Jul 22, 2011
Wells Fargo Announces Major Arts and Culture Event
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Kendall Alley, Community Banking regional president for Wells Fargo in Charlotte, has announced that the Wells Fargo Community Celebration will be held on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Center City Charlotte. The unique collaboration with the Arts & Science Council (ASC) and Charlotte Center City Partners will allow Charlotte area residents and visitors the opportunity to explore and enjoy the city’s diverse arts, science and history offerings for free through a one-of-a-kind community experience.
"The Wells Fargo Community Celebration is a "thank you" to the Charlotte market and a way for us to show our appreciation for the support we’ve received from the community," said Kendall Alley, Charlotte Community Bank regional president for Wells Fargo. "We are excited to celebrate the completion of the Wachovia Wells Fargo merger and even more excited to have this opportunity to give back to the citizens of Charlotte."
The Wells Fargo Community Celebration will help mark the conversion of Wachovia signs and banking locations to Wells Fargo in North Carolina, as well as the opening of the Wells Fargo History Museum in Charlotte. The event will transform Center City Charlotte into a free arts and cultural festival, as well as provide free Saturday admission, underwritten by Wells Fargo, to many of Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s arts, science and history institutions.
"We are excited about Wells Fargo taking the lead on this important celebration and being one of their partners," said ASC President Scott Provancher. "The Wells Fargo Community Celebration shows their commitment to the cultural sector and will provide amazing arts, science and history experiences that will entertain and educate thousands of individuals," said ASC President Scott Provancher. "Plus, with the opening of the Wells Fargo History Museum, Charlotte’s ‘cultural mile’ along Tryon Street has gained another attraction."
"This is an incredible community-building gift from Wells Fargo," says Michael Smith, President and CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners. "As a City, we have invested in these cultural assets that have turned our Uptown into a great destination. This day-long celebration will give our community and region a chance to join together, celebrate and explore those incredible venues as well as explore this new one in the Wells Fargo History Museum. Don’t miss this special day."
Wells Fargo Community Celebration event highlights include:
• Free Saturday admission on Saturday, Oct. 29, underwritten by Wells Fargo, to Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Discovery Place, Levine Museum of the New South, The Mint Museum, McColl Center for Visual Art, The Light Factory and more.
• Free outdoor concert –artist to be announced.
• Live art demonstrations, including LEGO sculptures and chalk art.
• Free performances by the Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Carolina Voices, Charlotte Chamber Music, Charlotte Children Choir, Charlotte Youth Ballet, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Maha’s Dances of India, Many Voices, North Carolina Dance Theatre and more.
• Interactive family-friendly activities from area arts and cultural organizations.
For more information about the Wells Fargo Community Celebration (#WFcelebratescommunity), please go to www.CharlotteCultureGuide.com.
About the Wells Fargo History Museum
Charlotte will become the site of the 10th Wells Fargo History Museum, adding to the largest museum network of any financial services company in the world. The former store location in Three Wells Fargo Center will feature 6,000 square feet of exhibit space and the company’s largest retail store of Wells Fargo-branded merchandise. In addition, it will include:
• A large gold exhibit telling the story of the first gold rush in the U.S., which took place in the Charlotte area in 1799.
• A re-created bank office based on the first Wachovia Bank in Winston-Salem, N.C.
• A 35-seat theater for educational programming.
The new museum will draw on the Wachovia archive in Winston-Salem and incorporate historical nuggets from banks in Philadelphia and many others in the company’s history.
Wells Fargo opened its first museum in San Francisco in 1927 and now has museums in Alaska, Arizona, Minnesota, Oregon and four in California. The museums average about 500,000 visitors a year.
For more information on Wells Fargo history museums, please visit: http://www.wellsfargohistory.com/museums/index.html
About the Wells Fargo Conversion
The conversion of Wachovia signs and banking locations to Wells Fargo will take place in September 2011 in South Carolina and in October 2011 in North Carolina, completing the transition of all Wachovia banking locations to Wells Fargo nationwide.
Wachovia banking locations in North Carolina and South Carolina are currently being remodeled to reflect Wells Fargo’s distinctive red and gold colors and an open floor plan. In addition, each store will have an online banking station, and many stores will feature murals depicting community history, produced with the support and involvement of local historical societies.
All Wachovia ATMs in North Carolina and South Carolina have already been replaced with Wells Fargo’s state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly Envelope-FreeSM ATMs that eliminate the need for envelopes or deposit slips and accept up to 30 checks or 50 cash bills.
Wells Fargo most recently converted former Wachovia banking locations in Florida. In addition, Wachovia banking locations in Virginia will convert in August 2011, and in Maryland and Washington, D.C., in September 2011. Wells Fargo has also converted Wachovia stores in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.
Other integrations already completed include Wachovia Mortgage’s change to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and combining brokerage operations under Wells Fargo Advisors.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. With approximately 275,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 23 on Fortune’s 2011 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.
Categories: Arts & Entertainment, Charlotte Center City Partners, Community
