ARTS FEATURE A NEW LIGHT
NoDa pioneers pass the torch at Starlight on 22nd BY KARIE SIMMONS
PHOTOS BY KARIE SIMMONS
Pg. 8 - FEB 23 - MAR 8 2022
THE FUNKY INTERIOR OF STARLIGHT ON 22ND IS A FUSION OF IDEAS FROM RUTH AVA LYONS, PAUL SIRES, AND THEIR SON, ORION SIRES (TOP RIGHT). “Can we change the music? It’s just not very chill.” I looked up from my phone — killing time while my interviewee, Orion Sires, tended to a customer behind the bar — and squinted across the sea of mismatched tables and chairs inside Starlight on 22nd in search of the source of the complaint. My eyes, scanning the room for the disgruntled patron who wasn’t feeling the vibes of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” at that moment, landed on Ruth Ava Lyons. Oh, I thought, it’s just a mother who isn’t into her son’s music. Then I smiled at the irony. Before stepping away to make a drink, Orion had just finished telling me about the pressure he feels to fill the imposing shoes of his parents, NoDa pioneers Paul Sires and Ruth Ava Lyons. The artist couple is known for turning the neighborhood into an arts district back in the 1980s and continuing to support the local arts community through property they own. The family’s latest venture is Starlight on 22nd, a bar and cultural center in Optimist Park on the edge of
NoDa that they own with 27-year-old Orion. But instead of stepping back into the spotlight as the faces of the new bar, the couple has handed their son the reins to steer Starlight in the direction he sees fit. “We’re just passing the torch, which is not just for our business but for a lot of our cultural activities,” Ruth Ava Lyons said. “We feel that it’s time for some other people to step up and be active — be activists.” Still, their hand is evident in Starlight’s eclectic blend of artsy and retro, and like most parents, they have their opinions on the music.
Lighting the way
When painter Ruth Ava Lyons and sculptor Paul Sires arrived in Charlotte in the mid-’80s, the creative hub we call NoDa today was a dilapidated and neglected mill village of North Charlotte. Captivated by the area’s character, the couple restored the 1927 Lowder Building and created the first artist establishment, the Center of
the Earth Gallery, which they ran for 22 years. They continued to renovate nearby buildings and millhouses as part of a revitalization effort, offered studio spaces for artists and lobbied to attract arts-related businesses such as The Evening Muse, which still stands today thanks in no small part to them. Now they aim to do the same on East 22nd Street with Starlight and their other properties on the same road — X Foundation artist and design studios along with Rock on 22nd, which houses Pachyderm Music Lab and Girls Rock Charlotte. There’s also an open lot where they plan to host concerts, festivals and markets. “I say all the time, ‘Oh damn. It’s just like what we did 30 years ago,’” Ruth Ava Lyons said. “We’re not off the beaten path, we’re on the edge of all that activity, but in the old days people were scared to come to NoDa and we had to do all kinds of things to try to get them there and now we’re doing the same thing because we’re in between all that construction. No one can see us.”
Growing up, Orion remembers serving as his dad’s right-hand man in the studio. Over the years, Paul Sires has created large-scale sculptural work outside of the Spectrum Center, among many other locations around Charlotte. “My dad brought me to his studio and we made stuff,” Orion said. “We made swords, we made crossbows, we made catapults, we built forts. We built, I mean, just making stuff out of wood. My dad taught me how to sculpt, taught me how to cut stone. I was doing stuff that kids just weren’t doing.” Yet Orion insists he never felt pressured by his parents to become an artist. He attended Elon and Queens universities, earning a business administration degree in finance before going on to work at a financial advising firm. “I went into that world and I did it for two years and I hated it. And I didn’t want to be in the office anymore,” he said. “And my dad was like, ‘Come work for me. You can work with your hands again.’”
