Before it held paintings, this building minted gold. Mint Museum Randolph stands in Charlotte’s elegant Eastover neighborhood inside the 1836 United States Mint — moved stone by stone in the 1930s when citizens saved it to become North Carolina’s first art museum.
Randolph’s quieter galleries reward the unhurried: art of the ancient Americas, European and American paintings, and the state’s finest showcase of North Carolina pottery, from Catawba Valley alkaline-glazed stoneware to contemporary studio pieces. The tree-shaded grounds and Hansel Gretel-esque brick silhouette make it the city’s most romantic museum setting.
Randolph is the Mint’s memory palace — where Charlotte’s gold-rush past and its art future share one address. Wednesday free evenings here feel like a neighborhood salon.
