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Another Look at Piccolo Spoleto Visual Arts in Charleston SC – June 4, 2011

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Linda, my better half, had to work the whole weekend so I decided it was a good time to run down to Charleston, SC, again to catch a few more visual art exhibits taking place during the Spoleto/Piccolo Festivals. I knew it was going to be hot on Saturday so I had planned to get an early start to avoid the hottest part of the day. But I made the mistake of checking out the Facebook pages.

A few items on Facebook caught my attention, which led to making a few comments and then checking out a few items there that took me to a few blog entries and before you know it that early start was lost. And of course Mickey Williams – Charleston’s Facebook DJ had reminded me of a group I hadn’t listen to in a while so I had to listen to a few songs by the Zombies.

I could tell when I finally got to the I-26 exit for Meeting Street that it was going to be another crazy day of navigating through traffic in downtown Charleston. I was hoping to get to the Charleston Visitor Center where the 27th Annual Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibition is on view through June 10, 2011. After circling a few blocks and finding no available parking spaces I decided to head to my second destination first at the other end of the peninsula – Lowcountry Artists, Ltd. The area around Marion Square seemed to be in grid-lock – much worst compared to last Sunday. Good for the artists in the parks – I hoped.

Lowcountry Artists, is located at 148 East Bay Street and I found an almost empty parking lot next to the Exchange Building just a half block away. Not a good sign for that part of town, but good for me. Lowcountry Artists is presenting the exhibit, The Power of Glass, featuring works by Robert Clair and Stephen Hazard, on view through June 11, 2011.

The gallery had promoted this exhibit to be perhaps the largest showing of art glass ever to be seen in the area, which I think just might be true. The exhibit featured blown glass by Robert Clair and fused and etched glass by Stephen Hazard, two local artists.


A display of Stephen Hazard’s works

Now Charleston isn’t Western North Carolina and fine art crafts in this town take a distant second, only in numbers, to paintings hanging on the walls of Charleston’s galleries, although most galleries use crafts to fill in spaces where they can’t hang or place a painting. You’ll find some outstanding galleries presenting a variety of works in various craft media, but it is paintings that rule Charleston, and works in glass in large numbers are rarely presented here. It’s too bad, but that’s the facts, Jack. Go to Asheville, NC, and that case is reversed.


Works by Robert Clair

Lowcountry Artists had done a good job of making space for a lot of glass works to be displayed in this exhibit. And there is nothing like seeing a lot of colorful glass objects clustered together – it’s like viewing a Christmas tree for the first time of the season. Glass can shimmer in light like no painting can and being 3 dimensional it can do it from all angles.

Many of Clair’s works were clustered in one big display that was like being in a candy shop during Christmas. The many colors in many shapes was a festival in itself for the eyes. And, the real wonder is that the basic ingredient, besides the artist’s skill, is molten sand.


Works by Robert Clair

For Clair, this show represented four years of working as an assistant in the hot shop of his teacher and glass blowing mentor, Herman Leonhardt, being paid in hot, clear glass and studio time. Leonhardt, whose studio is located deep in the swamp off the Edisto River, comes as close to being the Lowcountry’s resident glass artist as anyone.


Works by Robert Clair

In a press release we offered in our May 2011 issue of Carolina Arts, it offered that, “Steve Hazard’s art draws upon Africa’s rich and diverse artistic traditions from the past, but thrusts the viewer in the present and the future. From patch work quilts of the South, West African sculpture and ceremonial masks to the complex patterns of multi-cultural textiles, Hazard creates iconic art works that captivate the viewer and transports him to sacred, ancient and/or lost cultures, while allowing the viewer to possess a bit of history in functional contemporary glass art.”


Detail of one of Stephen Hazard’s works

I found that a lot of Hazard’s works did remind me of quilts, with so many patches of different colors and patterns thrown into a mix, but a mix that was engaging to the eye and mind.


Work by Stephen Hazard

Fused glass is something I’ve always been interested in – thinking that one day I might try my hand at it, but I’ve seen and learned enough about it to respect the really skilled artist. Like all art – anyone can make a quilt, melt some glass together, mold some clay into a shape and brush some paint on a canvas. But, unless you are totally blind, it’s easy for anyone who takes a close look before they open their mouths and say those infamous words – “I could do that” – to see it takes time and skill to reach a level before something they make becomes art.


Work by Stephen Hazard

And, it’s not hard for me to recognize that Hazard is working at a high level in creating these works. Maybe I’ll stick with my day job.

Although Lowcounty Artists may be featuring works by these two artists on a regular basis, you won’t see so many glass works presented together, so it is advisable that you make an effort to see this exhibit before it is over. It might be some time before Charleston is offered another display of so much glass art.


Works by Robert Clair

On the way back to my car I popped into Mickey Williams Studio Gallery to razz him about delaying my trip for me. Mickey wasn’t in, but his wife, Jenlu, was and I talked with her a while. The back room door was closed so I suspected that Mickey was in the back taking one of his cat naps. Jenlu and I talked about our respective children, the job market for college students, the cost of having children in college and Mickey’s addiction to Facebook. I needed to find out how to control Linda’s growing problem. If you want to know the hard truth about someone – you go to their spouse.

While taking with her I remembered that I had gotten an e-mail card about the fact that during Spoleto Susan Mayfield (West) was going to be showing works with Mickey at the gallery. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her work and what I was seeing was very different. My mind was telling me Mayfield did pastels, but these were works in oils. Although the works are a little darker than the way pastels look I liked what I was seeing and according to Jenlu, so were others who had seen the works displayed.

If you go see the show at Lowcountry Artists, you should stop in and see both works by Mickey Williams and Susan Mayfield. Mayfield has moved out West I think and you might not get a chance to see her work that often in Charleston.

Next stop – the Charleston Visitor Center at 375 Meeting Street, but the closer I got to Marion Square or Wragg Square where the 2011 Piccolo Spoleto Crafts Fair was going on – the traffic and lack of parking spaces increased. After a few times around the area I found a space on King Street – not too far from the Visitor Center.

I got to the Visitor Center just in time. I wasn’t spending a lot of time out in the heat, so my body fluids were not being sweat out and by this time of the day I needed to make water. What a saying. If I can say anything nice about the City of Charleston – the government – not the city itself – they keep a clean set of rest rooms at the Visitor Center. They probably need to double the size of the women’s facilities – there is always a line up there when tour buses are in the house, but as far as I know they are clean too. But from comments my wife says about public rest rooms, she gives me the impression that some women have very bad habits. Men probably do too, but fortunately for me it’s a big difference in the physical process in making water.

Oooh – potty talk during a blog about the arts – how real.

Excuse this abrupt transition, but… So, I’m looking at the 27th Annual Piccolo Spoleto Festival Juried Art Exhibit, on display at one end of the Visitor Center. The show is co-sponsored by the Charleston Artist Guild and the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, and it’s divided into two categories – paintings and photography. I don’t like that subtle slight toward photography and don’t know why they are doing this, but it’s their show. I would think that now that the Charleston Artist Guild has photographers as full members they would change this about the show and have all the art judged on the same basis.

Photographers everywhere – one day you shall overcome too! Just not anytime soon.

I’m noticing that this exhibit has several things in common with the juried art shows presented during the 2011 North Charleston Arts Festival – bad lighting, ID tags which are placed in positions which are hard to read, and for a statewide opportunity – very few entries on display from around the state of South Carolina. This fact probably really burns the folks at the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs as they always assume they are several levels above anything in North Charleston. But, I’ll give them credit for having an informative program available for viewers. It’s so important.

After looking through the show once I looked over the program and confirmed my suspicions that beyond a few entries from the Columbia area and the Pee Dee area, most works were by artists from the Lowcountry. I can’t imagine that all the works from the Upstate and other areas of SC didn’t make the cut, but both jurors were from the Lowcountry, but I doubt that Alex Powers, who judged the paintings and Rick Rhodes, who judged the photography would be that biased. So my conclusion is – they didn’t enter this show.

Again, I think the problem is that the show’s cash prizes and the exhibit venue are not attractive enough to draw artists from that long a distance to enter this show – even if it does expose you to the Spoleto/Piccolo Festivals audience. But does it? More about that later.

If there was a better exhibit venue in Charleston I would think that this would be the perfect opportunity to have a knock-out statewide juried show, but that might take the involvement of a strong state arts agency, but we all know I don’t think we have anything like that in SC.

Both the painting and photography presented were very strong. And, I only recognized a handful of the artists’ names in this exhibit – which is a good thing – meaning we have a lot of talented artists in SC working their way up the ladder.

I did take note that Denise L. Greer, who has been the Queen of juried shows lately, only received a Honorable Mention in this show, but watch out next year.


From the Ashes by Christopher E. Murphy

The 1st place winner in the painting category was Christopher E. Murphy of Mt. Pleasant, SC, for the work, From the Ashes. And the 1st place winner in the photography category was Ellen Yampolsky of Charleston, for Colorful Canoes. But I, as usual, had different favorites.

The work that attracted my eye on this day the most was a pen and wash work titled, St. Peters Rome, by Hank Pulkowski of Myrtle Beach, SC. In second favorite was the work, Thoughts, an oil on canvas by John Tecklenburg of Edisto Beach, SC. It was an abstract/ realism work – go figure. I can’t help myself.


Thoughts by John Tecklenburg

Like I said before, the lighting was bad and it’s not the best place to try and get photos of works, but I got a few, but not of the ones I really would have liked to show in this blog.


Spoleto IX by Betty Thalheimer

I found Betty Thalheimer’s paintings to be interesting. Her color pallet was different and if I had to describe why I was drawn to it I might just say – the noses of the women in the works. Ron Anton Rocz had a compelling photograph titled, Cityscape Havana, which was drawing a crowd while I was there. I liked it too. And, I found a work titled, Jelly Ball, by Matt Broome in the photography grouping, but it had that crossover look of a photograph made to look like a painting. I didn’t find the image that interesting, but I find it interesting that photographers are doing this. Can you blame them – trying to get just general respect from the public? But I wouldn’t have entered it in the photography category if I was trying to fool anyone. Of course, he might not have had the choice or not been trying to fool anyone.

What really amazed me about this exhibit was how people could just walk right past it without even giving it a glance. A lot of folks were flowing through the Visitor Center on this day, but very few took the time to look at the exhibit, and many who came in the building from the other end, probably never knew it was even there. I didn’t notice any banners outside the building or in the main info part of the Center announcing that the show was there. Actually a few signs in the rest rooms would have been the best place to announce this show – hardly anyone coming to this facility would have missed those signs. It’s just another sign that all the folks coming to Charleston are not really here for the festivals.

While I was at the Visitor Center I picked up a card for Art For Charity, which when you look at it would give you the impression that this is some sort of non-profit, but what you’re looking at is a commercial business that is now using charities to draw people into the door of a commercial gallery – in this case the Michael Mitchell Gallery, located on King street near the Visitor Center. I’m told that this is the new trend in galleries. I don’t care for it myself. I always have to wonder how much of the sale of a work of art goes to the charities and we all know that most charities are not too concerned about how much money they receive from these relationships with collectors of such funds -as long as they get some money and are getting the publicity generated.

When I went to the web address on the card I found this statement – “What started as a pop-up for Art for Charity has evolved into one of Charleston’s premier galleries.” I don’t think that is true – I only seem to hear about this gallery during the time of Spoleto. Where are they the rest of the year? I’d think you’d have to have a higher profile to be one of Charleston’s premier galleries. The gallery doesn’t exactly have a big footprint on the Internet either beyond it’s activities surrounding the festivals since 2010. Yet already they call themselves one of Charleston’s premier galleries.

The gallery does seem to be the entry port into Charleston’s art market for many artists from Columbia, SC – which is a good thing. But the strong tie to charities would concern me. I found nowhere on the website for the gallery/design shop which tells how much (what percentage of a sale) goes to charities. That’s something I’d want to know as a consumer. And, nowhere did I find how much they have raised for any of these charities last year.

This mingling of charities with buying art reminds me of a gimmick – much like the official “Certificate of Authenticity” offered in some galleries. And I’m sure it doesn’t make the charities who rely on art auctions as fundraisers happy.

The art industry is like all industries – buyer beware at all times. That’s why it’s important to have a good relationship with your gallery. Don’t be afraid to ask what might seem like hard questions and pay attention to the response you get. Don’t assume details.

There might be nothing wrong with this way of selling art, but it concerns me. Perhaps it’s a way of fighting back against the charities who use art for fundraising.

In my own experience I’ve learned that not everything involving a charity is a good thing, but this in no way is a reflection on the greater charity community. It just means that the word “charity” or “non-profit” is not a certificate of good and up and up. That’s all I’m saying.

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A First Look at the Two Big 2011 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibits at Marion Square Park and Wragg Square in Charleston, SC

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

By late Saturday, May 28, 2011, we had the June 2011 issue of Carolina Arts almost in the can, so Sunday morning – after we found out that Linda, my better half wasn’t going to have to go in to work on one of her days off, we decided to go down to Charleston and catch a few of the exhibits being presented by Piccolo Spoleto. She was on call Sunday, but because it was a holiday weekend – no one was going to call out on Sunday. You don’t get paid the extra holiday pay if you miss the day before. Such is the life of a 911 dispatcher.

We got a good start and found a fairly good parking space by about 10:30am. We didn’t expect that the Charleston Farmers Market was going to be operating on Sunday, but I guess everyone wants a piece of the Spoleto/Piccolo action. Money is the mother’s milk of the arts and when it comes to selling an opportunity for anyone to get in on the action – the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, who organizes the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, turns down no opportunity that will put money in their pocket or the pockets of their friends (those special arts groups). I truly expect to see beer vendors roaming the streets of Charleston during the festivals one day. More in character you’ll probably see wine vendors as a tie-in with the Charleston Food & Wine Festival.

I can hear them calling now – “Got your chardonnay here!”

So on that morning, we had to vie for parking with 3-4 church congregations, the Farmer’s Market crowd and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival crowd for a parking space. But, we did all right.

Actually, I think the Farmer’s Market is a plus – they provide the opportunity to purchase readily available food and beverages, with some musical entertainment thrown in. And, I guess every penny the City can generate in vendor fees is less that they’ll have to take from taxpayers. Some might think the arts and craft vendors at the Farmer’s Market might be competition, but the buyer makes that decision.

The minute we hit the 2011 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit in Marion Square Park, we started to hear how the Office of Cultural Affairs had messed this show up. They have been trying to take total control of this show for years and this year was another bungled attempt at redesigning the show.

To make a long story short, one of the core aspects of this show is that it has had some of the same artists showing in a particular part of the park for years. People who attend the festivals every year know where their favorite artist is located. The artists who have been in certain spots have made close friendships with their neighboring artists.

This year the Office of Cultural Affairs decided that no artists would be “grand-fathered” in and all would have to go through a jury process to get in. What that jury process is and who does it would be one of the biggest blogs I’ve ever written, but we’re not going into that now. So some artists felt unwanted and didn’t go through the process. The jury cut was made and then all hell broke loose and some went to Mayor Joe Riley and complained and as usual he undercut his staff and reinstated the artists who had been cut, except for those who made other plans or didn’t go through the jury process – they were just screwed – twice.

Funny thing – many of the artists who were cut in the jury process won awards from the hand-picked juror Cultural Affairs selected. In fact, the Mayor’s Purchase Award was by an artist who was originally cut from the show. Go figure.

On top of that, Cultural Affairs decided to split these established neighborhoods up and shuffled the deck. So, now visitors to the show have to go on a scavenger hunt to find their favorite artists. It’s a real mess. No one likes change – especially change that isn’t an improvement.

The Office of Cultural Affairs reminds me of the Army Corp. of Engineers. Is there anything they haven’t made worse after trying to fix something?

So many of the artists are not happy campers and if this show is another ho hum year, as far as sales go, they are really going to be unhappy. This could be the last year for some – but that’s exactly what some people may want.

My suspicion is that the Office of Cultural Affairs, headed up by Ellen Dressler Moryl, has been looking at the Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit as their future cash cow. I think they envision selling the spaces in the park for $1000 a pop to artists from around the country who would love to be associated with the Spoleto/Piccolo Festivals. They would learn really quickly that visitors to Charleston wouldn’t be interested in artwork made in Santa Fe, Carmel, or Sarasota – they want Lowcountry art. But, it might take them a year or two to learn that and there would always be a new crop of unknowing artists willing to put up a $1000 for the opportunity. The catch is – Mayor Riley promised the local art community that Piccolo would be for them, but the festival has had mission creep in becoming a regional affair – some participants come from way beyond our region.

Now, I’m not saying that this show doesn’t have it’s problems and couldn’t use some shaking up – there is a lot of repetition – artists painting the same landscapes and wildlife scenes. But instead of trying to tear down long standing traditions, why doesn’t Cultural Affairs start a new outdoor art venue – maybe one for emerging artists, just on weekends and in a way that the artists don’t have to make such an investment. Those tents are expensive.

If out-of-state visual artists want a crack at the Festival, set them up in Hampton Park or Liberty Park by the SC Aquarium – the hottest spot in town. But stop messing with the Outdoor Art Exhibit.

It has been rumored that Ellen Dressler Moryl will soon retire and then turn around and become a paid contractor to manage Piccolo Spoleto. What a sweet deal for her. But unless the City is planning on sub-contracting out the whole Office of Cultural Affairs – I can’t see a new head of Cultural Affairs putting up with their biggest plum being outsourced. And, why should the City pay her when she’s not an employee of the City – as far as I know, they don’t pay any of the coordinators who really organize most of the Festival. And, what would Cultural Affairs be doing this time of year if they are not managing the Festival?

Anyhoo – Linda and I spent six hours in both Marion Square and over at Wragg Square at the 2011 Piccolo Spoleto Crafts Fair. I didn’t hear any complaints over at the Crafts Fair, but I knew there were some, but the kind that can’t be helped – at least overnight. One corner of that park is in open sunlight and it was 20 degrees hotter in that section and it was already hot enough that day. I felt sorry for the artists in that section, but trees don’t grow over night. But it’s better than the old days.

The first Piccolo Spoleto Crafts Fair we went to, way back when, was at Marion Square Park in the open sun under a huge olive green Army tent. It was hotter under that tent than outside. I’d take Wragg Square any day over any of the other locations this fair has been in – other than the Gaillard Auditorium – that was a good location (inside and air-conditioned), but Spoleto doesn’t like to share.

We saw lots of good art, had a lot of great conversations – it wasn’t all bitching and when it was over we were really amazed that we had spent six hours there. Of course one hour was taken up by me being a stand-in for a model who didn’t show up for a portrait demo that Steven Jordan was giving.

I had my portrait done by Steven Jordan, The Painter of Bud Light, at Piccolo Spoleto. Now how many people can say that? It’s not finished but we hope to have the final version to show off soon.

We also learned that a lot of people in the park didn’t know that Carolina Arts had gone totally online, which is good and bad. Many are in that camp like to hold something in their hands when they read, but it was also a good thing since many will now be checking us out online. And, we’re not complaining these days as we had over 61,000 people download our May 2011 issue.

The 2011 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit will go on through June 11, from 10am-6pm and the next 2011 Piccolo Spoleto Crafts Fair will take place June 3-5, Fri. & Sat., 10am-6pm and Sun. 11am-5pm. Both shows offer demonstrations by participating artists. Go down and take a look at all the interesting art being offered and buy something.

Social Media and the Outdoor Art Exhibit

You can keep up with the 2011 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit with blogs and Facebook. For years Amelia (Mimi) Whaley has been blogging daily from the park on her personal blog (http://www.mimispaintingaday.blogspot.com/) starting after the first day of the festival. This year she has set up a Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit group blog (http://psoaeblog.blogspot.com/) where several people will be adding their observations from the park. You can even log onto the Outdoor Art Exhibit’s Facebook page at this link (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Piccolo-Spoleto-Outdoor-Art-Exhibit-2011/154715674583540).

It was a pretty good day away from our computers, but on the drive home I saw something very disturbing. On I-26, between Cosgrove Avenue and the Montague Avenue exit, there were six billboard signs in a row promoting McDonald’s frozen strawberry lemonade drink. Six billboards needed to show a lemon and a strawberry coming together to make one drink. That’s insane.

I hate billboards, but I realize some are informative to travelers, but this is not information – this was insane. Are people that stupid that they don’t know what you would get when you put lemons and strawberries together in a drink?

I drive into McDonald’s on occasion, but I won’t be doing it while those six billboards are there.

Now, if someone knows the phone number to the numb-nut who is in charge of McDonald’s advertising – we’d be happy to sell them an ad on every one of our pages – of every issue. Just think what a statement that would make. But don’t wait for it. We don’t let anyone advertise whatever they like in our papers. It has cost us at times, but anything and everything doesn’t go at Carolina Arts.

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Truth Be Told About Spoleto Festival USA – Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

I found these two quotes from Nigel Redden in an interview from the Reuters News Service about funding cuts to the arts on the internet. They are the first quotes I’ve seen with some truth told about the festival mixed in with a little wishful thinking.

The first quote is the wishful thinking on the financial impact of the festival: “Those cuts have come despite the fact that the Spoleto Festival brings between $55 million and $70 million to South Carolina each year,” Redden said.

$55 to $70 million – that’s quite a spread there. But, if this was true, the hotels, restaurants, and airlines should put up most of the $7.5 million budget for the festival – they’re the ones that would benefit the most. But those numbers come from economic formulas – not hard numbers. It’s economic guessing.

The second quote was the truth part: “The festival draws 25,000 to 35,000 people to the coastal city, and they buy 73,000 performance tickets and spend money on hotels, food, merchandise and tourist attractions,” he said.

Finally, we get the truth about how many people the festival attracts each year. They used to repeat this phrase until every reporter had it ingrained in their vocabulary when talking about Spoleto. “The Spoleto Festival attracts 100,000 people each year to Charleston and generates $70 million in economic impact”.

One year I called the box office after the festival was over and asked how many tickets they sold. The answer was around 70,000. Very interesting.

Unless 30,000 people were getting free admission, that was a long way from 100,000. There are a lot of folks who get given free tickets, but you have to be someone of fame, power, or at least have influence over funding. I knew there were very few people who come to Charleston to just attend one event. I also knew that a lot of locals go to Spoleto events. So, it wasn’t hard to figure that the real number was closer to 25,000 people coming to Charleston for the festival and it could even be less than that. It could be as little as 10,000 people coming from out of town to attend Spoleto events and if you start thinking about how many people come from towns and cities not too far from Charleston, but are in-State residents – the number could even get smaller.

There is a good reason Spoleto starts its festival every year during the Memorial Day Weekend. Charleston will be full of people that weekend and it makes it look like they’re all here for Spoleto, but if you ask people on the streets if they are here for Spoleto, 9 out of 10 won’t be and 7 of those won’t even know what Spoleto is. The festival has contracted the College of Charleston to do surveys, but what that means is positioning students in front of Spoleto venues before performances and asking folks going in the doors if they’re here for Spoleto – it’s very scientific.

Don’t get me wrong, we’re lucky to have the Spoleto Festival, but it has been over-sold for years as far as its impact on the economy and the city of Charleston. And, 10,000 well-off folks spending money in Charleston is nothing to throw away. But the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, a visual art event, says they attract the same number of people, if not more, and have the same economic impact, if not more – and it’s an extended weekend compared to the three weeks of Spoleto. Of course its audience might be considered a little less refined. But they spend big bucks all the same.

Frankly, all events like this embellish the numbers on attendance and economic impact – they have to in order to attract donations and sponsorships. It’s the American way. We can’t be happy with reality – we have to be BIGGER than life.

It was refreshing to see the truth said for once – even if it was in an interview not seen in any local or regional papers. They’re all still repeating the original phrase of 100,000 visitors/$70 million impact.

Of course Spoleto could improve those numbers – if they actually put a visual art component back into the festival. But because they have no place they can present such visual arts and charge admission – they’re not interested. But it would attract more donations, more press coverage, and more people interested in visual art events.

Of course without the Spoleto Festival USA there would be no Piccolo Spoleto Festival – the “little” festival with its overkill of 700 plus events. And, without Piccolo there would be no cover for the City of Charleston to inject more funding into local performing art groups – who are paid to participate – here, there, and everywhere.

Talk about affirmative action and art welfare – Piccolo Spoleto is the poster child for propping up art groups who operate in the red constantly. And after June 11 – they will disappear until September when and if they can afford to present a “season” once more. I think of them as the part-time arts community, but with benefits. Except for the underpaid musicians of the Charleston Symphony who have to be the cheapest professionals on the planet – I’m not sure you should be able to call yourself a professional when your income is way below the poverty level.

So what’s my point in all this? It’s very simple.

The visual art community in Charleston is the real economic engine in this area and they get very little support or respect from the local, state, and national government sectors. They’re offering the arts all year long – in most cases for free. There is no “season” for the visual arts community. Sure, some times of the year are busier than others, but the show goes on no matter what.

So, maybe it’s time to concentrate on giving the visual art community some support, which will deliver a bigger economic payoff for the community, instead of pouring money down a black hole in trying to support arts groups who will always be a drain on the resources of the community.

But, then again, when I think that we have the same leadership in the arts community that we’ve had for the last 20-30 years – I know nothing is going to change.

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Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit Begins This Friday in Marion Square in Charleston, SC – May 27, 2011

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

That’s right – it all begins again Friday – the Iron Man/Iron Woman competition of the arts. Seventeen days of whatever Mother Nature can dish out; the daily set up and take down; a marathon of questions from visitors; the overheard comments meant to be heard about your art; and the endless wait for some thief to do their thing during the night – so the show can get some publicity in the daily paper.

Why? Yes, indeed, why would people put themselves through such a test of will? Simply said – they are visual artists – they can’t help themselves. Plus – if things go right – you can make a lot of money in seventeen days. But it won’t happen to everyone and there is always the chance that it won’t happen for anyone. But they keep lining up every year to do it again – some for the first time, some for their 20th time, and for a few – they can’t remember when they didn’t do this show. So, what does that tell you? There must be something about doing this show.

Oh, I’ve heard about the wild parties that go on, the mistaken sales of works that were had for 1/2 off, just because an artist got confused in marking their works. One year it was said that an artist did really well in sales, but lost all their profits in a game of Hearts. Another year a female artist refused to miss the show and a doctor from Atlanta passing by their tent ended up delivering twins on the spot. He also purchased a fairly large painting. I’ve even heard that Charleston’s SWAT team does it’s nighttime training in Marion Square during the run of the show.

I think these stories are just a bunch of lies, rumors and urban myths – but I’ve heard some things that I know are true, but I’m sworn to secrecy. It’s one of those things that you have to experience for yourself before you’ll believe it.

I’ve got the “official” press release here, but I wanted you to get a look see – behind the curtain and tell you to read between the lines. There’s much more going on here than the “official” word. They want you to think that just because it’s free you can afford to pass this show up out of the hundreds of events being offered during the two festivals. But, I ask, “Can you?” (wink, wink)

Don’t say I didn’t give you a heads up.

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit Begins This Friday in Marion Square in Charleston, SC – May 27, 2011

The 2011 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit will take place once again in Marion Square Park in historic downtown Charleston, SC, from May 27 through June 11, 2011, 10am-6pm.

The event is an official program of The City of Charleston’s Office of Cultural Affairs, under the direction of Ellen Dressler Moryl. The show is coordinated by Billie Sumner and Victoria Platt Ellis. Over 100 of South Carolina’s best visual artists will set up tents filled with art in a variety of media in the park which can be found between King and Meeting Streets at the intersection of Calhoun Street.

This annual outdoor art exhibition is one of the most popular free events taking place during Piccolo Spoleto Festival and Spoleto Festival USA, visited by thousands of art lovers and art collectors. The exhibit offers something for everyone’s artistic flavor, along with the opportunity to meet and talk with the artists.

The event begins at 10am on the morning of May 27, 2011, but the artists will be in anticipation of the 4:30pm Awards Presentation, where Charleston’s Mayor Joe Riley and Ellen Dressler Moryl will announce the winners selected by this year’s juror, Juan Logan of Chapel Hill, NC.

Daily art demonstrations will take place at 11am and 2:30pm, May 29 – June 10, with the exception of the first demo which starts at 1pm on May 29.

The schedule includes:
Sunday, May 29 at 1pm – Steven Jordan (Portrait)
Monday, May 30 at 11am – Bette Lu Bentley-Layne (Acrylic) and at 2:30pm – Alice Stewart Grimsley (Watercolor)
Tuesday, May 31 at 11am – Scott Henderson (Photography) and at 2:30pm – Kent Ambler (Woodcut Carving)
Wednesday, June 1 at 11am – Alvin B. Glen (Mixed Media) and at 2:30pm – Rick Reinert (Oil)
Thursday, June 2 at 11am – Deborah Meyer (Oil) and at 2:30pm – Detta Zimmerman (Acrylic)
Friday, June 3 at 11am – Joyce Hall (Oil) and at 2:30pm – Russell Buskirk (Pastel)
Saturday, June 4 at 11am – Laurie Meyer (Oil) and at 2:30pm – J. Carol Gardner (Mixed Media)
Sunday, June 5 at 11am – Madeline Dukes (Oil Sticks) and at 2:30pm – Kevin LePrince (Oil)
Monday, June 6 at 11am – Sherry Browne (Paper Cuts) and at 2:30pm – Michael Nocher (Photography)
Tuesday, June 7 at 11am – Steve Jacobs (Watercolor Basics with Paper Stretching) and at 2:30pm – Joanna Jackson (Oil)
Wednesday, June 8 at 11am – Nancy Davidson (Pastel) and at 2:30pm – Carl Crawford (Collage Illusions)
Thursday, June 9 at 11am – Hilarie Lambert (Oil) and at 2:30pm – Lynne Hardwick (Mixed Media)
Friday, June 10 at 11am – Amelia Whaley (Watercolor).


Work by Amelia “Mimi” Whaley

This year, social media will have a major impact on the Outdoor Art Exhibit. For years Amelia (Mimi) Whaley has been blogging daily from the park on her personal blog (http://www.mimispaintingaday.blogspot.com/) starting after the first day of the festival. This year she is setting up a Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibit group blog (http://psoaeblog.blogspot.com/) where several people will be adding their observations from the park. You can even log onto the Outdoor Art Exhibit’s Facebook page at this link (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Piccolo-Spoleto-Outdoor-Art-Exhibit-2011/154715674583540).

For further information contact the Office of Cultural Affairs at 843/724-7305 or visit (http://www.charlestonarts.sc/) or (www.piccolospoleto.com).

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibitors by Space # &    Name:

1 – Danny O’Driscoll
2 – Steve Jacobs
3 – Sandra Phillips
4 – Dianne Munkittrick
5 – Deborah Meyer
6 – Thomas Greaves
7 – Stephanie Shuler Hamlet
8 – Ron Anton Rocz
9 – J.Carol Gardner
10 – Peggy Howe
11 – Sarah Kargol
12 – Karen Hewitt Hagan
13 – Sabine Avcalade
14 – Nancy W. Rushing
15 – Colleen Critcher
16 – Amelia Rose Smith
17 – Elizabeth R. Middour
18 – Alana M. Knuff
19 – Michael Nocher
20 – Carl Crawford
21 – Pat Forsberg
22 – Joyce Hall
23 – Marie Scott
24 – Kathy Clark


Work by Andrea “Dre” Neff

25 – Andrea “Dre” Neff
26 – Jim Victor
27 – Bob Graham
28 – Guy Stevens
29 – Kaye Penegar
30 – Honor Marks
31 – Steven Jordan
32 – Judith Chamberlin
33 – Elaine Berlin
34 – Susan H. Colwell
35 – Helen Duckworth
36 – Alice Stewart Grimsley
37 – Lynne N. Hardwick
38 – Jane Jackson
39 – Melinda Lewin
40 – Kellie Jacobs
41 – Christine Crosby
42 – Madison Latimer
43 – Suzanne Sasser
44 – Tate Nation
45 – Daryl Knox
46 – Vicki Gates
47 – Nancy Davidson
48 – Anita Blewer
49 – Sandra Baggette
50 – Alicia Leeke


Work by Michel McNinch

51 – Michel McNinch


Work by Steve Neff

52 – Steve Neff
53 – Dwain Ray
54 – Mary Segers
55 – Carole Carberry
56 – Colleen Wiessmann
57 – Scott Henderson
58 – Floyd Gordon
59 – Joanne Evans
60 – Kathy Crowther


Work by Tami Cardnella

61 – Tami Cardnella
62 – Robin Brizard
63 – Kent Ambler
64 – Chris Rutigliano
65 – Judy Clark
66 – Craig Williams
67 – Jan Sasser
68 – Diane Odachowski
69 – John Michiels
70 – Alvin B. Glen
71 – Bette Lu Bentley-Layne
72 – Richard A. Johnson
73 – Sharon Fowler
74 – William Davies
75 – Jan Genosi
76 – Julie Lawrence
77 – Alison Weick
78 – Bonnie M. Stabler
79 – Fred Jamar
80 – Sherry Browne
81 – Joanna Jackson
82 – Amelia Whaley
83 – Katherine Dutremble
84 – Sheryl Stalnaker
85 – Cat Wondergem
86 – Vicki Robinson
87 – Kevin LePrince
88 – Rana Jordahl
89 – KC Collins
90 – Jennifer Black & Madeline Dukes
91 – J. Michael Kennedy
92 – Caryn Smith
93 – Danita Cole
94 – Rick Reinert
95 – Tammy Papa
96 – Jack Thames, Sr.
97 – Russell Buskirk
98 – Diane Dean
99 – Tiffany Maser
100 – Betty Condon
101 – Laurie Meyer
102 – Scott Penegar
103 – Detta Cutting Zimmerman
104 – Hilarie Lambert
105 – Nance Lee Sneddon
and of course Vicki Ellis will have a tent which is the show’s headquarters near the corner of Meeting and Calhoun Streets and another tent in the same location will feature works by Monnie Johnson, the husband of Vicki’s assistant, Lesley Johnson.

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A Visit to Downtown Charleston, SC’s Art Walks – May 6, 2011

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Even though I haven’t been to many art walks in Charleston lately, it’s still our backyard as far as art communities go. I don’t know everyone there now and many don’t know me, but for a lot of the folks who have been there more than a few years, it’s hard for Linda and I to just slip into a gallery and not be spotted. Gallery owners and artists seem to gravitate to us – one because we’re friends with a lot of these folks – at least we feel we are, and two, we haven’t seen most of these folks – face to face in a long time. So we’re like a blast for the past.

It would be nice to do an art walk and not be working, but the nature of these events is always social/working. I want to write the trip up for our blog and they hope I’ll write it up – everyone needs publicity. The problem in Charleston is we know and meet so many people we want to talk to that I end up doing more talking than taking photos. So, I have some images to not make this blog all words, but in no way all that I should have. I’m sorry for that. We got some from the galleries or their websites.

I’ll refresh people’s memory of the weather on May 6, 2011, in the Charleston area. A forecast called for scattered showers, but it seem to be raining most of the day up here in Bonneau, the headquarters of Shoestring Publishing Company on the shore of Lake Moultrie. And just as it was about time to leave, the rain came down hard, but the weather wizards said the system would clear out of the area by 6pm. This time I was hoping they were right. It rained pretty hard all the way to Charleston’s borders, but as we crossed that border the rain stopped and the sky opened up.

By the time we found the same parking space I used in visiting the April art walk, the sun was shinning. Thanks to whoever saved it for us. The rain had cleared the air and cooled it down to a very pleasant 75 degrees. We’ve had some great weather as far as temps go lately – although dangerous at times.  At least there weren’t any tornado warnings on May 6.

Our first stop, due to location, was Nina Liu and Friends, at 24 State Street. The gallery is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. The exhibit being presented that evening was Defining Moments, featuring works by Susie Miller Simon of Colorado, on view through June 30, 2011. Simon couldn’t be there for this opening, but will come in a few weeks.

Nina Liu’s gallery is spread throughout three levels in her home – which is still up for sale – if anyone is interested in living in the heart of Charleston’s French Quarter district and wants to also have a gallery – or not. She’ll sell – either way. Liu is hopping to retire one day to the home she has waiting in Mexico – someday. But, we’re not in any hurry to see her go.

We noticed something strange going on. People were coming into the gallery, saying hi as they passed by, heading upstairs. Liu noticed the strange look on our faces and explained that they were regulars to her openings and they know the food and drink is upstairs. I rolled my eyes, thinking to myself that they could have at least glanced at the works in the exhibit before – running upstairs, but it doesn’t seem to bother her as another group zoomed by. Her food is very popular.


Work by Susie Miller Simon

Simon’s works give reference to imagery of the Southwestern United States – a million miles from Lowcountry art, which is refreshing at times and I’m sure a reason why her works are so popular here. I’ve included an image, that I’m sure wasn’t in this exhibit. I got it off the Internet just to give you an idea of what the work is like. But you’ll see some images like this and some very different, but you’ll be able to tell it came from Simon.

It was reassuring to see some of those folks who rushed upstairs eventually filtered down to see the exhibit, one even asking about the price of a work found upstairs. A good time for us to move on.

For the second month in a row, I was focused on going to Smith-Killian Fine Art, at 9 Queen Street, at the corner of Queen & State Streets. Last month it was to see an exhibit by Shannon Smith and this month to see “abstract” works by her mother, Betty Anglin Smith, as well as works by a very strong group of SC’s contemporary artists including: Carl Blair, Eva Carter, Matt Overend, Laura Spong, Leo Twiggs and Scott Upton. The exhibit, Contemporary Carolinas – an Invitational Exhibition, will be on view through June 12, 2011.


Works by Laura Spong (L) and Leo Twiggs (R)

The week before we had talked with Laura Spong at Vista Studios in Columbia, SC, during Artista Vista (read about it at this link) and knew she would be there. And, I was hoping to see and talk with Carl Blair, whom I haven’t seen in a while. Blair, was the one and only member of the Commission of the SC Arts Commission who listened to my complaints and tried to do something about them. The one and only! A true arts leader in SC – a rare exception. Unfortunately he didn’t make the trip from Greenville, SC.

That’s OK – I’ll take the hugs from Betty, Eva, and Laura any day.


Work by Eva Carter

In my opinion, the day William Halsey passed on, Eva Carter became Charleston’s top “abstract” artist, if not one of the best in SC. After closing up her gallery a few years ago, this was the first of her work in an exhibit in Charleston. Although she has now opened a studio just around the corner from her old gallery, at 16 Gillon Street, we haven’t been able to catch her there when we were in Charleston – so we were also looking forward to seeing and talking with her and seeing what she was painting these days.

But, the real kicker in this show was to see more “abstract” paintings by Betty Anglin Smith. I mentioned in my write up of the April 2011 art walk in Charleston that we saw an unexpected work – an abstract painting by Betty at Shannon Smith’s show. We loved the work and I wanted to see if it was a one hit wonder or if we have a new abstract artists in town. Folks – we weren’t disappointed.


Work by Betty Anglin Smith

Of course as Betty put it – she’s not quitting her day job of painting landscapes – just yet. We all know there’s a smaller audience for “abstract” art in the Carolinas. But, every day we see more of it all the time – and that means more people are buying it. I tip my hat to Smith Killian Fine Art for taking the risk to present such a show – during the Spoleto Festival season in Charleston. I hope it pays off for them – so they can do it again. I know I could have spent a good bit of my lottery winnings there that evening. Now all I have to do is win one.

This was a great show of works from some of SC’s best artists, not painting what most people expect to see when they go to Charleston to see or buy art. But, I’ve always said there is a lot of this kind of art being made in Charleston – you just have to work a little to find it.

What a good time to transition over to Corrigan Gallery, located at 62 Queen Street – one of those places you won’t find what some people call “Charleston” art. But, you will find plenty of art made by Charleston artists. The exhibit, Egg Meditations, the continuation of a ten year exploration by Yvette Dede, was being presented. The exhibit will be on view through May 31, 2011. I swear it’s been that long – ten years since I’ve seen work by Dede on view in Charleston. At one time she ran Print Studio South, which eventually turned into the Redux Contemporary Arts Center (which hasn’t sent a press release about its May/June exhibit yet). But, that’s what happens when you become an adjunct college professor. You spend more time teaching than exhibiting.


Works by Yvette Dede

For regular readers of my views on art – presentation is a big factor with me and this exhibit was a top notch example of how to present a cohesive group of works – in this case based on the egg shape. Dede made special frames for her small works and in the intimate space at Corrigan Gallery they looked fantastic. I’m talking about the presentation of the art. I really don’t care what the wall looks like or the floor – as long as they don’t distract the viewer from the art, and in that case – that’s a bigger problem for the artist. There’s nothing wrong with the wall or floors at Corrigan Gallery – I’m just saying well presented art can look good in someone’s cluttered basement.


Works by Yvette Dede

After checking out all the variations Dede presented, we checked out some of the other works being displayed at the gallery and I came across a work which really fooled me at first in an alcove between the two main rooms of the gallery.  There was a large abstract work on one wall – blue and red. You know how I like abstracts. When I got close enough to see who the artist was,  I was, well not totally surprised, but embarrassed that it was by a good friend of ours -  John Moore. I’ve seen a lot of Moore’s abstract photographs, but for some reason this image didn’t click, I was seeing it from the side and I had just looked through some of his works in a stack and this just fooled me at first.


Work by John Moore

The real joke here is that Moore and I have talked a million times about the fact that it’s too bad he presents his work as photographs – more people would buy them if they were presented as paintings. A sad fact but true. And, the real tragedy is that many people think they are Photoshopped, but these are the real deal. He finds these outrageous colors – in man-made materials touched by nature. And, to top it off – Moore is color blind. Figure that one out and you can help me pick lottery numbers.

Moore is a purest, he doesn’t manipulate his images and he doesn’t want to fool people into thinking these are not photos just for the sake of sales. He just has a good eye, takes his time before he clicks the shutter and knows how to get the best out of his equipment and when the light is right. That’s the real art of photography.

After Linda coaxed me off the soapbox, our next stop was Horton Hayes Fine Art, at 30 State Street. We wanted to see what Mark Horton was painting these days. The gallery also shows works by Nancy Hoerter, Shannon Runquist, Bjorn Runquist and Chris Groves – all skilled painters. Now, I guess these works don’t fit the classic description of “Charleston” art in that although they are landscapes of the Lowcountry and still lifes – I just think of them as master works. You just want to be in these places put on canvas. You can feel them – smell them. We didn’t talk to anyone here – it was too crowded.


Work by Mark Horton

Seeing the works at Horton Hayes made me want to go check out Mickey Williams Studio-Gallery, the next street over at 132 E. Bay Street, at the corner of East Bay and Broad Street. This was our old hangout, once the office for IF Labs, then for Carolina Arts newspaper and Carolina Arts Gallery. I spent many a day and night in that space. It survived Hurricane Hugo as if it was just a thunder storm. This was also Eva Carter’s old gallery space.


Work by Mickey Williams

Williams paints some incredible Lowcountry landscapes. I wanted to go by and see his works and talk to him about facebook. Sometimes I get on facebook by 7am and most days by then Williams has been on for several hours – talking about the birds in his back yard, his garden or the colors in the morning sky. He’s like the good morning guy in the Charleston facebook family – which is funny – as he, like me, is technology challenged. But, he’s got facebook down to a science. I called him and asked him to send me a photo – he had to check with his wife. Sound familiar? We’re two peas in an iPod. We embrace technology – we just don’t know how to make it work.

Our last stop was at Lowcountry Artists Ltd, at 148 E. Bay Street. Their next exhibit is The Power of Glass, featuring blown glass  by Robbie Clair and etched and fused glass by Steve Hazard which will be on view from May 28 through June 11, 2011. This gallery has almost doubled in size since the last time I was in it. As a co-op gallery it has also seen many changes in the group of artists currently showing on the walls.

Another space where we could slip in and get a good look at the art first. Of course we knew some of the artists by name or work and there were a few surprises – like seeing works by Patsy Tidwell on the wall. Her gallery was one of the mainstays of the Charleston art community, but she sold it a few years ago and now it’s closed. I’m sure she is enjoying life now creating artwork vs. trying to sell other artists’ works. It’s not easy running a gallery as an artist – even when you’re doing it as a co-op of artists.

Another surprise was seeing works by Jason Luck, a Seagrove potter who has moved to Charleston. Those Seagrove potters are everywhere. Well they’re not really – but their work seems to be getting everywhere. But, you really have to go to Seagrove, NC, for Seagrove pottery. The chamber of commerce pays me to say that.


Work by Jackie Wukela

Because we didn’t have to answer a million questions as to how the paper is doing we finally got to eat some of the goodies being offered during the art walk. But, our anonymity could only last so long as I had questions I wanted to ask so we went up front and introduced ourselves to – who I felt sure was Jackie Wukela (due to facebook). She is typical of most of the folks we “know” through the paper. We’ve talked on the phone and e-mailed back and forth, but never met – face to face.

The minute we did this, Carolyn Epperly, who I’ve talked to many times at Tidwell’s Art Gallery, but not in a while, said “I thought you looked familiar.” Jackie Wukela and Lynda English, who are members of Lowcountry Artists Ltd. are also part of the visual art community in Florence, SC, where they live and have a gallery. So this was a twofer – we got to talk about Charleston and Florence’s art communities.

Before long the end of the art walk was on us and it was time to head back to Bonneau. On the ride home a few things struck me. We’ve been to two art walks in two months in Charleston and the art walks have changed – as have the galleries and artists who fill them with works since the days when we went to every one of them.

Charleston’s visual art community is moving away from what many people have tagged it as being for years, a city of artists who are in love with the city, a bad rap in my opinion. Sure there is lots of “tourist” art here to be had – it’s what most tourists want and Charleston is a tourist town, but the artists have moved on to creating what they want – hoping that the more discriminating visitors will want to take that art home. And, a good number of the artworks are being made by artists who live elsewhere – all over the US. The so called “Charleston” art is no longer a novelty – it’s now moved into the realm of novelties – souvenirs.

And, the art walks as I knew them have also changed. There was a time when an art walk in the French Quarter was a near festival – one big party event. I used to equate them to going to the Mall during Christmas – you’d run into everyone you haven’t seen since the last one there, but not so these days. There is an art walk every month in Charleston and most galleries stay open whether they’re in the group hosting it or not. So, it’s not such a special occasion any more. Still, lots of people go to them and enjoy them, but if it rains a little it’s easy to say – I’ll just go to the next one.

Of course my memories are from the 1990′s – what I call the golden age of the visual arts in the Carolinas. It might not be fair to make comparisons to current times – an age where many people are attacking the arts to gain political points and the economy has suffered one blow after another.

I for one am glad to be able to go to them again, but it might be some time before I go to the next one. We’re a little exhausted at this point and there’s so much going on all over the Carolinas. If you don’t believe me – just check our paper out at (www.carolinaarts.com). See how long it takes you to get through it all – end to end.

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Could the Charleston Art Auction One Day Top $15 Million in Sales?

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011


Work by Elizabeth O’Neill Verner

A few weeks ago I posted an entry here about our day on April 1, April Fool’s day and I mentioned that one of the professionals at Morris & Whiteside Galleries on Hilton Head Island, SC, had called to remind me it was April Fools day – while in the middle of an art auction in Scottsdale, AZ, which ended up selling over 15 million dollars of art. I was amazed that they could find such time to call me, but later was honored to have them pull my leg in the middle of such an event.

A reader e-mailed asking if they could move that auction here. I replied that they are already here, but have not reached the 15 million mark here – yet. This e-mail prompted me to ask Jack A. Morris, Jr. with the Charleston Art Auction and Scottsdale Art Auction to send us some info about what’s going on with these auctions. And he did.

I just want to add one point to the info Morris sent. Although the Charleston Art Auction takes place in Charleston, SC, this auction is a Southern event and an East of the Mississippi event. If you have some significant artworks that you would like to turn into cash and you’re reading this from North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, or even Rhode Island – give these folks a call. If you have works by Will Henry Stevens, George Biddle, Alfred Herber Hutty, Elizabeth O’Neill Verner, William Aiken Walker, – just to name a few – give them a call. You might also have works by regional artists still living that could bring you a nice return on your investment – who knows – give them a call.

One final point about Jack A, Morris. When you read that he was once head of the SC Arts Commission, that was the board and it was back in the 1970′s when the commission was more concerned with the arts in SC, not their image among other state arts agencies.

Charleston Art Auction


Work by Alfred Herber Hutty

A licensed auctioneer for over twenty-five years, Morris has organized sales in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and South Carolina.  He is the organizing partner of Scottsdale Art Auction that recently sold over fifteen million dollars of American western, wildlife and sporting art on April 2, 2011. His roots, however, are in the South.  He was born in Macon, GA, educated at the University of South Carolina, is a former chairman of the South Carolina Arts Commission and author of the book, Contemporary Art of South Carolina.

For Morris, it is about creating an active secondary market to support collectors, galleries and others who need a trading center for fine art in Charleston similar to Sothebys, Christies and other auction houses scattered throughout the country. His partners, Ben Whiteside, Joe Sylvan and David Leahy have over fifty years combined experience in the auction business.

The plan is to establish Charleston Art Auction in the East to complement western auctions such as Scottsdale Art Auction, Coeur d’Alene Art Auction and Jackson Hole Art Auction. “We want to become an effective clearing house for those who need to sell paintings and sculpture by established artists,” said Sylvan “and most professional retail galleries are not set up to provide that service.”

“It is a building process that takes several years,” added Whiteside “and, as we enter our seventh year, we are confident we have the essentials in place to provide that service.” Conducted on the same weekend that Charleston Fine Art Dealers hold their Charleston Fine Art Annual, the auction draws collectors from throughout the United States and those buyers also help stimulate the local gallery economy.  The event has been sold out every year with standing room only and the auction this year will be held in a new, larger location at the Double Tree Hotel on Church Street on Saturday, November 5, 2011.


Work by Shannon Smith

The nationally advertised sale already holds auction records for Jonathan Green, Mary Whyte, Pino and Ray Ellis, among others. Charleston galleries have also found the venue a great opportunity to showcase some of their emerging artists and begin to establish sale records on internet sites such as AskArt and ArtNet.

The auction has a website, (www.charlestonartauction.com) and live bidding is available on the internet and through a phone bank of six operators at the sale. The auction is conducted by nationally acclaimed auctioneer, Gerald Bowie and attendees have described the evening event as “exciting and entertaining.” Bidders have learned that they have to be on their toes with lots selling at the rate on one per minute, Bowie doesn’t waste any time. Consignments are now being accepted for the 2011 auction. For more information, visit the Charleston Art Auction offices at 171 King Street, Charleston, SC, or call 843/842-4433 or 843/722-2172.

Scottsdale Art Auction


Work by Thomas Moran

There was standing room only for an eager crowd of Western art collectors in the Scottsdale Art Auction sales room on Saturday, April 2, 2011, in Scottsdale, AZ. When the hammer fell on the last of 411 items offered, sales totaled over $15,250,000.00.

Top lot for the auction was Thomas Moran’s oil, Indian Summer, Green River, WY (estimated at $3,500,000 to $5,500,000) that was fiercely contested by two telephone bidders before it fetched $4,159,000 to a buyer in the room. Other lots of special interest included Frederic Remington’s 27 inches by 40 inches oils, Pretty Mother of the Night-White Otter is No Longer a Boy, (estimated at $1,500,000 to $ 2,500,000) that brought $1,583,000 and The Wolves Sniffed Along the Trail but Came No Nearer, (estimated at $800,000 to $1,200,000) that reached $1,471,000; Charles M. Russell’s 20 ¼ inches by 30 inches watercolor, Turning the Leader, (estimated at $150,000 to $250,000) hammered down for $460,000.

The morning session was highlighted by G. Harvey’s cover painting, Mountain Mist, oil, 38 inches by 30 inches (estimated at $50,000 to $75,000) that brought $103,500 and Wet Weather Morning, oil, 20 inches by 16 inches (estimated at $15,000 to $20,000) that sold for $27,600.  With 90% of the first session lots selling to an enthusiastic crowd the stage was set for an afternoon featuring works by the Taos Founders, Cowboy Artists of America and legendary paintings and sculpture by Russell, Remington and Moran.

Notable achievements included Bert Phillips’ 24 inches by 20 inches oil, Song of the Yellow Flower, (estimated at $250,000 to $350,000) that sold for $322,000; Ernest Blumenschein’s White Sun, 20 inches by 16 inches, oil (estimated at $250,000 – $350,000) that brought $287,500 and a small, 10 inches by 7 inches oil by William Gollings (estimated at $40,000 – $60,000) that fetched $80,500.

Among contemporary Western masters, Tom Lovell stunned the crowd with Bad Face Strategy, oil, 24 inches by 36 inches (estimated at $125,000 – $175,000) that sold for $402,500 and Lewis and Clark Keep Their Journals, a 20 inches by 36 inches oil (estimated at $100,000 – $150,000) that brought $253,000. Other contemporary paintings of note included Howard Terpning’s Blackfeet Among the Aspens, oil, 46 inches by 26 inches (estimated at $225,000 $325,000) that hammered for $281,750; Robert Griffing’s Into the Unknown, oil, 30 inches by 50 inches (estimated at $60,000 – $90,000) that hit $161,000 and Melvin Warren’s A Cold Day on the North Bosque, oil, 36 inches by 60 inches (estimated at $70,000 – $90,000) that brought $149,500. John Coleman led all sculptors when his Explorer Artist Series, complete set of ten bronzes (estimated at $225,000 to $275,000) reached $299,000 and Frederic Remington’s iconic Bronco Buster, (estimated at $75,000 to $125,000) sold for $138,000.

With 86% of the 411 items sold, seventy-five lots exceeded the high estimate and the total sale exceeded the total low estimates by 18%. Over 400 potential bidders in the room and a telephone bank of 10 operators keep auctioneer Troy Black on his toes for over six hours.  Scottsdale Art Auction has clearly emerged the leader among auction houses for American Western, sporting and wildlife art.

For a complete list of all sales results visit (www.scottsdaleartauction.com). Sale date for 2012 has been set for Saturday, March 31, 2012.

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The Day of April Fools and the Broad Street Art Walk in Charleston, SC

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

April 1st for us started on March 31, 2011, at about 10:15pm when we loaded up the April 2011 issue of Carolina Arts on our website at (www.carolinaarts.com) – all 71 pages of it. By midnight I had sent out an e-mail message to our growing list, posted notices on both our blogs, Carolina Arts Unleashed and Carolina Arts News, as well as making posts on our Facebook pages. At that point our job was done for another month and it was off to the races for May’s issue.

Well, we actually got to go to bed for a few hours. The morning was spent dealing with all the return e-mails, with comments, a few problems, and some congratulations. The day soon turned to the normal operating procedures – more e-mail, processing press releases and photos, and answering a few people’s questions who are already thinking about the May issue.

Unlike some publications that throw a party every time they produce an issue – we go back to work.

In the old days, I would be heading for bed by 4pm to get up about 10 or 11pm to head out on one of my delivery routes – driving all night from city to town to city, dropping off papers at the door fronts of galleries, museums, art centers and tourism welcome centers. By the afternoon I would be back at home – reload the car, pack my breakfast and lunch, head back to bed to start the cycle all over again for four days. But, these days, once the paper is finished and launched it’s just another day at the computer. I miss my trips, but I’m finding other ways to get my road miles in – like actually going to galleries, museums and art centers – while they are open and writing blog entries about what I saw there.

And one of the benefits of this change is that Linda and I were going to be able to go to our first First Friday art walk on Broad Street in downtown Charleston, SC. In the past, once every blue moon a first Friday might fall on the 6th or 7th of the month, but depending on when we got the printed paper – I could still be on the road, so we were not getting to many art walks. Which was a shame as we, through Charleston Arts, our first version of our arts newspaper helped start the thing off in Charleston.

Just before we were about to leave the house to head for Charleston I got a call from our biggest supporter, Morris Whiteside Galleries on Hilton Head Island, SC, which was strange as we knew they were in Scottsdale, AZ, for their annual art auction in that city. I can’t go into the call’s details, but it was about a BIG problem with the April issue and they weren’t too happy. I could see my biggest supporter slipping away, but within a few sentences I stopped my caller and asked if he wasn’t making a fool of me and he couldn’t hold it back. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for me I had read an e-mail earlier in the day which usually goes to Linda from one of the other partners and everything was fine. It also helped that they have tried these crank calls a few times before and after all it was April 1st – the foolin’ didn’t last too long.

He had me for a few seconds, but I’m a natural born skeptic and as my old priest said a long time ago – I was named well – after the apostle known as “Doubting Thomas”. He always said I asked too many questions.

The good news today as I’m writing this is that the Scottsdale auction did over $15 million in sales. That’s no joke. But, I have to say, it’s nice that everyone in the art world is not always so serious. People can be professional and serious and have fun too.

But getting back to Apr. 1st, after my heart rate returned to normal, we got in the car and headed toward Charleston, which is usually a little more than an hour’s ride from the headquarters of Carolina Arts on the shores of Lake Moultrie.

I was giving us an hour and a half for good measure and once we hit I-26 around North Charleston we soon realized we were going to be late. It was the Cooper River Bridge Run weekend – cars were stacked up flowing into downtown Charleston. We were trapped in the slow moving parking lot until we got to a spot where I could turn off the main roads – East Bay, Meeting, and King Streets (in this case King Street). But having lived in Charleston for a third of our lives in this area we soon got to the Broad Street area – 30-40 minutes before most other cars in those lines would weaving through the back streets. And, we found a good parking space to boot.

The first place I wanted to stop at was Smith Killian Fine Art, which is not on Broad Street and not part of the Broad Street art walk, but I knew they were having an opening for the exhibit, Intersections: Figurative Works by Shannon Smith, featuring a solo exhibition by gallery artist Shannon Smith, on view through Apr. 30, 2011. She is one of my favorite artists. I love the way she paints light.


Work by Shannon Smith from the exhibit.

But on the way, I noticed that the door was still open over at Nina Liu and Friends, a few doors down State Street from Smith Killian, so we stuck our heads in the door and as usual Nina Liu was showing off her new exhibit, Icons for Meditation, featuring works by papermaker Arthur McDonald, which wouldn’t officially open until Sunday, and would be on view through Apr. 30, 2011.

You see in Charleston, traditionally – things are done differently than anywhere else. Galleries are so condensed throughout the downtown area and parking is spread out throughout the downtown area that even if one area is having an art walk – all galleries in town may have their doors open and even when they are not open – people will knock on your door or ring your doorbell until you do open. If you’re downtown and you find a good parking space – you want to see all that you can.


Work by Arthur McDonald

In Nina Liu’s case – her gallery is officially open until 5pm on a Friday and at 6pm – she still wasn’t able to close her door as people just kept coming and going. Just when you think the last person was going – another couple or group would stick their head in the door – “Are you open?” As a veteran of 25 years of managing an art gallery in Charleston, Liu knew she had no choice and was even gracious enough to be running up and down her stairs to bring a glass of wine to unexpected visitors. This was an opportunity for people who might not come back to Charleston for a Sunday reception to see Arthur McDonald’s show and Liu has a reputation of going all out for her artists.


Work by Arthur McDonald

In fact, Liu actually retired two years ago and has been trying to sell her gallery/home in this historic district of Charleston, but in this housing market downturn has had no luck. Frankly, we don’t want her to leave, but if you would like to live in historic Charleston or would like to have a ready-made art gallery you could live in – give her a call at 843/722-2724. She’s had another home waiting for her for two years South of the Border. Perhaps you can help her leave, but like this evening – she just doesn’t seem to be able to close the door on this chapter of her life.

Soon we head back to the plan – Smith Killian Fine Art, the home to the most talented family in Charleston – Betty Anglin Smith, and her grown triplets – Jennifer Smith Rogers, Tripp Smith, and Shannon Smith. Tonight the spotlight was on Shannon. This exhibit was the first time an entire collection of oil paintings exploring the figure was being presented by this artist. And, with most of her works – it’s the glow of the lighting she paints which draws people to what might be considered ordinary scenes and subjects.

Before our stay at the gallery is finished I made the mistake which has probably been made a thousand times in addressing Jennifer as if she was Shannon. After all they are two of triplets, but it’s no big deal to them at this point in their lives. They’re both very attractive, talented and poised. Their mother taught them well. Tripp Smith – he’s easy to spot – he has a beard.


This is Jennifer Smith Rogers, not Shannon – notice her name tags – I didn’t.

It’s been a while since we’ve had the opportunity to socialize in Charleston’s gallery community so I was surprised to see a very abstract painting by Betty Anglin Smith. It seems mom still has a few tricks left to show us and if you’ve followed my writings you know how much I like abstract art. Betty does what might be called abstracted realism paintings – works with loose strokes, but plain enough to see what the work is, (Shannon’s works in this exhibit were like this too – abstracted realism) but in this case she had let loose and gone totally abstract.

Both Linda and I really liked this work, Currents III. My photo doesn’t do it justice. If you like abstracts, go see this fast before Linda and I find a way to put a second mortgage on the house.


Currents III by Betty Anglin Smith

I’m not trying to take any of the spotlight away from Shannon’s show – her works are fantastic and they’ll be moving out the door pretty fast too, but I just get excited when I see well done abstracts. Most people can’t see the beauty of abstracts – they want them to mean something or represent something – like the public expects from all art. They just can’t see and enjoy the combination of colors and strokes placed on a canvas. They’re always looking for something in what you might call missing the forest to see a tree. So, I admire an artist who ventures into the world of abstracts, knowing that the potential for sales is much lower and when they are done well – I can’t keep my eyes off them. I call it the curse of William Halsey, but I thank William every time I see a good abstract – his works opened my mind.

I might be getting off track here – what else is new, but I think this is a good time to say – Eva’s back! I’m referring to Eva Carter, another great abstract painter who closed her gallery in Charleston a few years ago to settle into painting at her Wadmalaw Island home and studio. I don’t blame her one bit, but she recently opened a small studio at 6 Gillon Street, just around the corner from where her gallery was on East Bay street – now the home of Mickey Williams Studio-Gallery. I haven’t been able to catch her there yet, but I will. Yes I will.

OK – Broad Street Art Walk. Broad Street, once the home to Charleston’s lawyer community has become the home of a dozen or so art galleries. The lawyers, who make too much money in my opinion, but thank your lucky stars if you know a good one when you need one, have grown out of most of the smaller Broad Street spaces and have moved to towering palaces throughout Charleston. These Broad Street galleries, most members of the French Quarter Gallery Association (started 18 years ago), decided that four art walks a year were not enough so they started presenting art walks every first Friday of the month, so that during some months the French Quarter Gallery Association and Broad Street Gallery Row art walks are happening at the same time and during the month of November, it’s the Gallery Row and the Charleston Fine Art Dealer’s Association sharing a first Friday art walk. It’s quite a gallery community that can host three gallery groups – all in a four square block area.

I see another side track ahead. I almost forgot to mention this, but when I was at Nina Liu and Friends, Liu handed me an old copy of Charleston Arts, Vol. 5, No. 11, our Mar. 1993 issue. I know the copy well. The headline is – “French Quarter Gallery Association Forms”. The article goes on to talk about how the group came together and that their first art walk would take place on May 14 and 15, 1993 (not a first Friday). I say I know it well like I know the history of the FQ. You see we helped the group get started, I designed it’s first logo, I used to layout their invitations and got them printed and distributed them to the galleries and around Charleston. We even ran free ads to promote the art walks for years. So some of you might be a little confused when I said in the previous paragraph that the FQ was only 18 years old.

You see, some folks decided to celebrate the FQ’s 2Oth anniversary a few years back. I didn’t make a big fuss about it then and I won’t now, but I wouldn’t take any part in it. The economy was crashing and they felt they needed a little boost to celebrate – hoping to bring people into the galleries. I wonder if they’ll do it again in 2013 or will they shoot for a 25th anniversary? I’ve told you before – running a gallery and keeping the doors open – is a tough business. And most art communities don’t have to deal with someone who has been around as long as I have and has an archive of accurate records of what took place – and when it took place. Most people writing about the arts today weren’t even here five or ten years ago. Most were still watching the Smurfs 20 years ago. That’s right, I’m old.

Nina Liu wants me to write a book about Carleston’s art community – more like a history of what was going on during the years we’ve been publishing an arts newspaper here. It would make for some interesting reading. A few chapters would be revealing, to say the least, and I might do it – when I retire.  But, until them – a few of you still have time to leave town before the truth is told. If you think I don’t pull any of my punches now – just wait. In Charleston, the truth is stranger than fiction.

Back on the main track. A few months back when we were making the transition from a printed newspaper to an electronic paper I was talking with Jerry Spencer of Spencer Art Galleries on Broad Street. He mentioned that it had been some time since he had seen me or Linda in their gallery, which was true – for good reasons as I have explained, so we definitely wanted to change that. He and his wife Catherine have two gallery spaces, next to each other on Broad – actually South of Broad – it’s a big difference being South of Broad, just read Pat Conroy’s book. They are both gallery owner/artists – which is a trick.

Outside one of their galleries was a musician playing a guitar. Music has become one of the differences between Gallery Row art walks and FQ art walks. It’s a nice way to stop people walking the sidewalks and get them to wonder what’s going on inside the galleries – if they didn’t know about the event ahead of time. In a tourist town – that happens a lot. People can be out just enjoying walking around the city – the next thing they know – they’re in a discussion about art and maybe having a glass of wine. But not at Spencer Art Gallery. They have made the decision to return the arts walks to – all about art – not tasting wine from gallery to gallery. And, I agree on that. The art walks were becoming an event where the art galleries were throwing a party for Charleston and College of Charleston students. It was becoming less about art and more about a party. That’s changing.

As usual, when viewing lots of art all in a short span of time, I’m drawn to what is different and unusual. It might be a disservice to all the good art I see along the way, but it’s just the way I am and at Spencer Art Gallery I found two artists who’s works stood out. It’s not that they were better than others. All art is subjective to the beholder, but some items catch your attention more than others for one reason or another. The first was a display of fine art prints by Pat Van de Graff. I just don’t see fine art prints much in galleries. You see lots of paintings, crafts, and sculptures, but not that many prints. At least I don’t see them that often. I’m not talking about reproduction prints of original paintings, I’m talking about images made by fine art printing processes. Van de Graff was showing some very nice works and some other folks were in agreement with me as some were being sold – right in front of me.

The other artist who caught my eye was Uriv Petrov, a Russian immigrant who now lives in Myrtle Beach, SC. I’d swear I’ve seen his work before, but I can’t put my finger on it. It will come to me next week in the middle of doing something else.

My photos again don’t do justice, but the works are very colorful and the imagery and patterns of the works just seem to jump off the canvas into your eyes. They demand attention and the style and technique is different – something hard to pull off in a region full of talented, creative artists. Perhaps his edge is coming from a different environment – a different school of thought when it comes to art. But, this artist was untrained – maybe that was the key.

Anyway, it was a long eventful day, capping off a very long work week for us and we were headed to Myrtle Beach, early the next day, so we headed back to Bonneau.

If Linda and I could break away from our busy schedules to go see some art – so can you. You don’t have to wait for an art walk.

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A March Through SC’s Pee Dee Area – Viewing Exhibits Here, There, and Everywhere – Part One

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Linda, my better half, and I planned a grand trek to see numerous exhibits on Friday, March 18, 2011, with the end stop being the reception for the Photofabulous exhibit, the largest collection of photography on display in SC, at the Art Trail Gallery in Florence, SC, which started at 5:30pm.

The master plan was to leave Bonneau, SC, the headquarters of Carolina Arts, and head toward Sumter, SC, to see the exhibits at the Sumter County Gallery of Art, which opened at 11am. So we left at 9am to make sure we were there on time.

From Sumter it would be a mad dash to Hartsville, SC, to squeeze in the door of the Black Creek Arts Center which closed at 1pm. That meant we had to leave Sumter before noon and hope we didn’t get stuck behind a farmer on his tractor on a winding two-lane road. While in Hartsville we would also take in the exhibit at Coker College.

From Hartsville, we would move on to Darlington, SC, to check out a couple of commercial galleries and then move on to Florence for the BIG show.

That was the plan.

To Linda’s credit, who worked a 12 hour shift on Thursday, we were driving away from our headquarters by 8:58am – a good sign. And as it turned out we arrived in Sumter a lot earlier than I expected. It’s been a few years since Sumter was on our delivery route and I expect to travel slower during the day than at night. So we had bonus time in Sumter.

No problem – we headed over to USC-Sumter to the University Gallery, located in the Anderson Library, to see Doni Jordan’s exhibit, doni jordan: tomes, on view through April 12, 2011.

When you see one image that is sent to you to represent an exhibit, it can really taint your expectations of what you will see. The written words in a press release can fill in some of the blanks, but not much. I had the impression that the exhibit would be different combinations of old printer type in window boxes – not so. There was plenty of that but much more.

I took a few photos, but the gallery space has museum lighting – which is good for getting up close to works but not good for photography and when works are behind glass or Plexiglas – flash photography is just another problem.

Part of the exhibit was a display of old typewriters – which could be considered museum pieces now, since most people under 25 probably haven’t seen many around. It won’t be long before computer keyboards are in the same boat.

In fact, many things in this exhibit will age the person who recognizes the items included. A lot of the items assembled are no longer used – replaced by new technology or soon will be – including the books which may have been made using these old tools of typography. But, Jordan makes creative use of them in making statements in her assembled works – including wood and metal type, tin type photos, binding thread, spools, and small books – with an occasional message spelled out in the mix.

You can read more in our March 2011 issue of Carolina Arts. Tick-Tock – time to move on.

We’re standing at the door of the Sumter County Gallery of Art at the Sumter County Cultural Center, at 11am, but the door is locked. Five minutes later the door is still locked. We can see through the door and people are working down a long hallway in the Patriot Hall part of the building. When we arrived I saw people unloading something at a side door so I go around, go in and find someone in the Gallery shop and ask if they are open. They are and I tell them the gallery door is still locked. I wish I had a nickel  for every time that has happened over the years.

The Sumter County Gallery of Art may still have a name connected to the past, but their gallery space rivals any at art museums in the Carolinas. It’s why they can attract top tier artists to exhibit in Sumter. That’s not a slap at Sumter – more at top tier artists. You’ll be able to see that in the photos I was able to take.

I came to see the exhibits: Joe Walters: A Mid-career Retrospective, featuring a major exhibition of sculpture and works on paper by Charleston, SC-based artist Joe Walters and Anne Lemanski: Touch and Go, featuring a selection of her highly crafted sculptural works that utilize familiar forms to explore the inconsistencies and contradictions she sees in the world, from our culture’s treatment of women to its exploitation of both domesticated and wild animals. Both exhibits are on view through April 22, 2011.

If you can’t get to Sumter and you’re closer to Charleston, the Corrigan Gallery in Charleston is showing, A Riff on Nests, featuring sculptures and works on paper by Joe Walters, his first show in Charleston in many years – showing works in the same style as those being shown in Sumter. This exhibit is up through March 31, 2011.


This is a detail shot of a larger work.

I’ve always liked Walters’ animal installations and this is a little different – more flora than fauna, but in the same style where the sculptural works have the look of years of built up rust – in brown or gray.

The works on paper have the same rusty brown color and a rough surface – also implying age.

The works cry out to be touched, but please don’t. Like all things in nature – they are better off viewed from a distance than having humans touch them in our often rough and destructive ways.

Anne Lemanski: Touch and Go, is a good match for Walters’ exhibit as her works also show man’s “destructive” effects on animals.

Her work 21st Century Super Species: Jack-dor, dominates the display of animals who, in the form Lemanski presents, show how they might have adapted under man’s reign on this planet. This rabbit creature stands 8 feet tall,  has a 10 foot wingspan and is composed of many parts from other animals. The creature brings up the thought – Is this what man will have to deal with in the future if he doesn’t clean up his act and clean up the environment of this planet? According to Darwin – the animals will adapt. Of course we will too as we are just another animal.

All of these creatures, that may seem like familiar animals, have adapted bright colors or a sort of camouflage and all give off the message – man beware – even the look on a giant golden frog’s head is menacing.

Lemanski also offers a display of hairstyles of women from different decades – a commentary on how women were perceived.

One hairstyle was titled, 1960 Occupation: Housewife, was pink and resembled the logo for the movie Hairspray. You might see women wearing these dos on the popular TV show Madmen. Another, titled 1940 For The Boys, may have represented the style women wore in the war factories while their men were off fighting WWII. There were two badges or buttons on the piece which showed 40′s style pinup gals.

We have more about these exhibits in our March 2011 issue of Carolina Arts.

Before we left the Sumter County Gallery of Art we walked down the hallway where we could see people working through the door when we couldn’t get in, and they were hanging a quilt show that was going to be at the Patriot Hall Galleries – just for that weekend.


Quilt #143 – “Hanging Gardens of Bobbi Ann” by Barbara Fitzsimmons


Detail of Quilt #178 – “Fish of Another Color” by Thomasyne Martin

This was going to be the 3rd Swan Lake Quilt Guild Quilt Extravaganza. The guild has 85 members and is growing. I took a few quick photos, but the lighting was not as good there, and we were on the run. Carolina Arts is making a lot of contacts with quilt guilds it seems, but most seem to be a little shy in dealing with us – as if they are not sure we would be interested. One of our favorite works of art in our collection is an art quilt from a friend who unfortunately lives in Virginia or you’d be seeing lots of her works in our paper. Tick-Tock!

The race is on to Hartsville – a town I haven’t been to in a least a decade if not longer. Fortunately, we run into no tractors on the road – a few old geezers in pickup trucks, but no big delays and we get there in time. As we are walking through the doors of the Black Creek Arts Center I see that they are now open until 2pm on Fridays. Of course that may have been their hours for some time now, but we had 1pm in our records. It’s corrected now.

No harm, no foul, except there were a couple of interesting places we would have stopped at as we passed through Bishopville on the way. I guess that will have to wait for another trek.

The Black Creek Arts Center is showing The Pate Family Art Exhibit, featuring works by 14 members of this family spanning four generations. It began with Wilhelmina Stucky Pate, and the exhibit is on view in the Jean & James Fort Gallery through April 29, 2011.


Pate Family Tree

That’s a big family of artists and they do everything, paintings – big and small, photography, stained glass, jewelry, and architectural models. And, it seems they all work in various mediums. Makes you wonder if there is something like an art gene.


“On the Way to St. Simons” by Charles Pate Jr.

Most of the Pate family works are pretty straight forward – there’s not many hidden meanings or messages here. That was a good thing as viewing this exhibit was sandwiched in between two exhibits where you had to put your thinking cap on.


“Quiet Power” by Martin Pate

It has to be nice to come from an art family, having access to all that experience and knowledge. I guess it could be a problem if you didn’t really want to be an artist, but who doesn’t – right. Well, I might want to a little, but I’ve seen enough to know it’s no cake walk.

We have more info about this exhibit in our March 2011 issue of Carolina Arts.

We went upstairs at the Arts Center and found a lot more art on display and I guess a photography exhibit, but there wasn’t any formal info – these works may always be on display. I can hear people say – “Why didn’t you ask?” And, I don’t ask, as I expect things to be clearly marked or explained – I know lots of people won’t bother to ask so I want to see how each exhibit space handles such things.

It’s like unpriced art. If I have to ask, I’m not interested – even if I can afford it. I don’t have to worry about that these days – I’m in the selling mode more than buying.

It was upstairs where I saw a new form of photography. Our background is in photography, but photography is one of the few art mediums that seems to be ever changing. There were a couple of “photographs” by Suzanne Muldrow on the wall that when I looked at them my first question is – “How is this a photograph?” But, I was to learn about that later at the BIG photography exhibit. These images looked like drawings and I didn’t see anything that would have looked like photography. I couldn’t take a photo as the lighting was bad and the work was behind glass. It was the first of many new things I was going to learn about photography this day.

The Black Creek Arts Centers seems to be set up to do all things in the arts – exhibits, performances, and education – with lots of classroom spaces. It’s probably quite a beehive of activity for the Hartsville area.

When we left the building I snapped a photo of the outside and later learned that the artwork out front was a sculpture display of old saw blades by Mike Fowle, who we had featured when I was last in Florence to see exhibits. Of course Hartsville is his and Patz Fowle’s hometown.

We drove over to Coker College, just a few blocks away from the Arts Center, parked and ate the lunch we brought with us – what a nice day – spring was in bloom and the weather was great.

The exhibit, Heather Freeman: Digital and Traditional Media, is on view through March 25, 2011, at the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery in the Gladys Coker Fort Art Building.

In the literature offered in the gallery it says that Freeman has been interested in science since she was a child. She is particularly interested in the language and symbolic forms of science and where these intersect with mythic, religious and popular iconography.

This was an exhibit where you were going to have to read a lot of offered materials to get the message the artist was hoping to get across to the viewer or not. Freeman might be just as happy with whatever you came up with – which I’m sure is different with every viewer.

The written materials also stated that Freeman was an assistant professor of digital media at the University of North Carolina, but finding the digital media was a trick in many of the images offered.

The tags on the works listed the media as digital print on watercolor paper, with added ink, graphite and watercolor. To me, digital print would mean some sort of photographed image was involved – whether it be a straight photograph or a copied or captured image from another photograph. But in Freeman’s images I would say the digital image represented at best 20 – 30% of the image and the rest was drawn in with the other media. In some it was maybe 50-50.

Freeman says, “I believe science has merged with popular culture to become a covertly ‘universal’ religion.”

The titles of some of the works helped somewhat, but to me these kinds of images are not as strong without the written materials. That’s just me.

One image was titled, Grandma teach me to sleep. From that I assumed that these are images of dreams and nightmares – products of restless sleep. I’m glad my life is a lot simpler.

Later that night at the BIG photography show when someone heard that we had just seen this exhibit they asked if the gallery director gave us the “tour” – explaining what each image meant. I hope that’s not where we are headed, where everyone has to be spoon-fed the meaning of art.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked a lot of the imagery, received some strong vibes from some and was disturbed by others – which should make any artist happy. She made me think and I’ll forever blame her for that.

We have more info about this exhibit in our March 2011 issue of Carolina Arts.

Before we left Coker College I snapped a few photos of the Pearl Fryar topiary garden on the Coker campus.

Next up was Darlington, SC, to check out a couple of commercial galleries – The Chameleon Art Gallery and the Birds of a Feather Arts Gallery.

I’ve been to The Chameleon Art Gallery back when they first opened, but not since – again, during the old model for Carolina Arts, we could only afford to distribute the paper in areas we received income from – so we were not going to the Pee Dee much at all – even though I rode through the area each month on my way home from delivering in NC.

Since that time the gallery space had changed – with the times, or should I say economy? What was once a fully exhibition space was now part display, part service with a framing station and the rest was set up for teaching art classes. It was the first thing promoted to us when we entered.

A long, long time ago when we first started, I would walk into a gallery and if they had some new artsy knickknack items up for sale the gallery owner would apologize, and I would tell them, “don’t”. You have to do whatever it takes to bring in money to keep the doors open. After all, art galleries are not meant to be museums – where you just show art. If the doors are closed no artworks are on the walls, no artworks are seen and no artworks are ever purchased.

We had two art galleries that didn’t make the rent on their own in our past lives. We know how hard it is to keep the doors open and we started this paper to help galleries. Darlington is lucky to have art galleries.

We located the Birds of a Feather Gallery on our way out of the downtown area – with the help of Linda’s iPhone, but the gallery was closed at 2:25pm on Friday, even though the sign on the door said it should have been open. But, we don’t know what was going on so it was just another missed opportunity on both our parts. I could see that this gallery was also into art classes.

Hey, most of the press releases we get from the non-profit art centers and arts councils are about the classes they are offering. It’s what brings in the money.

There’s a lot of visual arts going on out there of all levels and you don’t have to go to the big city to have your brain challenged. Everything we saw could have just as well been on view in any of those big cities. So getting off the beaten path sometimes can bring rewards and discovery.

Next stop Florence – in Part Two.

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Adding Kelly Thiel Studio Blog to Our Blog List

Friday, March 4th, 2011

It’s been a while since we added a new blog to our list, but this one seemed to have a lot in common with what Carolina Arts is going through – sort of a rebirth.

Kelly Thiel, a Charleston, SC, area artist has just started a re-branding of her business. Kelly Thiel Pottery & Sculpture is officially now Kelly Thiel Studio.

Re-branding – what a nice name for starting over, but it’s not really like starting over – it’s more like taking a right turn when you’ve been turning left all your life.

Recently I just “Friended” or “Liked” her Facebook page and I learned about her changes. It was nice to see how someone else was dealing with change. And, I think there is something to be learned in watching her progress. There’s a lot of change in the air – something we’re all having to learn to live with these days.

Thiel’s blog can be found at this link (http://www.kellythielpottery.blogspot.com/), her website is here (http://www.kellythielpottery.com/) and of course she’s on Facebook – you can now find her on my page and many others.

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The Last Bunch of Late Exhibit Arrivals for March 2011

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

This will be the last time I’ll post press releases which came in after our deadline at Carolina Arts. We’re getting too busy dealing with info that comes in on time. So, I suggest that folks get their info to us before the 24th of the month. The only exception – will be advertisers.

Here they go:

Carolina Galleries in Charleston, SC, Features Works by Terri Katz Kasimov

Carolina Galleries in Charleston, SC, will present the exhibit, Lowcountry Series, featuring collages and abstract paintings by Terri Katz Kasimov, with an opening reception on Mar. 4, 2011, from 5:30-7:30pm.

Katz Kasimov received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting from the Ohio State University and her Masters of Fine Arts from State University of New York at Buffalo. She studied under Sam Russo of Niagara Falls, NY, and David Hockney, University of California at Los Angeles as well as at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and La Universidad de las Americas, Mexico City, Mexico.

Katz Kasimov works in a variety of mediums. Collage, watercolor, acrylic, and even using old canvases reworked into new paintings, she is always striving to produce engaging and communicative artwork. Her artwork is represented in numerous private. corporate and museum collections throughout the world. She currently divides her time between Buffalo, NY, and Kiawah Island, SC, just outside of Charleston.

For further information call the gallery at 843/720-8622 or visit (www.carolinagalleries.com).

The Society of Bluffton Artists in Bluffton, SC, Presents a Photography Exhibit

The Society of Bluffton Artists in Bluffton, SC, is presenting the exhibit, A View Thru the Lens of Bluffton, Low Country and More, juried by Jean-Marie Cote and Donna Varner, on view through Apr. 8, 2011.

An awards presentation and reception will be held on Mar. 6, 2011, from 3-5pm.

For further information call Sandra Wenig, The Society of Bluffton Artists ( SoBA) Publicity Chairperson at 843/247-2868.

UNC Asheville in Asheville, NC, Features Works by Norma Bradley and Vicki Essig

UNC Asheville’s Blowers Gallery in Asheville, NC, will present, Intimacy and Contemplation, a new exhibit of fiber art using unique approaches that invite the viewer to share the artists’ quiet contemplative space. The exhibit, featuring works by Norma Bradley and Vicki Essig, opens Mar. 7 and will remain on view through Apr. 2, 2011. There will be a closing reception with the artists from 2-4pm, Saturday, Apr. 2, 2011, in Blowers Gallery.

Bradley incorporates photography and digital processes into her fiber art, contrasting handwork with technology. Essig weaves natural elements and small found objects into her works, playing with light and translucency, and the dichotomy between fragility and strength. The works are very distinct, but both artists incorporate elements of time, nature and contemplation.


Work by Norma Bradley

Bradley, who relocated to North Carolina from her native New York City more than three decades ago, is Director of Education for HandMade in America and is a teaching artist in the North Carolina State Visiting Artist Program. Her works hang in private and corporate collections.


Work by Vicki Essig

Essig grew up in the Rocky Mountains but now lives and maintains a studio in Asheville. She is a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild, Piedmont Craftsmen, is a founding member of Ariel Contemporary Craft Gallery, and has taught at Penland School of Craft. Her works are on exhibit at Blue Spiral 1 in downtown Asheville.

The Blowers Gallery is located in UNC Asheville’s Ramsey Library, is free and open to the public, and is usually open 7 days a week.

For further information call 828/251-6436, or visit (http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/exhibits/blowers/exhibits.html).

Dialect Design in Charlotte, NC, Presents Works by Sharon Dowell

Dialect Design in Charlotte, NC, will present the exhibit, Shift: New Works by Sharon Dowell, with an opening reception on Mar. 11, 2011, from 6-9pm.

Dowell captures the  energy of place, the economic boom and downturn, and explores the theme of man vs. nature. She is interested in the documentation of memory and incorporates references to our changing political and social environment in this exhibition of paintings and installation.

Dowell is a painter residing in Charlotte and exhibiting internationally. Her work is in major collections such as the BLT Steakhouse (Ritz Carlton), Duke Energy, Fidelity Investments, and The Federal Reserve Bank. Recent shows include the Kipton art auction at Christies New York, UNC-Charlotte, and Duke University. An Arts and Science Council grant recipient, she is currently working on public art commissions for Charlotte’s light rail and Durham’s bus line. In 2010, she was in residence at NES in Skagastrond, Iceland, and will be an Affiliate at the McColl Center for Visual Art, in Charlotte, from Apr. 11 – Aug. 23, 2011.

For further information call the gallery at 704/488-6811.

Stanly Arts Guild in Albemarle, NC, Features Works by Deb Russell

The Stanly Arts Guild in Albemarle, NC, will present the exhibit, Landscapes of Lake Tillery & the Uwharries, featuring breathtaking photographic imagery of Lake Tillery and the Pee Dee River Basin by Deb Russell, on view at The Stanly County Agri-Civic Center, from Mar. 1 – 31, 2011.

Hosted by the Stanly Arts Guild, in cooperation with Falling Rivers Gallery, the exhibit features two of Russell’s metallic gallery wraps on loan from HD Photo Lab. Their glossy finish and metallic appearance result in striking three-dimensional imagery. Photographers often describe the effect as “chrome on paper.”

The fine art exhibit includes a series of nearly 20 photographs, ranging from large gallery wraps hand-crafted by HD Photo Lab, a division of Bullock Professional in Albemarle, to framed metallic prints. Anchoring the show are two large canvas wraps of ethereal Lake Tillery at daybreak: Golden Swift Island and In Morning’s Glow.

The exhibit showcases Russell’s signature approach to landscape photography, captured so powerfully in her recently released book, Lake Tillery: Our River, Our Beauty.

“I like to create images which evoke an emotional response in me,” says Russell, further elaborating on her inspirations. “Dramatic light and interesting composition drive my photography, and my appreciation of art generally. Fortunately, if you’re ready to really see them, engrossing vistas unfold before you on and around Lake Tillery, revealing themselves in surprising ways.”

Russell grew up just a few miles away from the lake in Mount Gilead, NC, and considers the area her “home turf.” She has seen her beloved Lake Tillery change over the years. It’s no longer the quiet, sparsely developed river of her youth, when most houses along its shores were simple weekend river cabins. Gone are the days when weekday boating could mean a long paddle to the shore if you ran out of gas.

Through her imagery, Russell hopes to convey – and, perhaps, to recapture – the quiet harmony and mystery of Lake Tillery, to remind busy Sunday afternoon boaters of the majesty of “our river.”

“For those with a life-long appreciation of this stretch of the Pee Dee River, I want to confirm that your river is still beautiful,” she says. “For everyone, I hope there can be a renewed or continued desire to preserve that which is close to us, so precious and delicate, and so critical to our way of life.”

Russell has worked at Bullock Professional, a pro lab in Albemarle, for the last 12 years. In that time she has complemented her artistic instincts with refined editing and post-processing skills that help her turn ordinary photographs into art.

“The masters canvas product is great for my landscapes because the Kodak metallic paper is ‘right out there,’ behind no framing glass, allowing the room light to play with all the vibrant color, contrast and depth in the paper,” she says. “In one of my graphic bridge shots, the morning sun hitting the glistening water is so much more enhanced by the reflective properties of the metallic paper. It brings additional life and pop to the sunlight as the viewer moves to examine at different angles. I know I smiled when I first saw that one in the lab.”

All photographs in the exhibit are available for sale by contacting Anita Ammerman of the Stanly Arts Guild by calling 704/982-0924. More of Russell’s art, including her book, are on display at Falling Rivers Gallery, a cooperative of local artists, in downtown Albemarle.
The Stanly Arts Guild and their Falling Rivers Gallery is sponsored in part by the Albemarle Improvement LLC, the Stanly County Arts Council, and the Grassroots Arts Program of the NC Arts Council, a state Agency.

For further information call the 704/983-4278 or visit (www.fallingriversgallery.com).

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