:01:10.460 align:middle line:84% You can only decode a painting if you get close to it. 00:01:10.460 --> 00:01:14.000 align:middle line:84% Sleeve like a lacy cauliflower, furled and unfurled. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:18.050 align:middle line:84% You are unmistakably regaled as a queen. 00:01:18.050 --> 00:01:21.290 align:middle line:84% Fingers tapered purple, blue dusk like shadows. 00:01:21.290 --> 00:01:24.680 align:middle line:84% Standing pained a portrait next to your Mad King George 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:25.880 align:middle line:90% not yet. 00:01:25.880 --> 00:01:29.690 align:middle line:90% Queen Charlotte, circa 1762. 00:01:29.690 --> 00:01:32.810 align:middle line:84% Portrait by Alan Ramsay Scottish, active in England, 00:01:32.810 --> 00:01:35.930 align:middle line:90% 1713 to 1784. 00:01:35.930 --> 00:01:37.640 align:middle line:84% Quote, "these coronation portraits 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:44.780 align:middle line:84% were painted for the British embassy in Paris. 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:48.140 align:middle line:84% Numerous copies of the portrait were shipped throughout Europe 00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:50.000 align:middle line:90% and the American colonies. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.310 align:middle line:84% These images helped establish and maintain 00:01:52.310 --> 00:01:54.650 align:middle line:84% political and social power for these monarchs. 00:01:54.650 --> 00:01:56.450 align:middle line:84% They reflect a long history of portraits 00:01:56.450 --> 00:01:58.850 align:middle line:84% used as pictorial instruments for control, 00:01:58.850 --> 00:02:00.590 align:middle line:84% in which the image of the ruler stands 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:01.850 align:middle line:90% for the power of the office." 00:02:01.850 --> 00:02:04.580 align:middle line:90% 00:02:04.580 --> 00:02:08.120 align:middle line:84% In the American colonies, Ramsay's sumptuous style 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:09.770 align:middle line:84% was considered overly dramatic and out 00:02:09.770 --> 00:02:12.050 align:middle line:84% of touch with American life and philosophy. 00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:14.480 align:middle line:84% In the colonies, most portraits were subdued in style 00:02:14.480 --> 00:02:16.670 align:middle line:84% and reflected more the patron's simple desires, 00:02:16.670 --> 00:02:19.400 align:middle line:84% and not the inability of Native artists. 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.680 align:middle line:84% Columns stand straight like she does. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:24.050 align:middle line:90% Hellenic White House. 00:02:24.050 --> 00:02:26.690 align:middle line:90% Choker high up a chain, daresay. 00:02:26.690 --> 00:02:30.020 align:middle line:84% Pearls in a loop, she casts a shadow on a column. 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:34.280 align:middle line:84% Black fur dots in white ermine shows its worth. 00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:36.020 align:middle line:90% Another Charlotte sonnet. 00:02:36.020 --> 00:02:37.580 align:middle line:90% Jewel for crown. 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:41.090 align:middle line:84% A spiral curl and stone swerves around the square. 00:02:41.090 --> 00:02:44.930 align:middle line:84% The airport's gates open to her stare and salute, 00:02:44.930 --> 00:02:47.720 align:middle line:84% while green and white trash bins in monikers say, 00:02:47.720 --> 00:02:50.330 align:middle line:84% keep the Queen City the clean city. 00:02:50.330 --> 00:02:52.430 align:middle line:84% Still divided Northwest by Southeast, 00:02:52.430 --> 00:02:55.850 align:middle line:84% the bus here is called the cat, and is the only bright thing 00:02:55.850 --> 00:02:56.930 align:middle line:90% passing in the night. 00:02:56.930 --> 00:03:00.020 align:middle line:90% 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:00.770 align:middle line:90% And then there's-- 00:03:00.770 --> 00:03:05.800 align:middle line:90% 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:10.170 align:middle line:84% I'll do one bow, then read one more of those poems. 00:03:10.170 --> 00:03:12.930 align:middle line:90% I'm getting that. 00:03:12.930 --> 00:03:14.500 align:middle line:90% Oh, yeah. 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:15.000 align:middle line:90%