Showing Arts & Culture + Digital Equity.

How Arts & Culture and Digital Equity Intersect

Think of a neighborhood festival with no flyer, or a grant form that only exists online. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, more of cultural life now runs through screens. That includes event listings, ticketing, streamed shows, portfolios and funding forms. When internet access is uneven, the gap is about more than convenience. It shapes who joins in and whose stories travel. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 14% of homes had no internet access in 2023, according to GovTech.

Arts & Culturecreativity and shared identityDigital Equityaccess to modern life
Arts & Culture and Digital Equity: Cultural spaces can be a trusted place to learn digital skills
Where they meet: where daily life compounds
  1. Arts & Culture and Digital Equity: Cultural spaces can be a trusted place to learn digital skills
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Arts & Culture + Digital Equity

A good connection is now the way in to cultural life

Theaters, museums and festivals use online tools for outreach, ticketing and programming. A resident with no reliable device or connection misses more than online services. They can miss a virtual event, a chance to find a local artist, or a creative class. Digital access helps decide who shows up and who stays out of view.

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Digital Equity + Arts & Culture

Storytellers need connectivity and skills

Artists and community storytellers use digital tools to share work, apply for funding and build audiences. Skills and affordable internet are not spread evenly. The voices least likely to be heard are often from lower-income communities and communities of color. Those are the same communities whose cultural memory most needs to be kept and shared.

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Arts & Culture + Digital Equity

Cultural spaces can be a trusted place to learn digital skills

Libraries, arts centers and neighborhood festivals are places many people already trust. They can run digital literacy classes that feel friendly, not like a lesson for people who are behind. When arts groups and digital equity partners team up, a cultural space becomes an easy place to get online and learn.

How cultural life narrows when a connection is assumed

  1. 01

    Culture goes online

    Events, applications and community stories move to websites and apps. Taking part now takes more.

  2. 02

    Access gaps decide who takes part

    Homes without broadband or a good device miss online shows, ticket sales and new art to find.

  3. 03

    Creative voices go unheard

    Artists in homes with poor internet cannot build an online audience or find online funding.

  4. 04

    Cultural memory thins

    Communities struggle to record and share their traditions online. Fewer people hear those stories, and they are harder to keep.

Libraries, arts centers and festivals can teach digital skills and share devices. That puts a connection in place before a resident needs it to join in.

By the numbers

  • $1.2B$1.2B generated by Charlotte’s visitor economy in 2025, driven in part by major arts, entertainment, and cultural events
  • 14%14% of homes in Mecklenburg County did not have internet access in 2023
  • 208+208+ public artworks created over three decades in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
  • 8,6008,600 households connected to free home-internet services through the City of Charlotte’s “Access Charlotte” initiative

Folio links, articles, and reports

Sources & methodology15 referenced sources

Based on fftc:FWD Folio material for Arts & Culture and Digital Equity and public data sources, with broader context on how the two issues connect.

AI assists with organizing and explaining selected fftc:FWD source material. It does not replace review by FFTC staff or the judgment of residents and civic partners.