Curated Connection: The Seamless Blend of Art, Community & Design

At Lincoln Property Company, our properties are more than just physical structures—they’re thoughtfully designed ecosystems that reflect and enrich the communities they serve. Rooted in a commitment to placemaking, our initiative to integrate art into our properties fosters a deep connection to the natural environment, local culture, and the people who bring each space to life.

Art and storytelling are integral to the process of placemaking. Through Lincoln’s Art+ initiative, we incorporate curated works that celebrate local history, natural landscapes and underrepresented voices. These thoughtfully selected pieces transform shared spaces into hubs of reflection, curiosity and connection, reaching beyond the confines of the built environment.

One of our most impactful partnerships in this effort has been with SOCO Gallery, a women-owned and run contemporary art gallery based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Established in 2015, SOCO Gallery has championed regional and emerging artists, bringing museum-quality artwork into public conversation in the Southeast.

Together, we’ve deployed a curated art program across six Lincoln assets in North and South Carolina featuring over 30 pieces of art—an initiative that has since created spaces for building occupants and visitors to enjoy.

A Commitment to Art & Community

The Lincoln x SOCO Gallery partnership began in 2020 with Lincoln’s development of SIX50 in Charlotte, North Carolina, marking the start of a collaborative vision to bring art into the heart of our properties. From the outset, the goal was clear: to transform public and private spaces through the power of art. This partnership strives to use art as a means of placemaking–creating environments that spark connection and reflection. Whether it’s a passerby pausing to feel the pull of local history, finding solace in nature-inspired work, or grounding themselves in a quiet moment of creative beauty, each piece was selected to resonate on a deeply personal level. Art serves as an invitation–not just to look at, but to experience.

Together, our teams worked to carefully select artists and artwork that speak to the character of each space, offering patrons an opportunity to pause, engage, and experience meaningful works of art that reflect their own community. A strong emphasis was placed on featuring local and underrepresented artists, with each piece contributing to a larger story that reflects the rich cultural fabric and diverse voices of the Carolinas.

These installations live in a variety of Lincoln properties, from Class A office developments to flexible community spaces, helping to transform everyday environments into immersive experiences. Much of the artwork chosen for each space was commissioned by Lincoln and challenged the artists’ practice in new ways. Summer Wheat, Halsey Hathaway, and Anne Lemanski, for example, all pushed their work to a large scale in order to accommodate the site-specific locations.

Featured Artists & Installations

Explore the work of the talented artists featured throughout our Carolinas properties, each selected to reflect the character, culture, and creativity of their communities.

Summer Wheat, Waterfalls, 2021

Acrylic on aluminum mesh

Summer Wheat is known for her vibrant paintings, multifaceted sculptures, and immersive installations that weave together the history of materiality, figuration, and abstraction in both fine art and craft milieus. Waterfalls is Wheat’s largest painting to date and was commissioned specially for the lobby of Lincoln’s SIX50 development. Inspired by waterfalls in upstate New York but also connected to the Carolina mountains, the work weaves together various references into a powerful installation. In the composition, the artist pays homage to Charlotte’s reputation as a banking center by including a piggy bank in the work and honors North Carolina women-makers like Abigail Carter of Clinton, America’s first manufacturer of overalls. The painting also references North Carolina’s history of makers in furniture, textiles, and crafts, such as basket weaving and quilting.

Thomas Gleaner, Refrain 32 and Refrain 33, 2021

Acrylic, oil, and interference pigment on canvas over panel

In the Refrain series, Thomas Gleaner, who was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, incorporates entangled transcriptions of popular axioms and idioms to reference the complexities of balancing one’s own personal welfare in the throes of an increasingly chaotic, information-saturated world. Syntaxes are destabilized, rendering the quoted refrains illegible so as to undermine any value or perspective they may have to offer. In this instance, the term “refrain” implies a double meaning: an often-repeated expression (like words of wisdom or a mantra) or to prohibit oneself from doing something. The pieces are located in the lobby of Honeywell’s headquarters at Legacy Union in Charlotte, North Carolina. In Refrain 32 and Refrain 33, Gleaner quotes Honeywell’s slogan “The future is what we make it.”

Damian Stamer, Morrocroft Dairy, 2023

Oil on panel

Durham-based artist Damian Stamer’s work explores the intricacies of time, memory, and the transient nature of existence. He engages with a spectrum of influences that include the natural processes of decay and entropy, the intuitive practice of autonomic mark making, and the silent narrative of abandonment and ruin, all while drawing insights from meditation, psychology, and the study of consciousness. In Morrocroft Dairy, Stamer painted from images, originally provided by Lincoln, of old dairy barns and an aerial view of the land where their Charlotte office and SouthPark now exist. The piece is featured in Lincoln’s Charlotte office.

Anne Lemanski, NECTAR, 2024

Archival pigment print on Masonite

Anne Lemanski is a full-time studio artist residing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. Prior to the move to North Carolina, Lemanski’s roots stem from Detroit and Chicago. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines and blogs, and exhibited nationally in museums and galleries. Lemanski is known for her evocative meditations on the natural world, often focusing on humanity’s connection to nature. Working in sculpture and on paper, the artist highlights humanity’s admiration for animals as symbols, but also points out the exploitation of them to suit our needs. Working from her extensive personal collection, Lemanski uses a variety of materials, from vinyl and book pages to textiles and vintage photos, to create sometimes life-size sculptures of animals and objects. In NECTAR, Lemanski focuses on flora and fauna relevant to North Carolina. The work, which is located in the lobby of Legacy Union’s 6HUNDRED development, includes laurel, rhododendron, narcissus, Queen Victoria’s Birdwing, and Mourning Cloak, among others.

Katrina Sánchez, La Montañera, 2023

Knitted yarn, fiber fill

Katrina Sánchez is a Panamanian-American artist based in Charlotte, NC. Working between fiber and soft sculpture she explores connection and healing through tactility in her work. Sánchez engages the soft materiality of textiles to explore the meaning and magnitude of comfort. Her practice involves combining knit and woven structures to push vibrant color and texture into space while delving into themes of connection, healing, and security. An aspiration to elicit a multi-sensory experience while engaging the audience’s desire to investigate and play is at the heart of her work. In La Montañera, roughly translating to “She, the Mountain Climber,” the artist employs bold colors in undulating waves, suggestive of mountains.

Halsey Hathaway, All These Too, Mirrors, Day’s Outro, and Changing Corners, 2024

Acrylic on canvas

Halsey Hathaway has been making this body of work for over a decade, and has exhibited throughout North America and the United Kingdom. Hathaway’s four paintings, located in the lobby of Legacy Union’s 6HUNDRED development, focuses on the use of recurring lines and overlapping shapes to construct armatures for unique color spaces. His compositions are defined by intersecting, curvilinear shapes filled with both stained and densely painted acrylic. In All These Too, Mirrors, Day’s Outro, and Changing Corners, stain on raw canvas absorbs directly into the surface while his paint rests just above it, creating layers in rich and unexpected colors that play with our perceptual experience.

Impact & Experience

The inclusion of unique art installations has significantly enhanced tenant experiences across Lincoln’s properties in the Carolinas. These pieces have elevated the energy within each space, fostering a sense of vitality and encouraging meaningful engagement. By weaving art into the fabric of these environments, Lincoln demonstrates how creative expression can shape not just spaces, but the experiences of those who inhabit them.

Through Lincoln’s Art+ program, our team has developed a thoughtful art curation framework that aligns with the IWBI WELL Standard. This standard emphasizes the importance of connecting people to one another and to the natural world, a mission that Lincoln aligns with. By collaborating with the SOCO Gallery team, we ensure the artwork and artists are chosen with the purpose of supporting these connections.

“It’s not just about providing beautiful spaces,” said Lindsey Pierson, Sustainability Strategist for Lincoln and SOCO Gallery’s team lead. “It’s about fostering connection. These installations have added layers of meaning to Lincoln developments while creating opportunities for genuine connection to local communities.”

By integrating the WELL Standard into the art curation process, Lincoln goes beyond aesthetics to create spaces that nurture well-being and a sense of belonging. This approach not only enriches tenant experiences but also underscores the importance of blending sustainability, art, and community in meaningful ways.

Additionally, Lincoln team members, tenants and community members have had the opportunity to admire the installations, interact with artists, and even ask about the inspirations behind the creations. This engagement underscores how art can transform a space and shape an experience. Beyond the immediate tenant experience, this initiative also positively impacts the local art scene. By featuring local and emerging talent, the Lincoln x SOCO Gallery partnership has provided artists with increased visibility and professional opportunities, further strengthening ties with the surrounding Carolinas community.

Looking Ahead

At Lincoln, the seamless integration of art, community, and thoughtful design is more than a concept; it’s a commitment. Each collaboration with partners like SOCO Gallery brings spaces to life and enriches our developments with deeper ties to the local community.

To learn more about our Art+ service or explore partnership opportunities, visit: lpc.com/sustainability-dev or lpc.com/sustainability-pm.

Photo Credits: Halsey Hathaway & SOCO Gallery