Well, like Dequan, many local creatives are using their talents to spark positivity and conversation in the area.

Charlotte's neighborhoods are full of walls that speak and murals that tell stories of history, resilience and culture.

Videographer Marcellus Jones introduces us to one artist whose work doesn't just transform blank spaces, but also gives voice to the community's past, present, and future.

(screen whooshing) (spray can hissing) - I got into art, I started by coloring.

Crayons and coloring books when I was a baby.

So like that's one of the first things I can remember doing as a child.

For a long time, J.J.

from "Good Times" was my favorite artist until I figured out that was Ernie Barnes' work, or most of the work, or that style originated from Ernie Barnes.

But I think the seed planted in my mind was seeing somebody that I could relate to.

Some of my works, you can definitely see his style kind of expressed in my work.

There's a couple of pieces that I have, personal pieces, that I think you can kind of see.

I didn't transition into more of a concentration into mural painting until 2017.

Even though I had done murals prior to that, it was at that time, around 2016, 2017, where I started to see a demand develop for mural painting where the opportunity was there.

(bright music) - The Urban Design Center are really lucky to have three practice areas.

Most importantly, it's our place making work, and that's where we work with local artists to allow them to use their talent to improve Charlotte's built environment, and to enhance sense of place and neighborhoods across Charlotte.

(gentle music) We're now able, here at the UDC, we've known of him for a long time and how talented he is.

His work exists throughout the city.

I think that Historic West End in particular, really loves Abel, and the way that he's able to express his talent.

The people that he's able to put on walls in the form of murals are incredibly beautiful and well done.

I think that the example off of Beatties Ford Road that he recently completed is an incredible example of his craft and ability as an artist.

- One of those ideas was a reflection of musical excellence and wanting to highlight individuals that represented that from the community.

John P. Kee, Fantasia, and Anthony Hamilton.

And then I composed it and painted it from there.

(aerial lift whirring) This piece is being done for the Lakeview Community Center.

And this is a whole revamp of an idea that started a few years ago.

They commissioned Marcus and I to kind of design something that was going to fit within the drive and overall goal of the organization, which was to uplift people, and particularly, working with the kids.

- We talked to the residents about what we're doing here in this youth space, and they came up with the term of "Reimagine us."

Reimagine what it means to live in a neighborhood like Lakeview.

Reimagine what it is to be on the west side of town at 28208 zip code.

Abel and Marcus, those are the people that we admire a lot as artists on the west side of town.

I know you see their work throughout the West Side, throughout city of Charlotte, we've worked with Abel before on a mural that's on the Stewart Creek Greenway.

And he put together a mural of a old woman hand stitching together this quilt.

And then the quilt, it has all the names of the different neighborhoods on the West Side.

This side represents the history, this side represents the future of what can happen.

- There's a certain level of responsibility when you do public work.

It's just a feeling of me playing my role, giving back, and contributing to the future, contributing to what's going on all around me in a positive way.

And so it just, for me as a person, it just feels like the thing to do that's important to do.

(gentle music)