September Issue 2010
Commentary
by Tom Starland

Now This Is Better

Jumping up 8 more pages is great for us and great for bringing you more news about what's going on in the visual art community of the Carolinas, but still not enough room to fit in all we received by deadline and all that will still come in.

Obviously people have realized that the heat is not going away anytime soon and we just have to live with it - it's why they call this the South. I was up North in July and believe me, the folks there were complaining about how hot it was when the temps got all the way up to 84. Linda and I were in heaven, but then we came back home to our own heaven and you know what that's been like this summer.

As someone reminded me - at least you don't have to shovel the heat.

Welcome to Salisbury

I want to send out a big welcome to the visual art community of Salisbury, NC, who has joined the Carolina Arts family - for what I hope will be an extended stay. Back when we first started Carolina Arts in 1997, we were going to Salisbury hoping to develop a following and support base - as we were throughout North Carolina. After a time when those relationships didn't develop - we had to deal with those areas that did seem to want us covering their visual art community. We're always looking to add new areas to our family.

I made a blog entry about how much the visual art community has changed in Salisbury since 1997 at Carolina Arts Unleashed (www.carolinaarts.com/wordpress/) which should interest readers to make a trip to Salisbury again or for the first time. There is a lot going on there.

So far, I've only seen Salisbury at 5 or 6am, but I'm hoping to make it there soon when everyone is open for business. One of their 2nd Saturday Art Crawls seems like the best choice and since they take place in the daylight, I'll be able to catch the city's sculpture show at the same time. Check out the blog.

Central NC

Salisbury is just the latest addition to our area of coverage in Central NC, joining Asheboro, NC, and the area around Seagrove, NC. You may have heard me refer to Seagrove as the center of pottery in North Carolina, and if you've been following Carolina Arts Unleashed on a regular basis - you know I'm a big fan of Seagrove and the potters there - nearly 100.

Thanks to my visits to Seagrove my interest in pottery has been rekindled. We first started our art collection with pottery, but we lost most of it in a fire when our garage/apartment caught on fire in the middle of the night. The fire didn't harm the pottery, it was the fall from a second level as the fire burned the floor out and the pottery fell to a concrete floor on the first level. So for some time, Linda and I found it hard to look at pottery without thinking of our loss. But, time changes all.

Well, at least that's what we're all hoping for - that time will bring change, but it takes time to reverse a decade of damage to our economy and the art community's recovery will take even longer.

And, talking of change - I attended a funeral for a gallery the other day. What's that you say? Well, it felt like a funeral to me although I guess it was a farewell celebration. Anytime I have to wear cocktail attire - meaning pants, shirt, tie and jacket - that's funeral attire to me.

Waterfront Gallery in Charleston, SC, was closing with a final celebration after 15 years in business. Which was unusual since most galleries that close - just disappear overnight.

The good news is that the closing of this gallery has already spawned two new galleries, Indigo Fine Art Gallery, located at 102 Church St. and Studio 151 Fine Art Gallery, located at 151 E. Bay St. There may even be a third gallery - who knows. You can find further info in our SC Commercial Gallery listings.

It's always amazing, that no matter how bad things get, some people just hang in there, some open new ventures, and others think - now is the time. I guess as long as they want to bring you art we'll stick around to tell you about it. Remember - time changes all.

Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2010 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2010 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.