Right now, let's head to Charlotte, where Jack Brayboy takes us on a tour of a historic building that was once the home of an iconic retail brand and is now the center for artistic creativity and entrepreneurship.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] - [Jack] Just on the edge of Uptown Charlotte sits the city's hub for creativity, art, performance, and community.

Its name?

The Visual and Performing Arts Center, or the VAPA Center for short.

It all started in the minds of husband and wife team, Arthur and Joanne Rogers.

They had visited similar cities of art around the country and asked themselves, "Why not Charlotte?"

and the journey began.

[upbeat music] - I'm looking around at the talent that's in Charlotte, and I'm thinking, "There is more talent here.

Why don't people see this?

And why is it that the talent that Charlotte is paying for is from outside of Charlotte?

Why are we spending all our money outside of Charlotte and not supporting our own artists?"

- I dare say you won't find a broader demographic of artists anywhere in the state, and that covers all demographics: age, race, profession.

We've got veteran-owned businesses, veteran-owned women's businesses.

So it's a good collective of ours.

- [Jack] It's hard to imagine, but the building was once the uptown home of Sears and Roebuck from 1949 to 1979.

You can see here a newspaper clipping from its grand opening.

Later, it would become the Hal Marshall County Services building until 2016.

One thing that is striking is the sheer size of the 158,000-square-foot building and its three floors once inside.

The maze of hallways adorned with magnificent art of local creators.

[upbeat music] Studio spaces, large and small, behind these doors.

Home to 343 tenants.

Yes, more art this way.

[upbeat music] - I just think Charlotte is at a really interesting time in its life as an art city.

And when I heard about VAPA, I knew it was gonna play an integral role into ushering Charlotte into its next stages as an art city.

- But to have our own space always seemed to be a dream that was unattainable because of the expense.

And to be able to have the space, to have our own area, our little beautiful classroom that's sunlit, we have the beautiful offices, and to have this community of artists and arts organizations is really a dream come true.

- There are people here that may have had something else going on in their life, a different job, but yet, they had a passion.

Some type of medium of art that they did.

And because of VAPA's accessibility, they're able to afford a workspace here.

- Clearly today, the VAPA Center has exceeded all expectations, but they have no intentions of slowing down.

There is a vision for what VAPA 2.0 might look like.

- The long-term plan is to have a purposefully built facility.

The big question is, well, how long are you gonna be here?

And so what I tell people is that it doesn't matter really about the building and how long we're gonna be here because VAPA is not the building.

[upbeat music] - [Jack] The VAPA Center never mutes creativity.

It celebrates it.

Because here, it truly is art, everyday!

[upbeat music] - The Visual and Performing Arts Center is at 700 North Tryon Street in Charlotte, and it's open daily.

For more information about upcoming events and classes, go to vapacenter.com.