Feature Articles

October Issue 2002

Beaufort, SC, Art Galleries Presents Fall Art Walk - Oct. 26, 2002

In the last few years, Beaufort, SC's art gallery population has grown almost fifty percent. Once chosen as one of America's 100 "Best Small Towns for the Arts, by author John Villani, Beaufort is one of the jewels of the greater Lowcountry art community. Much like its larger cousin Charleston, Beaufort's art galleries have clustered together, making visiting them an easy and enjoyable pleasure. And, on Sat., Oct. 26, 2002, the galleries have joined together to offer visitors an Art Walk featuring fifteen stops offering a variety of fine arts and crafts, with many artists on hand to give you that personal window into their creativity.

The galleries participating in the Art Walk are located within a block of streets formed in an "L" shape, stretching along Bay Street and Charles Street, with stops along West Street and Port Republic Street. You may have to do a little driving on Charles Street, but most galleries can be reached by walking. Unlike some art walks or strolls - this is a real Art Walk with thirteen of the galleries with only a few doors between them. Window shop at your own convenience.

The Walk starts at 5pm and continues through 7:30pm, giving visitors time enough to enjoy some of Beaufort's excellent restaurants and watering holes, either before, during and after the Art Walk. Of course many of the galleries will be offering refreshments - wine and cheese. You might want to come to Beaufort for the entire weekend as Historic Beaufort Foundation is also offering its "Fall Festival of Houses & Gardens from Oct. 25-27, 2002.

You can start your tour at any of the galleries. All will have on hand a map showing the Art Walk participants. We'll start this written tour at I. Pinckney Simons Gallery, located at 711 Bay Street.

Stephen Chesley (detail)

I. Pinckney Simons Gallery represents a variety of works by artists of national and regional renown, in a variety of media, but for the Art Walk, it will be featuring paintings by National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship recipient Stephen Chesley. Chesley's brushwork, composition, and solid draftsmanship, along with deft understanding of abstraction achieve brooding mysterious pictorials. Philosophical excursions by painters and their integration of these excursions into their works produces a list of names including: George Inness, Franz Kline, Edward Hopper, and Winslow Homer to name a few. It is exactly this list of painters and others that have helped crystallize the aesthetic and emotional content of Chesley's autographic painting style.

The characteristic dark pallet of a Chesley painting is a direct adaptation of the American Ashcan School lead by Robert Henri in the early 1900's New York, and is antithematic of the acid colors and visual clutter that routinely assault contemporary life.

Sandra Baggette

Bay Street Gallery, located at 719 Bay Street, is our next stop. Here you will find original paintings by Sandra Baggette, Lana Hefner, Jim Draper, and Tim Carr, as well as sculptures by Taylor Nicole Turner, Jo Thomas and M.J. Brush. Baggette is offering a new series of painting featuring fish, fruit and flowers in her usual bright palette in oils and watercolor. Hefner offers landscapes in oil of expansive vistas and the unspoiled wetlands of the Lowcountry. Turner's sculptures deal with people and traditions of the Gullah culture of the Lowcountry. The pieces are one-of-a-kind fired clay and are finished in a bronze-like painted patina.

Gloria Dalvini

Gloria Dalvini Watercolors is just around the corner at 101 Scotts Street, less than a block away from Bay Street toward the water. Dalvini will be featuring an exhibit entitled, "Small French Paintings, featuring works created after a recent three-week trip throughout the French countryside. On hand will also be original watercolor and oil paintings of Lowcountry historic homes, marshes and flowers. Prints of these works are also available.

Moving back to Bay Street, we find The Gallery, in its new location at 802 Bay Street. The Gallery will be offering the exhibition, Form and Color, featuring paintings by Charlotte Beckner and sculpture by Scott Sides. Beckner presents the "Color" part of the exhibit with her expressive use of color which fills the canvas and illuminates the surrounding space. She is an intuitive artist who is known for bold, colorful abstracts. The "Form" is being provided by the abstract and realistic sculptures of Sides, whether cast or fabricated in bronze and aluminum. Works in steel and stone will also be offered. No matter the materials the works contain qualities, clearly visible, in his fluid lines or graceful swing in kinetic works.

In the adjoining building at 802 Bay Street we find one of Beaufort's newest galleries, The Splendid Potter, featuring a surprising mix of art, pottery, antiques and gifts. During the Art Walk, Moorcroft Pottery will be premiering a new Prestige selection in the Queen's Choice pattern. This pottery line dates back one hundred years and includes such patterns as Anna, Sophie, Cosmos, Cleopatra, and Trout. Lynn Bonge of Camden Field will also be showing a large selection of her hand-painted furniture.

A few doors down on the same side of Bay Street is The Craftseller, at 818 Bay Street. The Craftseller is well known as a contemporary gallery of American crafts, overflowing with color and creativity. The gallery offers handcrafted pottery and jewelry in abundance and always on hand to greet visitors is a whimsical copper frog by Donald Gehlkin, wearing the very latest earrings and accessories from The Craftseller.

Polly Swenson

Crossing over Bay Street we find Indigo Gallery, located at 813 Bay Street. The gallery will be offering a special collection of miniatures as well as scenes of the Lowcountry by local artist, Polly Swenson. Also on view will be oils by Peter Pettegrew and Alison Crossman, as well as original pastels by Janet Mogley and limited edition prints by a fine selection of Lowcountry artists.

In two short blocks we've covered seven galleries - not much walking, but a lot of art for your eyes.

Nancy Ricker Rhett

At the corner of Bay & West Streets is the Rhett Gallery, at 901 Bay Street, on the same side of the sidewalk as Indigo Gallery. The gallery will be featuring original watercolors, oils, and prints by Nancy Ricker Rhett. These tranquil Lowcountry scenes of areas in and around Beaufort will capture your attention. The gallery also features a large assortment of fine antique prints and maps from around the world, as well as, first edition Audubons, and Gould hummingbirds.

Barbara Shipman

Before we head down West Street, we cross over Bay to our last stop on that street to the Shipman Gallery, located at 904 Bay Street. Barbara Shipman has been expressing the quintessential essence of the Lowcountry through various artistic mediums for over 25 years. The gallery caters to both the seasoned collector of originals, as well as first time print buyers. The gallery offers over 110 collectable prints making it a "something for everyone" destination.

Back across the street we head down West Street, less than half a block to Kuba Collectibles, at 216 West Street. Another addition to the Beaufort scene, Kuba Collectibles offers a fine collection of African artifacts. The collection includes masks, wood and stone sculpture, and paintings reflecting the aspirations, dreams and way of life in Africa. Jewelry and batiks meticulously created by artisans, not only please the eye, but also serve as an intermediary between man and the spirit world. Kuba Collectibles adds a new flavor to Beaufort's art diversity.

At the corner of West Street and Port Republic Street, we find Studio 900, located at 900 Port Republic Street. Studio 900 is Beaufort's newest gallery, offering a distinctive collection of original paintings by new and emerging artists. Because the artists represented here are "on the rise," the reasonably priced paintings are real collector's bargains that one can expect to increase in value.

Tina B. Fripp

Across the street and a little down the block is the Beaufort Art Association Gallery, at 905 Port Republic Street. The gallery represents more than 75 member artists, offering a wide selection of original works of art in ceramics, jewelry, photography, woodwork, prints and paintings. Featured during the Art Walk will be an exhibition of works by Tina B. Fripp. This special collection includes her newest works, renditions of sea island birds and some of the historic buildings which made her famous from Savannah, GA, to Charleston, SC.

The last gallery on the walking part of this tour is Art & Soul, at 917B Bay Street, in the Old Bay Marketplace. Good thing is - you don't have to walk around the block. The Marketplace runs between Port Republic and Bay Streets so you can enter from the back. Art & Soul represents eighty local and regional artists whose works come together to provide an eclectic and colorful collection. In addition to original paintings, the gallery also displays photography; one-of-a-kind hand-made jewelry; functional and decorative pottery; wood, metal and soft sculpture; textiles and other contemporary crafts. During the Art Walk the gallery will be featuring the works of painter, A.J. Finley-McRee and photographer, Bruce Marsden. Finley-McRee's works strongly reflects her focus on abstract landscapes and her interest in the human form. Marsden's black and white photographs dramatically capture the simplicity of Lowcountry vistas and landmarks.

Ly Bensons Gallery & Studio is at 711 Charles Street. The gallery features the exhibits, The Gullah/African Link and Out of Africa, featuring rare Shona Verdite sculptures by various artists from Zimbabwe, Africa, and original photographs by Gullah photographer and gallery owner Rev. Kennneth F. Hodges. Verdite, also known as "Africa's Green Gold," is a semiprecious stone over 3.5 million years old found only in Southern Africa.

Our final stop or your first, depending on how you start your tour, is the Charles Street Gallery, at 914 Charles Street. This two story gallery is situated in a restored residence in Beaufort's historic district. A sculpture by Heath Edwards greets visitors on the gallery's front porch. Featured during the Art Walk will be works by Dawn Peterson, Dan Davis, Lynn Brown, Peggy Duncan, Joan Templer, Wayne Edwards and Cabell Heyward. Etching by internationally known printmaker Jorg Schmeisser will also be available.

There you have it short and sweet. Except for a little driving, you can let your feet do the walking and you won't have to go too far to enjoy fifteen galleries offering a diverse and varied selection of art.

Most of the exhibitions being offered during the Art Walk will continue through Nov. 2002, so if you can't make it that evening, you can still take the tour during regular gallery hours. But, it won't be the same as the excitement of moving around with waves of other art lovers strolling from gallery to gallery. You just never know whom you'll run into.

For further info about these galleries check our SC Institutional & Commercial Gallery listings or call the Art Walk coordinator, I. Pinckney Simons Gallery at 843/575-4774.

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