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September Issue 2007
The Lady with the Red Hair is Moving! Spartanburg Art Museum Makes its Way Across Downtown Spartanburg, SC
SAM (Spartanburg Art Museum) is delighted to be moving a few streets north to the very elegant and lovely Chapman Cultural Center at 200 E. St. John Street in Spartanburg, SC. This is quite a jaunt for such a small museum that has so much to offer and SAM has wasted no time getting ready for such a jump. For the past thirty years SAM has been located on South Spring Street, and has had to spread its 6,844 sq. feet over a hall and three different galleries with Robert Henri's beautiful painting The Lady with the Red Hair right smack in the middle. The museum will make its move after Labor Day and be located in the Carlos DuPre Moseley building on the west side of the plaza. The space is a centralized 7073 sq. feet dedicated to just art. It may not seem like a lot more space but the height of the ceiling gives SAM almost twice the wall space, so the hanging of exhibits can be stacked or staggered to draw in one's eye more without overwhelming it. The facility has also made it easy for SAM to be able to control the heat and humidity and protect their permanent collection and traveling exhibitions.
For many years, SAM's own collection of over 300 pieces has been stored in a cramped, outdated repository at the Spring Street location. In the Carlos DuPre Moseley building, the repository is spacious and modeled after national museums, which will enable SAM to increase its collection through acquisitions and donations. In fact, The Palmetto Bank has already contributed to the collection by starting a $250,000 endowment in honor of Les & Betty McMillan, which will be funded over a 5-year period of time. SAM was granted the first installment back in April and at the same time announced a new logo.
Board President, Brant Bynum said, "I believe the new image sends a lively and positive message to the community reminding one and all that this is Spartanburg's museum, and that this visual arts organization is essential, engaging, educational, and entertaining. According to Chapman Cultural Center Committee Chair, Jennifer Evins, "There is a great sense of anticipation for what the Center will mean to the Spartanburg community, and the energetic new brand of the Museum is instrumental in building this excitement."
There will be three exhibits showing at the
same time to kick off the relocation and grand opening on Oct.
3, 2007. The first, People Reading will be an exhibit made
up of over 60 pieces that feature reading books, newspapers, and
other written media. The art is created in several different mediums
and is from the private collection of Donald and Patricia Oresman
of New York City. The exhibit will continue through Mar. 9, 2008.
SAM will also hang the winners of the South Carolina Watermedia
Society's 30th Annual Juried Exhibition, on view through Nov.
4, 2007. This exhibit consists of artists' work that use watercolors,
acrylics, and any other mediums that are water based. And last,
but certainly not least in the very middle of museum will be 12
pieces from the extensive Johnson Collection that is titled Mundane
and Sublime. The subject of the show is "wash-day' and
includes work by William Aiken Walker, Elizabeth O'Neil Verner,
and Elliot Daingerfield amongst other well-known southern artists.
This exhibit will continue through Dec. 16, 2007.
SAM hopes that the move to Chapman Cultural Center will be a community builder for Spartanburg County. These exhibits along with the other top quality shows, should draw families, young professionals, and businesses together. This is just as exciting for the public as it is for SAM. The museum also hopes to catch the attention of Spartanburg's local artists since this town has so much creativity running through its sidewalks. SAM recognizes this talent and is ready to promote it.
For further information check our SC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the Museum at 864/582-7616 or visit (www.spartanburgartmuseum.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
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Copyright© 2007 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
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