October Issue 2004
Commentary
by Tom Starland
Enough is Enough!!!
OK - Uncle! to Mother Nature. I think it's about time the hurricanes start making landfall at the north and south pole. I know folks in Florida have had enough, but we in the Carolinas have had to deal with every one of theirs and some of our own. I don't want to see any hurricanes named Pluto or Randy, much less Tommy or Tess. Who's for bringing back the drought?
And, the bad part is, once all that water is finished making a mess in Western North Carolina - it all just heads downhill to South Carolina. Seriously, I hope everyone is hanging in there and being safe - the sun will shine again - someday.
One of Hurricane Ivan's victims in the art community was the Art In the Park event to be held in Greenville, SC's, new Falls Park. It has been rescheduled for Oct. 23 & 24, 2004. I hope they know something we don't and that weekend will be wonderful. For info and updates check (www.upstatevisualart.org).
I'm sure that's not the only event that was either cancelled or literally washed away. As we hear about them we'll try and let you know on the website. As time goes on I'm sure we're going to learn a lot more about the victims of this hurricane season. The people in these areas will need our support more than ever.
A Real Art Auction
Many a time I've complained about the growing
number of art auction fundraisers which have become a real burden
of the visual art community, but I'm here to plug a real art auction.
On page 19 you can read about the upcoming Sixteenth Annual
Renaissance Auction to be held on Hilton Head Island, SC,
on Oct. 29, 2004, by the Morris & Whiteside Galleries.
This is an auction where people come to bid lots of money in an
attempt to be the top bidder on art that is being presented at
market value. Some bargains will be had and some works will see
their ending price soar as parties vie to be its owner. But artists
won't have to see their works go for horribly low prices as they
often do at these art auction fundraisers for charities. This
is a first class act and the roster of artists with works being
offered include some regional favorites such as William Halsey,
Mary Whyte, West Fraser, Ed Rice, Don Nagel, Joyce Nagel, Arless
Day, Ray Ellis, Walter Greer and others.
The auction includes a lot of Western art, but the organizers are hoping to build up the inclusion of many more works by regional Southern artists.
It will be interesting to see what the final tally is on this year's auction - stay tuned and if you're in the market - check this event out.
On the Horizon
The Charleston Fine Art Dealers' Association will be having their Sixth Charleston Fine Art Annual on the weekend of Nov. 5-7, 2004. This event, which involves ten of Charleston's fine art galleries, is also an event true art lovers shouldn't miss. One of the special events is the Plein Air Painting in the Park, which takes place in Washington Park, near the "four corners of the law" in downtown Charleston, SC, on Nov. 6, from 9am to noon.
You can find more info about this event on Page 21 or go to (www.CFADA.com).
And, a little further down the horizon will be the 23rd Annual Seagrove Pottery Festival in Seagrove, NC, taking place on Nov. 20 & 21, 2004. The town of Seagrove boasts it has over 100 potteries in the area. Talk about variety!
From the Old News Files
On Page 12 we finally have the press release
from the SC State Museum in Columbia, SC, about the "under-publicized"
exhibit, Thresholds: Expressions of Art and Spiritual Life,
on view through Oct. 17, 2004. This is the exhibition the SC Arts
Commission put together with several other state art agencies
in the region, but forgot tell the media about it - or maybe it
was just us.
The State Museum said they sent us a press release before the
exhibit started. So, I guess we're just making the whole thing
up just for good copy. Hey, maybe I can get one of those high
paying jobs in politics. Believe me, I don't have to make things
up to find good things to mention in my commentary - they come
in droves.
Anyway, we now have a press release about this traveling exhibit and you better go see it soon - it ends Oct. 17. And, who knows if we'll ever hear about it when it travels to North Carolina - one of the organizers. But either way, it's not up to us to keep asking when and where it's going to take place. That's the responsibility of the organizers and host of the exhibit.
The lesson here is - why organize an exhibit if you're not going to let people know about it in a timely fashion? The media does look for some stories, but they don't have the time or staff to search them all out. If you want people to see your exhibits, see your art - you need to make every effort to alert the media and hope they have room to include your exhibit. And, if they don't, you still can let the public know what you're offering through a number of means - direct mail, posters, calling folks and even putting a message in a bottle. But if you just sit there waiting - people will be going to the other person's exhibit - as they made the effort to publicize it. How about you?
Carolina Arts
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Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
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