“Layers on layers on layers, failures,” Honeycutt says as he describes his work. “Say an average painting of mine has three layers. There are two intact, full paintings under the third and final layer. What I like about this method is it’s like life. You can’t really say, ‘oh, none of that (in the past) happened.’ All of the textures, all of the scars, all of the colors, all the time, it’s all there; it’s all under the surface. And depending on what that last layer looks like, you might not physically see any of it.” Honeycutt was part of the last group of artists-in-residence at "Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit Charlotte," a digital exhibition of the famed artist’s work set to music inside Camp North End’s historic Ford Building. Outside and surrounding the exhibition warehouse, local artists like Honeycutt have displayed pieces inspired by Vincent Van Gogh and by his newfound resonance with the city of Charlotte. Like Honeycutt’s paintings, Charlotte and other cities across the nation are beginning to reckon with an underlying past of inequity, minimal funding and lack of opportunity in the arts. For many artists who have witnessed these transgressions, it is just as vital to acknowledge this history and the resulting scars as it is to create new growth in the community. “The artist wants the truth, even if it is ugly, even if it is painful. The artist can take pain and make something beautiful from it, but not if it’s not truthful,” says Jay Ward, a local slam poet who helped to curate "Of Earth and Sky," a recent program where visual displays of local writers' poetry were installed in public areas around the city. Blumenthal Performing Arts’ launch of public art programs like "Immersive Van Gogh," "Of Earth and Sky" and Made in CLT is part of its initiative to provide visibility and opportunity to artists living and working in Charlotte. “I think this is one step toward inclusion,” Ward says. “This is one step toward bringing everybody in and saying this is a large community. We all belong to this community.”