Posts Tagged ‘Beaufort SC’

It’s International Museum Day? And a Look Over the Hump Toward the Weekend

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

I’ve been seeing some chatter on Facebook about International Museum Day – a day where apparently museums around the world are celebrating with reduced or free admission, but not many in the Carolinas. From what I’ve seen, about a handful of NC museums are offering free or reduced admission, but I haven’t seen any notices by museums in SC about this day.

I don’t blame them – it’s not much of a celebration when you’re giving up some of your revenue – even if it’s just for a day. Times are hard in the Carolinas as far as arts funding goes – especially in SC. Our Governor would like to cut all funding from the state budget for our museums. Shame on her.

We at Carolina Arts support our art museums in the Carolinas – every month. Our May 2011 issue of Carolina Arts (www.carolinaarts.com) features 10 articles about exhibits at Carolina museums. We listed info for 37 museums in our gallery listings and about a dozen more for facilities which just didn’t have museum in their name. Yet, we had one paid ad in that issue from the Spartanburg Art Museum.

In better times we had a lot more ads from these museums and we hope if better times return they’ll be supportive again, but we’re not going to leave them hanging in between.

Maybe International Museum Day should be a day when the public goes out of it’s way to visit museums – and pay full price admission. Now that would be something for the museums to celebrate.

Coming This Weekend

The inaugural Celadon Fine Arts Festival presents the highest caliber of fine art and crafts, for the knowledgeable and discriminating audience that resides, visits, and revels in the Lowcountry creative experience. Entry is $5 per car, and Saturday the 21st is Family Day, complete with entertainment and food.

The festival is located in the beautiful Celadon Community on Lady’s Island, across the bridge from historic Beaufort, SC. Artists, collectors, and visitors will be surrounded by oak trees, ponds, and the distinguished architecture that is Celadon, while enjoying concerts and other delights during the three-day event, May 20-22, 2011.

The Celadon Fine Arts Festival is produced by the Celadon Community Arts Trust Association and ARTworks, the Arts Council of Beaufort, Port Royal & the Sea Islands of South Carolina.

For more info or to view a full list of participants visit (http://www.beaufortcountyarts.com/celadon1.htm#gallery); call 843-379-2787; visit (www.ArtWorksInBeaufort.org) or visit (www.CeladonFineArtsFestival.org).

The 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia, SC, is presenting a free tour of Columbia area artist’s studios with the 701 CCA Columbia Open Studios weekend, Saturday, May 21, 10am-6pm and Sunday, May 22, noon-6pm, throughout Richland and Lexington Counties.

Participating on the tour are the following artists: Alicia Leeke, Amanda Ladymon, B. Alex Smith, Becky Hyatt Rickenbaker, Beth West, Cindy Alpert Saad, Clark Ellefson, David H. Yaghjian, Diane Gilbert, Eileen Blyth, Gail Cunningham, Grace L. Rockafellow, Howard Hunt, Jan Swanson, Jeff Donovan, Jefferson Jay Hubbell, Judy Bolton Jarrett, K. Page Morris, Karen Langley, Kathryn Van Aernum, Laura Spong, Letitia “Tish” Lowe, Linda Coleman, Lucinda Howe, Mallory Phillips, Mary Bentz Gilkerson, Mary Elliott Williams, Michel McNinch, Nini Ward, One Eared Cow Glass, Pamm Collins, Patrick Parise, Peggy Nunn, Porter O’Brien Dodd, Regina Moody, Richard Lund, Rob Shaw, Robert Clark, Suzy Shealy, Sylvia Ady-Potts, Tam Hicks, Tim Floyd, Tyrone Geter, Vicki Corley, and Whitney LeJeune.

For further info call 701 CCA at 803/238-2351 or visit (http://www.columbiaopenstudios.org).

And, of course if you’re heading to the Mountains or need an excuse to head to the hills, you could take in Michael Kline Pottery’s 3rd Annual Spring Kiln Opening on May 21 & 22, 9am-5pm, in Bakersville, NC.

Kline is one of the hottest potters in the Carolinas this month with several shows going on and he and his pottery are even being imported to Seagrove for an event next weekend. Imagine that – Seagrove bringing in a potter from the outside for an event.

Michael Klein Pottery is located at 4062 Snow Creek Road in Bakersville, NC. For info or directions call 828/675-4097 or e-mail to (michael@klinepottery.com). Or to get the latest update tune into (http://michaelklinepottery.blogspot.com/).

If none of these events tickle your fancy, check out our May issue of Carolina Arts at (www.carolinaarts.com) – there are 71 pages about exhibits and events going on throughout the Carolinas.

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Arts Council of Beaufort County in Beaufort, SC, Offers ARTsBiz Sessions

Friday, March 5th, 2010

We received this press release at Carolina Arts with a personal request in the form of – “just sending more food for thought for your blog!”. I think that might be a shot at me for pointing out that the Arts Council of Beaufort County was calling for supporters to help make them a Top 25 Art Destination in a magazine’s poll.

We don’t usually include info about classes or workshops in our paper or electronic media, but since I will have posted one about one in Greensboro, NC, by the time this comes up and the “fairness factor” kicks in, I’m including this, but don’t send any others. You hear that folks – don’t send us info about classes and workshops – we’re not including them. Why is that? There are too many – several every day – many never take place, and I think they are something these groups should promote in paid advertising.

By the way – all the dates mentioned are for 2010. That’s a hint to all you press release writers. This info is going to be in cyberspace for some time and there is nothing more disappointing than finding something good on the internet and later finding out the info is several years old. The year is just as important as the month and day in a date.

Here’s their info:

Social Media & Networking Online: How to blog, facebook, tweet, flickr, etsy, and why.

Tuesday, April 6th, 1-3pm @ ARTworks, with Ian Leslie, digital sherpa and director of marketing for the Lowcountry Economic Network, and Jessica Lebos, pro blogger and culture yenta. This $10 ARTsbiz session is an in-person discussion of the keywords, tags, tips, techniques and precautions that artists need to know to establish themselves online and populate the digital art scene representing Beaufort County.

Disaster Preparedness: Artists, what’s your continuity plan?

Monday, April 12, 1-3pm, @ ARTworks with Todd Ferguson, director of the Beaufort County Emergency Management Division, Kim Keats, SC Craft Fellow and phoenix risen from the ashes, and Grace Cordial, evacuator extraordinaire and director of the Beaufort District Collection for the Beaufort County Library. This $10 ARTsbiz session will provide information to artists about hurricanes, fault lines, local and national resources such as the Craft Emergency Emergency Relief Fund, while focusing on the measures most critical to resilient arts careers.

Shopping Locally & Artfully: the many unexpected benefits of art-collection for Beaufort County’s creative class.

Tuesday, April 27th, 1-3pm @ ARTworks with Martha Ahrens, curator, exhibit designer, collector, and the recipient of the arts council’s 2009 Town of Hilton Head Mayor’s Award for the Arts. This $10 ARTsbiz session is for artists and collectors of all levels and artforms: How to start and build a collection in the Lowcountry; Why artists should collect too; The history of artists bartering with each other, and which artists now are interested in a TBA barter event in Beaufort County.

ARTworks is the home of the Arts Council of Beaufort County, in Beaufort Town Center, Beaufort. For further info call Lisa Annelouise Rentz at 843/379-2787 or visit (www.beaufortcountyarts.com).

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Arts Council of Beaufort County (SC) Ask Supporters to Stuff Ballot Box for Top Art Destination

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

We have reported in the past on the results of AmericanStyle Magazine’s (www.americanstyle.com) voting results to determine the Top Art Destinations – including cities in North Carolina and South Carolina. It was my understand that the voting was done by readers of the magazine, but I recently received an e-mail from the Arts Council of Beaufort County in Beaufort, SC, asking their supporters to vote for Beaufort to get them further up the list – and, giving them a link to the voting site.

Is this right or fair game for such polls?

In 2008, Beaufort was #14 on a list of 25 Top Art Destinations in the small town category and in 2009 they reached up to #12. Was this a lift by actual readers of the magazine or by supporters in the Beaufort area? Who’s to know now that we know the arts council is asking folks to stuff the ballot. Not much was added to the community during that year to make it a better art community.

In 2009, in the small town category, Asheville, NC, was #2, Beaufort, SC, #12 and Chapel Hill, NC, #13. I’d have some problem comparing Beaufort over Chapel Hill in any arts category. It is a great small art town, but ranking over Chapel Hill – home of the University of North Carolina and all its art offerings – come on.

I don’t hold much stock in these kinds of rankings – mostly because we never know any details about the voting process or the final totals the rankings are based on. Like many of these kind of rankings by publications – for all we know – 10 votes could make you a “Best of” in some town and we never know if you get extra credit for advertising with the publication.

Like most announcements presented these days stating that drinking wine is good for your heart and drinking milk is good for your diet – without knowing who is presenting the report, who paid for it, and seeing the full details of the report – we can’t be sure what to make of the headlines. And, I don’t think a lot of people want you to go beyond the headlines.

I agree that Beaufort, SC, is a great small town arts destination, I have compared it as a mini Charleston at times, but on a national ranking, #12 might be stretching it some – without knowing more facts and who participated in the process.

I guess we’ll see how successful their campaign was when the 2010 rankings come out.

I think these polls are designed more to generate something people can advertise in the publications that host the polls. Why not just sell them to the highest bidders? For all we know – that might be what’s going on now.

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The Complete Story

Friday, May 30th, 2008

On a recent visit to the North Carolina Arts Council’s (this is NC’s state arts agency) website (www.ncarts.org) under the Headlines heading I found a piece titled “Asheville in American Style Magazine” dated May 6, 2008. The short article informed me that in the June 2008 issue of American Style Magazine, Asheville, NC, was ranked second on the magazine’s annual Top 25 Art Destinations in small cities and towns category (populations of fewer than 100,000 people).

The article went on to describe Asheville’s art community and at the end suggested readers that for more info visit (www.americanstyle.com). Good thing I did.

I’m sure this news was sent to the NC Arts Council by someone from Asheville, but I’m surprised before posting this news that Jessica Orr, who posted this item for the Arts Council’s website, didn’t visit the magazine’s website and check out the lists. I’m assuming she didn’t because there was good news there about other cities in North Carolina and I can’t think of why she wouldn’t post that info along with the info about Asheville.

Also, it should be noted that this ranking of top art destinations is a readers’ poll. Only readers of American Style Magazine vote. We are also never told how many votes any of the cities on the top 25 list got. So we don’t know if a city got thousands of votes or twelve to make the list.

The poll is broken down into three categories – Top 25 Big Cities
(Populations of 500,000 or greater); Top 25 Mid-Sized Cities
(Populations of 100,000 to 499,999); and Top 25 Small Cities & Towns (Populations of fewer than 100,000).

Asheville came in 2nd on the Top 25 Small Cities & Towns list, but Chapel Hill, NC, came in 9th. I think that’s worth mentioning and I’m sure the folks in Chapel Hill think it is too. The top ranked city in this category was Santa Fe, NM.

There is more good news. Raleigh, NC, came in 24th on the Top 25 Mid-Sized Cities list (Buffalo, NY was number 1) and Charlotte, NC, came in 17th on the Top 25 Big Cities list (New York, NY was number 1). Why Orr didn’t include this news – I don’t know, but I think it’s great that Asheville was only second to Santa Fe, but I also think it’s great that three other cities in NC made the three lists.

And, since we cover the visual arts in both North and South Carolina, I’m happy to tell you that Beaufort, SC, came in 14th place on the Top 25 Small Cities & Towns list and Charleston, SC, came in 6th on the Top 25 Mid-Sized Cities list.

So the Carolinas have six cities on these lists – not bad considering many states had no cities on any of the three lists.

If you want to see the other cities on these lists, visit (www.americanstyle.com).

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