Our History, Our People
What is VisArt
We are one of the last remaining independent video stores. We have over 30,000 titles for rent. and racks of movies on sale. We also sell movie memorabilia, t-shirts, action figures and posters. You can even buy almost any movie on the shelves for just our cost.
Our name is shortened from Visual Arts. We feel strongly that there is a huge world of film outside of Hollywood and current releases. A true story is that VisArt came into being when its founder could not find Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai or Renoir’s Grand Illusion, but every outlet checked did stock many copies of Ernest Saves Christmas. Now, we are not movie snobs, but we also thought we could do better in terms of selection.
In the 1980s, there were several VisArt stores in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, but as they were closing, in 2010 Mickey Aberman and Gina (Twiggy) Cerniglia became co-owners of the Charlotte location that Twiggy had been managing since 2003. In 2015 they moved the store from 7th Street to its current location at the corner of Eastway Drive and Central Avenue. Among other things, this location offered the space to open the Screening Room in 2018. The Screening Room is used for film and video events and other public presentations and celebrations.
In 2016 Mickey Aberman took full ownership of VisArt, and in 2018 oversaw the transition to VisArt becoming a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
It still provides public access to perhaps the largest film and video collections on the East Coast. It also provides a center for people who are local film-makers and people who want to learn about film. VisArt is also working closely with the Charlotte Film Society. Film and video (like theatre, dance, photography, etc.) are not just entertainment but also an art form and a window into our history and culture.
We are a locally-owned resource for the community. We rely on our members to spread the word that we exist and that we are a great place to pick up a movie. VisArt’s staff knows and loves movies. If you tell us what you have liked, we will put you on to more that fit your mood or taste.
Our Team
