Posts Tagged ‘Gallery 80808’

Midlands Clay Arts Society Will Present Its Annual Christmas Show at Vista Studios in Columbia, SC – Dec. 2 – 4, 2010

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Finally, here’s a clay event taking place in South Carolina.

The Midlands Clay Arts Society will have its annual Christmas show and sale at Gallery 80808 at Vista Studios in Columbia, SC. The event will run from Dec. 2 – 4, 2010. This will be a great opportunity to meet the artists who create the pieces and acquire one-of-a-kind work from local crafts people. We will showcase functional pottery, raku, sculpture and jewelry made out of clay.


Work by Tuula Ihamaki-Widdifield

Admission is free. The show and sale will be open: Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010, from noon – 8pm; Friday, Dec. 3, 2010, from noon – 8pm; and Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010, from noon – 5pm.

The Society was organized in 1987 in order to encourage fellowship, education and creativity among the artists. Its members consist of local potters and clay artists who promote the appreciation of all things made in clay.


Work by Tim Graham

Vista Studios is located at 808 Lady Street in Columbia.

For further information contact Tuula Ihamaki-Widdifield by calling 803/699-8354; by e-mail at (finnpottery@yahoo.com) or on FaceBook at (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Columbia-SC/Midlands-Clay-Arts-Society/122442236142).

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Vista Studios in Columbia, SC, Features an Exhibit of Clay Sculptures

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Just another posting about an exhibit proving this blog’s feet are firmly placed in clay or something like that. Of course we have plenty more like this at Carolina Arts Online.

Here it goes:

Vista Studios in Columbia, SC, will present the exhibit, Clay Works 2010, featuring clay sculptures by Sandra Carr, Rita Ruth Cockrell, and Richard Lund, on view in Gallery 80808 from Sept. 16 – 21, 2010.

The Carolinas have a long history and tradition of artists who work with clay. This exhibition features works by three contemporary artists who live and work in South Carolina.

Each of the artist use clay as a sculpting medium. Rather than make functional pieces, they use clay as a medium for personal expression. Each has a distinctive style. They create sculptures with conceptual meaning, taking the viewer past the decorative to a more emotional experience.

Sandra Carr has the following to say about her work, “Clay represents healing for me as an artist. It has been forgiving, stable and has the capacity to change when altered by outside influences. All characteristics I admire and strive for. Sculpting figurative pieces allows me to tell a story in my work or communicate a feeling. It speaks for me when I choose not to.”

Rita Ruth Cockrell offered this statement, “Born and raised in South Carolina, I love this place, every road side weed, every red clay road, leopard clay bank, shadow of white sand. After traumatic events with myself, my mother and authorities, I began working in any medium that came my way, always going toward the inside to go outside. Believing that if I can be good enough, some aspect of truth or beauty would help me understand that even if I can’t get there, the glimmering of the source comforts me”.

Richard Lund has this to say, “I moved to Columbia South Carolina two and a half years ago. Shortly after I arrived I joined the City of Columbia Arts Center studio which began my working with clay. I have been an artist many years creating paintings, photographs and sculptures but clay was a new exciting medium for me. Sculpting in clay offers me a seductive tactile experience that other mediums can not give. As I mold, move and pinch the clay with my hands it allows me to easily release my ever changing imagination and ideas realizing them in three dimensions.

For further information call the Studios at  803/252-6134 or visit (www.gallery80808vistastudios.com).

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The 24th Annual Vista Lights Takes Place in Columbia, SC – Nov. 19, 2009 – 5-10pm

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Now this is not the same as Artista Vista – a celebration of the visual arts in Columbia. SC’s Congaree Vista area, but it is an overall celebration of the Vista area and the businesses found there – including the Adluh Flour mill where you’ll be able to sample their famous biscuits (see correction below). You can read what I wrote about this year’s Artista Vista at this link. It might give you a reason to visit Vista Lights.

Vista Lights is the kickoff of the holiday season in Columbia. You can fill in any holiday that suits you.

But because the event includes the visual art community of the Vista – there will be plenty of art offered – just like during Artista Vista – with a whole lot of other distractions thrown in. I’ll tell you all about the art offerings after a blurb from the Congaree Vista Guild.

Vista Lights November 19, 2009

Times: 5-10pm

Location: In the Congaree Vista, on Gervais Street between Gadsden and Assembly; on Lady, on Park, on Senate, and Lincoln. Also at the SC State Museum, and various businesses nearby, all accessible by a horse and carriage (50 cents per ride) operating from the museum to the corner of Gadsden and Assembly. (See correction below.)

For more than 20 years, the arts and entertainment community of Columbia’s Congaree Vista has welcomed the holiday season with an annual family evening celebration of food, arts, entertainment and shopping. Several Vista streets will be pedestrian-only so visitors can enjoy street entertainment that includes live music, singing, Irish dancing, magic, ballet, and much more. Carolina Ballet’s “Nutcracker” Bon-Bons and their Mother Ginger will be on hand to light the giant Christmas tree at the corner of Gervais and Lincoln Streets.

Festivities kick off at 5pm and go on until 10pm. Gervais, Park and Lincoln Streets (between Lady and Senate) close at 6pm. Mayor Bob Coble and other dignitaries will light the Christmas tree at the intersection of Lincoln and Gervais at 7pm.

Transportation via horse and carriage is available from the South Carolina State Museum (where parking is ample and free) as far east as Assembly, with numerous stops in-between for your convenience. Open houses are plenty in stores, galleries and other businesses. Make sure to visit Adluh Flour to sample the mill’s famous biscuits.

Don’t worry about parking. There’s ample space in three parking garages, many lots, and on the street. The SC State Museum, the Convention Center (Lincoln St. south of Senate), and the lot at Lady behind M Vista offer free parking for Vista Lights. Canal & Senate, an events venue located at 320 Senate Street, also offers free parking. If you park at the museum or Canal & Senate, a horse-and-carriage ride will bring you to the heart of the Vista (50 cents per ride).

Bring the children; there’s plenty for them to see and do. Plan to come early and stay late for this long-time Columbia tradition.

Check back on our website (www.vistacolumbia.com) as we add the entertainment acts you will enjoy at Vista Lights.

Columbia’s Congaree Vista, always an art destination, will be hopping on November 19th. Make plans to kick-off the 2009 holiday season at Vista Lights.

For more information call 803/269-5946.

Now, about the art offerings we know about – only the organized have early details. The others will show up at the last minute – as always.

City Art, at 1224 Lincoln Street, will present a gallery exhibit by painters Wanda  Steppe and Harriet Marshall Goode, with exclusive performances by the Wideman/Davis Dance Company, and a trunk showing of hand woven apparel by Terri Goddard, between 5-10pm. The exhibit will be on view through Nov. 30, 2009. You can check out City Arts beautiful website at (www.cityartonline.com).

Vista Studios’ 13 studio artists will be participating in this year’s Vista Lights celebration with an exhibit of works in Gallery 80808, at 808 Lady Street, from 5-10pm. Come see the exhibition and visit with the artists as they open their studios and discuss their processes. There are two new artists at the studios, Deanna Leamon and Kirkland Smith. Although they are new to Vista Studios, they are well known around Columbia as two of its finest artists. Come by and see their new studios. The exhibit of works will be on view through Nov. 30, 2009. For further info you can visit their website at (www.gallery80808vistastudios.com).

Of course “the guys” at One Eared Cow Glass at 1001 Huger Street will be putting on a show of how molten glass can be turned, blown, twisted and spun into an object of art. Tommy Lockart, Mark Woodham and Ryan Crabtree will be doing the dance that is glass making – a must see on any visit to Columbia. You can see a blog entry about them at this link. For further info visit their website at (www.oneearedcow.com).

The South Carolina State Museum will be open until 7pm with free admission, parking and horse and carriage rides operating from the museum to the corner of Gadsden and Assembly. You can visit three exhibits there including: The Lonely Shadow, featuring an exhibit created by nationally-known silhouette artist Clay Rice, including 23 original silhouette illustrations from the new children’s book The Lonely Shadow; Tangible History: South Carolina Stoneware from the Holcombe Family Collection and From the Pee Dee to the Savannah: Art and Material Culture from South Carolina’s Fall Line Region.

The Gallery at Nonnah’s at 928 Gervais Street will be featuring works by artists Bonnie Goldberg, Ingrid Carson, Edie Biddle, Jan Fleetwood, Betty Mandell, Alicia Leeke, Donna Rozier, and Christy Leheup in various media. Plus, enjoy all the other goodies at Nonnah’s.

The other art galleries in the Vista will also present works by local, regional and national artists so visit Carol Saunders Gallery, if ART Gallery, Lewis & Clark Gallery,  The Gallery at DuPRE, and Wink Gallery.

I also heard that The gallery @ Restaurant 300 Senate, located at 300 Senate Street – near the river will be featuring works by members of About Face, one of Columbia’s largest art groups. Figurative pieces, portraits, landscapes, abstracts, representational and experimental art will fill the walls and feature foyer at the venue overlooking the river. The works will be on view from Nov. 19 – Dec. 24, 2009.

So there you go – lots to do and see with a tree lighting thrown in. What more could you ask for? Well maybe Santa will be there and you can put in a request.

And, remember – if you’re going to be in Columbia for Vista Lights – you can go early and see other art being offered in that city or stay the next day to do it. And, they won’t mind if you find something you can’t live without – tell them I gave you permission to buy anything you liked. In some cases you might not be able to take it home with you right away, but we all can live with that.

Here’s a bit of updates to the info offered here.

We have been notified that there are a few changes to the info we found on the website of the Congaree Vista Guild in preparing our entry about Vista Lights in Columbia, SC, on Nov. 19, 2009. It’s not much.

Adluh Flour mill has decided, after many years, to be guests of Vista Lights instead of hosts, and will not be providing food and entertainment. The horse-and-carriage rides are 50 cents per ride – the Vista Lights Cruiser, a 22-passenger bus, will also run the route from the SC State Museum to Assembly and back, for 50 cents a ride. Free parking is available in all three City of Columbia garages, on the street, and in the lot behind M Vista.

As always it is best to check the website link (www.vistacolumbia.com) before you travel to Columbia for the latest updates on what will be offered that evening. There will be more additions than subtractions I’m sure.

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“Artista Vista 2009″ in Columbia, SC, Time Well Spent

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Even though the event takes place on a Thursday night, all the planets seemed to be in alignment – so Linda and I made a run for it. Columbia is a two hour drive from our front door and Artista Vista starts at 5pm. Linda had to start a three day work weekend of 12 hr. shifts on Friday and I was picking up our May 2009 issue from the printer on Friday, which takes two trips to North Charleston, but we wanted to do Artista Vista – this would be Linda’s first time. I had been to two previous Artista Vistas, two Vista Lights and one Congaree Arts Festival over the last 14 years. It would be a quick visit considering the two hour drive back home and the fact that Linda would be back in the car headed for work shortly after 6am the next morning. So we left early to get there early.

Our first stop was One Eared Cow Glass where they were getting things ready for the 5pm opening. We figured this would be a good opportunity to see the work without fighting the crowd and see what was being offered before anyone else. As usual, there were plenty of new items on the shelves. They are always up to something new. We got a good look and would come back when the show was going on – the magic of seeing molten glass being turned into art objects.

After that we headed to Lincoln Street to find a parking space – again before the crowd. We stuck our heads in the door at Blue Marlin which didn’t start serving until 5pm, but the bartender served us up a drink so we could sit outside and wait for the event to begin. It was nice sitting outside watching all the parking spaces fill up and people scrambling around – getting ready for the crowd.

You see, unlike art communities that have art walks every month or even quarterly, the Vista only does it twice a year and Artista Vista is the only totally art event. Vista Lights includes all businesses in the Vista. So, this is a pretty big event for Columbia and the surrounding area. We wouldn’t be able to see it all given our limited timeframe and knowledge of what was ahead of us (physically) for the next week, so we planned to do the best we could in a small area of the Vista.

At 5pm we walked over to City Art Gallery where they were presenting, Perceptual Painters: The Collective, on view through June 27, 2009. This exhibit featured the works of a group of painters who all had a connection with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. And, you could see it in the works. There is something about the painters who go through that school. I’ve seen it in other painters’ works who went to school there – like Linda Fantuzzo in Charleston, SC. City Art always seems to bring in something different for Artista Vista – whether it be emerging artists from universities around the region or a seasoned group like this one. The artists being featured were: Dave Campbell, Matt Klos, John Lee, Aaron Lubrick, Scott Noel, Brian Rego, and Andrew Patterson-Tutschka.

While at City Art we ran into Mary Gilkerson, who at one time used to write reviews for Carolina Arts (www.carolinaarts.com) – way back when. She’s also written for The New Art Examiner, The State, and is currently writing for FreeTimes in Columbia. But the big news here was – she has started a blog which will give her much more opportunity to write about the art scene and other things in South Carolina called SCARTblog (http://scartblog.com/). Her first contribution is about an exhibit of works by Carl Blair, Flora and Fauna, on view at ifART Gallery in Columbia through May 9, 2009. Add Mary’s blog to your bookmark list.

It’s great that more people are starting blogs about the arts in the Carolinas – they need all the coverage they can get considering the cuts being made at daily newspapers. And, don’t forget about Jeffrey Day’s new blog, Carolina Culture (http://www.carolinaculturebyjeffreyday.blogspot.com/). Jean Bourque (http://artsails1.blogspot.com/) also gives out a lot of info about what’s going on at her blog.

Next we went over to ifArts. I was hoping to see Carl Blair there, but he wasn’t there. I wanted to let him know the reason we didn’t have anything in our April issue about his show was because no one sent us the info in time for our deadline. I’ve seen a lot of his paintings and sculptures in other galleries throughout the Carolinas before – this was the first showing of his animal sculptures in Columbia – so you readers in the Columbia area need to go by and see the show if you already haven’t before May 9. No excuses.

We then headed to Vista Studios to see View from the Studios, on view through May 12, 2009. Gallery 80808 was filled with art as was every inch of the place – including the studios of Susan Lenz, Stephen Chesley, Don Zurlo, Robert Kennedy, Laura Spong, Pat Gilmartin, Sharon Collings Licata, Pat Callahan, Ethel Brody, David Yaghjian, Michel McNinch, and Jeff Donovan. As usual, the studio door of Heidi Darr Hope was closed. I wonder why she is part of this facility. I don’t think she participates in many of their events. No problem – there’s plenty of art to feast your eyes on.

While there, I got to catch up with some artists I used to chat with on a monthly basis when I was delivering papers to Columbia during the day – Laura Spong and Ethel Brody – who always seemed to be working in their studios. I was hoping to talk with Susan Lenz (http://artbysusanlenz.blogspot.com/) – the Queen of blogging, but she was always tied up with someone and I hate to get in the way when customers might be buying art. In fact, this place was full of folks.

OK, here’s something that I probably shouldn’t do, but you know me – what the heck. My favorite work of the evening was Pat Gilmartin’s Blooming Arms. You can see it here. I liked lots of other works I saw this evening, but this was my favorite – don’t shoot me.

This is a testament of my taste in art. As we left Vista Studios I was thinking to myself – I didn’t even look to see how much that piece cost. I need more art like a hole in my head, but you can’t help but think of things you would love to have. And, after our trip to SEE pottery in Seagrove, NC, the week before – I was on a tight leash. Imagine that, Carolina Arts Unleashed on a tight leash. Believe it.

Anyway, I at least got a photo of the work to share with you all from Gilmartin. She let me know that the work had sold later that evening. At least I have the photo to remind me that recessions are hell, and the knowledge that someone else out there has good taste in art.

We got back to One Eared Cow Glass to see them at work. Someone was leaving as we arrived so we got a parking space. They were in the groove and we watched two works from beginning to – I’d say end, but that’s not possible. We got to see two works they finished working on, but because it will take them 15-16 hours to cool down in a slow cooler – we might never see what the finished piece looks like. The final colors wouldn’t show until they totally cooled. And, by that time – they will be sold. But, we can all imagine what they would look like to us. Hey, that’s multi-media art.

Our witching hour came at 8pm and we headed back to Bonneau – ETA 2 hours. We were tired, but it was worth it. We had a good time. You just can’t do and see everything.

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Don’t Miss Susan Lenz’s Exhibit at Gallery 80808 in Columbia, SC

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

If you want to be amazed at what one person can do – don’t miss seeing or reading about the CYBER FYBER exhibition being presented, in every nook and cranny of Gallery 80808 at Vista Studios in Columbia, SC. Of course Susan Lenz got the help of hundreds of participating fiber artists from all over this planet, but she pulled everything together.

Lenz is one of the featured bloggers on this blog. She writes the blog Art In Stitches and several other blogs, but this exhibition is one of the results of putting her words and art, out there in cyber space, reaching other fiber artists on the Internet.

The exhibition which is on view from Jan. 8 – 20, 2009, includes works in three primary areas: over 150 Fiber ATCs (Artist Trading Cards); more than 225 fiber postcards; and the work of nineteen international artists, who were invited to participate. It’s up for a short time in Columbia, but I imagine the exhibit will live on – in video and still images on the official CYBER FYBER blog site.

Keeping up with Lenz’s activities will make you think, we as a country, should hook her up to the power grid – she has so much energy.

If you can, go see this exhibit and while you’re in Columbia, visit some of the city’s other gallery spaces. If you can’t go – at least go visit the exhibit blog site and ask yourself if you could do all this work. I don’t think I could.

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Photography Exhibitions Catching My Eye

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

On my recent delivery trip – what we now call – The Search For Gas In The Carolinas – I got to see two exhibitions by Columbia, SC, area photographers. One of the exhibits was in Columbia and the other was in North Charleston, SC. Both exhibits fell into what seems to be a developing trend in photography – as least in recent exhibits I’ve seen – a move toward abstraction or near abstraction in the imagery offered. Both artists demonstrated that the camera is but a tool in the creative process – not a machine that takes pictures. The artist using the camera is the creative force.

Don’t get me wrong, I love straight photography, whether it be nature photography, portrait photography, journalistic photography, architectural photography, etc. Good photography takes skill and creativity. Otherwise anyone could do it. And believe me – everyone can’t.

With the invention of digital cameras and computer programs like Photoshop – photographic imagery can be manipulated in numerous ways – even creatively in some people’s hands, but they are only tools.

You can put a paintbrush in my hands and it is the same tool an artist uses, but the results will never be the same.

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“Overflow” by Todd Oelze

While delivering papers in Columbia on a Sunday, I ran into an unexpected – open door – at Gallery 80808 at Vista Studios, at 808 Lady Street in the Vista. The exhibition was, Strokes of Light, featuring abstract photography by Todd Oelze (Blythewood, SC), on view from Sept. 26 – 30, 2008.

It’s not that I don’t read my own paper – I process a lot of information and usually by the time I’m delivering one paper, I’ve been working on the next month’s calendar of exhibitions. It’s hard to keep it all straight. What’s not a problem for me, but still seems to be for a lot of people in Columbia, is the fact that I know that Gallery 80808 is open when exhibits are taking place – even on the weekends. Not many galleries are open on Sunday in Columbia.

It was not too long ago that I did a review of another photography exhibit at the Saul Alexander Foundation Gallery at the main branch of the Charleston County Public Library in downtown Charleston, SC, It was abstract photography too. So here was another very interesting exhibit of more abstract photography.

“Cosmic Sneeze” by Todd Oelze

When I later checked the Vista Studios/Gallery 80808 web blog (http://www.gallery80808.blogspot.com/) I found this statement offered by Oelze. “Strokes of Light is a result of my recent endeavor to produce digital photographs that convey movement, while accentuating color and displaying the illusion of depth. I achieve this look by employing uncommon camera and lighting techniques, while keeping post-production effects to a minimum. My ultimate goal is to establish a recognizable style that I believe is extremely difficult to accomplish in photography. This collection of photographs is my first step in achieving this vision.”

I believe Oelze was very successful in pulling off his stated goal and look forward to seeing where his work goes in the future. I got him to send us a couple of images (another post exhibit review) and you can see more work on his website at (www.toddophotos.com).

My drive on Sunday started Saturday night and lasted well into the afternoon, but the short break in viewing Oelze’s works stayed with me a long time.

James Cheatum

On Monday, I was roaming from Calabash, NC, through Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand, eventually making my way down the coast to Mt. Pleasant and Charleston, SC. Some of my last stops were in North Charleston where I ran into the exhibition, Lens Paintings, Flower Photography by Jim Cheatham, from Columbia, at the North Charleston City Gallery at the Charleston Area Convention Center Complex, 5001 Coliseum Drive. This exhibit started on Oct. 1 (put up just hours before I arrived there) and will be up through Oct. 31, 2008.

In this exhibit, the images were sort of straight photographs, but taken so close in that they were abstracts of the real thing. They are images of objects, in this case flowers, that can’t be seen by normal vision – well maybe if you get real close and squint your eyes.

In a handout offered at the exhibit, Cheatham offered the following statement about his work. “My photography of flowers attempts to give expression to what might be called the spiritual dimension present in all living things – to the reality ‘behind’ the reality. In doing so, I am not concerned with presenting images that are photographically ‘correct’, but images that are ‘painterly’ as well as beautiful from a textural standpoint. I also strive for a strong graphic quality. Particularly in the collage mosaics.”

The results is a presentation of “sort of” straight photographs of flowers with the abstraction being offered by the closeness to the subject. In the photography world this might be considered “macro” photography – using lenses which are designed to take crisp images – real close in on subjects, but focus in not a goal here by Cheatham – delivering that “painterly” look – which is soft and sensuous.

You can see more images of Cheatham’s at (www.lenspaintings.com), but the exhibit will still be up through Oct. – so you can go see this one.

Both results seen in both of these exhibitions are nothing new in photography, the techniques have been seen before, but these two artists are taking the techniques to different levels – using their cameras and subjects as just tools to achieve abstracted imagery which reach beyond traditional photography.

I know some people in the art community don’t respect photography too much – they think it’s easy. Photography is an evolving fine art medium. If you’re not threatened by it, you might be able to see the possibilities and recognize that in the hands of the right people it can be as creative as any art medium.

Keep an eye out for further exhibits by Todd Oelze and Jim Cheatham – I know I will.

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