July 2013

West Main Artists Co-op in Spartanburg, SC, Offers Multiple Events in July, 2013

During the month of July, the grounds of the West Main Artists Co-op will slowly be transformed with sculpture installations, new banners and with signage that will proclaim the space on West Main Street in Spartanburg, SC, to be an artists’ community. The changes will be complete in time for July’s Art Walk, July 18, from 5-9pm, when a celebration will be held to recognize the changes and the contributing sculptors.

The celebration continues on the same evening with the opening of West Main’s 2nd annual Pottery Palooza, a show that features 14 of the Co-op artists’ recent work in clay. The show contains everyday items such as mugs, bowls, and casseroles, as well as sculpture, decorative work and miniatures. The exhibit will be on display from July 18 through Aug. 10, 2013.

The Co-op’s regular hours will be extended for Pottery Palooza to also include Friday and Saturday July 19 and 20, from 10am-6pm.

Additionally, Carolina Clay Artists and volunteers will be on site on July 18, helping guests to make bowls for this year’s Hub City Empty Bowls project. They will also offer this same opportunity during the August Art Walk, on Aug. 15, from 6-8:30pm. The bowl-making event is free and all materials and instruction will be provided. The bowls will be used in this fall’s “Soup Event” to raise money for this year’s recipient, Total Ministries.

The sculptures installed on the grounds of the Co-op are the creations of eight local artists - Daingerfield Ashton, Vivianne Carey, Fran Dambrosio, Bryan Davis, Ayako Abe Miller, Bailey Szustak, Winston Wingo, and Kathy Zimmerli Wofford - who were invited to participate in what is being called “the sculpture project” at WMAC.   The sculptors are representative of the many talented artists who reside in Spartanburg. At least two are working artists, many are art teachers, and several are graduates of art programs or are attending graduate art schools.  

The project itself began almost two years ago when concrete pads were installed beside the entrance door and on the property adjacent to West Main Street.  Funding in part for the project was provided by a grant from the Arts Partnership of Spartanburg.  The sculptors were given the dimensions of the pads, but were otherwise free to develop their own ideas with the materials of their choice. The result is a diversified collection of outdoor sculpture in metal, concrete, stone, and clay.

The West Main Artists Co-op has been in existence since October 2009, and currently has 45 members who work in the visual arts or music.  The Co-op provides affordable studio space and exhibition space for local artists. Locally made art is for sale in the Gallery Shop and the galleries. The Co-op is a non-profit organization, funded in part by the Arts Partnership of Spartanburg and the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Co-op at 864/804-650 or visit (www.westmainartists.org).

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