December 2013

Lancaster County Council of the Arts in Lancaster, SC, Features Works by Dianne Mahaffee and Her Students

The Lancaster County Council of the Arts in Lancaster, SC, is presenting an exhibit of 2-D and 3-D works by Dianne Mahaffee and her students, on view at the Springs House through Dec. 30, 2013.

Mahaffee is a professor of art at the University of South Carolina Lancaster. Her specialty is classified as sculptural raku ceramics inspired by captivating textures and form. Her paintings are emotional expressions of her passion for the beauty in her surroundings.

Mahaffee’s students exhibiting include: Nancy Port, Frances Story, Nicki Robertson and Sandra Edwards.

The Springs House is an impressive two-story, frame residence in downtown Lancaster that was converted to municipal use as a city hall in 1957. An original section of the building was constructed around 1820-30. The house was greatly enlarged in the mid-1850s and it took its present appearance in a ca. 1906-07 remodeling. The original owner and builder are not known. The owner during the 1850s renovations was Samuel Buckner Massey. The ca. 1906-07 remodeling, which the buildings integrity derives from, occurred under the ownership of Colonel Leroy Springs, who secured James M. McMichael, an architect from Charlotte, North Carolina, to plan the changes and additions. The façade features a two-tiered pedimented portico defined by fluted columns with Doric-influenced capitals. The pediment contains a semi-elliptical window with tracery. There is a two-story, flat roof porch addition at the rear. The main interior feature is an entrance stair in a two-story foyer. Leroy Springs played a major role in the industrial development of Lancaster and the surrounding area. The Leroy Springs House represents a significant part of Lancaster’s past, and in this single building, the development of the town is reflected. The house contains structural evidence of a plain house of the early nineteenth century as well as the early twentieth century attempt of a successful industrialist to express his wealth and power through his residence. Many people believe that the town of Lancaster owes its character and economic status largely to Leroy Springs and his vision for the southern textile industry. Listed in the National Register March 20, 1986.

For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Council at 803/285-7451 or visit (www.lccarts.net).

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