Stephen "Lepton Neutrino" Mark Holt

Stephen Mark Holt, aka Lepton Neutrino, of Charlotte, NC died of cancer on June 1, 2019. He was 67. Steve is preceded in death by his parents, William W. and Miriam G. (Muir) Holt of Ohio. Steve is survived by his son, Samuel Levi Holt; brothers Nate (Jean) Holt and Dave (Jill) Holt of Ohio, and several nieces and nephews; and Sam’s mother, Donna Purdon.

Steve was born on August 9, 1951, the second of three sons to William and Miriam Holt, in Findlay, OH. He was raised in Bloomdale, OH until 5, then Gibsonburg, OH until his college years. He played in the woods, drove bikes in the creek, built tree forts and a log cabin, swam, camped, ice skated, went to Philmont Scout Ranch in NM, flew/wrecked model airplanes, shot rockets, launched UFO’s, and caught the pass that won the game against arch rival, St. Joe.

Thyroid cancer kept him at home during the Vietnam war, so he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Toledo, enabling a job with Homelite Corp. in NC. Wanting to be his own boss, he started a tree-trimming service in Charlotte. Steve married Donna Purdon in 1992; their son Sam was born in 1998.

Steve arrived on the North Davidson Art scene in 1991 with a show at Rococo Fish Gallery using the pseudonym that many would come to associate him with throughout his tenure, ‘Lepton Neutrino’. The show, ‘Strange Attractors’, garnered much attention and a positive review in the Charlotte Observer. Steve, or ‘Lepton’s’ art varied throughout his career; from abstract paintings to large, mixed-media collages. His works were always interesting, innovative and very modern. After his debut show Steve joined a new art group, ‘The Friends of Van Gogh’, and, along with them opened two galleries on N. Davidson Street directly across from Rococo Fish, ‘Absinthe’ and ‘Acanthus’. Eventually the group found a way to bring the fledgling art scene to the attention of Charlotte proper by ‘hijacking’ the monthly gallery crawls from the uptown scene with creative marketing techniques and a free shuttle service. Within months after opening their galleries, which Steve would eventually rename, ’23 Studio’ and ‘Wrightnow’, the crawl went from roughly 100 people to over a thousand. The group also adopted the moniker ‘NoDa’, (North Davidson Street Artists), for what they were creating and promoted it until it took hold. Today NoDa is known as one of Charlotte’s most vibrant and exciting neighborhoods. In time Steve took on the mantle of Director for both galleries along with being manager of the bar that separated them, ‘Pat’s Time for One More’. He also helped to form, along with several artists from the galleries, another art group, ‘Eclipse’, and their shows featured silent auctions of art with proceeds that went to local charities. Steve was a beloved fixture on the N. Davidson Street scene during the 90s and when many regulars think back on that era, his visage immediately comes to mind. Steve, both as an artist and gallery director, helped to create a sustaining legacy with NoDa and will always be remembered as a creator, hard-worker, good friend to patrons and avid supporter of fellow artists.

A memorial service/art show reception will be held Sunday, June 23, 2019 from 1-3 pm at Studio-X 422 E. 22nd Street (near NoDa), Charlotte, NC 28206. The showing of Steve's art will include a silent auction of some of his works, to benefit his son.