Queen Charlotte
In 2020, restoration of the statue’s bronze and exterior façade began in preparation for the interior installation, the third location of the statue on Airport property. On October 20, 2023, the Queen Charlotte statue was unveiled in the Queen’s Court within the terminal lobby.
Have you ever wondered how the Queen City got its name? Princess Sophie Charlotte was one of many children born to the royal German family. Princess Charlotte spent most of her childhood at Mirow, a castle located in a section of northern Germany known as Mecklenburg-Strelitz. At the age of 17, she was married to King George III and became the Queen of England. Queen Charlotte was very respected. She also introduced the Christmas tree into English culture. In honor of Queen Charlotte and her homeland, in 1763 the English settlers of this area named their newly formed county seat Charlotte and their county Mecklenburg. Queen Charlotte’s crown remains a symbol of the city of Charlotte today, also known as the Queen City.
Sculpture of Queen Charlotte
A private group known as the Queen’s Table agreed to donate $250,000 for a sculpture that would be designed to symbolize the city and to greet those that pass through Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The artist for the project was selected from a group of 16 artists. A rendering of Queen Charlotte by Washington D.C. artist, Raymond Kaskey, was the group’s unanimous choice. The sculpture is a 15-foot-high bronze figure of Queen Charlotte that was designed with the use of a model, Megan Berryhill. The sculpture previously stood as the centerpiece in the Queen’s Courtyard between the parking decks. There have often been many assumptions made about why the sculpture is shaped the way it is. Some believe it is bent like a willow branch, appearing to be held aloft by the wind. Kaskey simply says that he made her “leaning backward in the wind because it seemed appropriate for an airport…and the column sets her as a stationary weather vane.” The crown in her hand is counter-balanced with the backward motion as a welcome sign to the pedestrian.” The sculpture was dedicated to the airport September 18, 1990.
Quick Facts
- Installed: 1990
- Location: Queen’s Court
- Relocated: 2013 and 2022
- Artist: Washington D.C. Artist Raymond Kaskey, selected by a 16-person committee through the Queen’s Table
- Funding: Gift from the Queen’s Table who donated $250,000 for the sculpture, City paid for the base and fountain. The Queen’s Table is a private philanthropic group, most of whose members choose to remain anonymous, and consists of people who pledge $1,000 per year to beautify the City.
- Description (1990 installation): The sculpture is a 15-foot-high bronze figure of Queen Charlotte. Kaskey said of the pose, “I used her as a mythological symbol. Leaning backward in the wind seemed appropriate for an airport and the column sets her as a stationary weather vane. The emblem of the fountain is a compass rose, suggesting Charlotte as a crossroads. The crown in her hand is counterbalanced with the backward motion as a welcome sign to the pedestrian.” The column stands in the middle of a fountain base with markings indicating North, South, East and West.
Transcription
Queen Charlotte was given to the airport in 1990 by a group called The Queen's Table, which was an anonymous group of folks in Charlotte that were interested in doing public art. The piece has become iconic for the Charlotte Airport and something that we cherish here. When we were planning for our future, a ultimate terminal lobby expansion, one of the first things that came up was, "What do we do about Queen Charlotte?" Because we knew she couldn't stay there. We came up with a couple of different interim steps that we had to take in order to protect her. The first of which, was removing her from her original place in between the two hourly parking decks to a temporary location between our two daily parking decks in a new Queen's Courtyard. That gave us the ability to tear down the rest of the hourly decks and build a new hourly rental car deck that our customers use today. The intent from the very beginning though, was looking forward to the terminal lobby expansion and the opportunity to bring the Queen inside and make her the focal point point of the lobby. Our hope was that we could create a space for her to preside over her airport in a more protected environment. In 2020, in anticipation of moving her into the building, we took her to have her restored and re-patina'd. and then brought her back and actually installed and then brought her back and actually installed her in the building. When we brought her back to the lobby, we lifted her through the skylight, the gold Oculus Skylight and into her final plinth. We were still very much under construction in the lobby itself, but we had to put her inside before we put all the roof structure and the glass in, so we protected her by putting her in a box to allow us to continue the construction around her until we got to the point where we could now unveil her and let her reside over her people. Queen Charlotte has always been a vision for our customers. it shows that you're home. That's really important for our local customers and I think Queen Charlotte helps tell them that they're here.