I posted a report of my first trip to Florence, SC, to see some exhibits back on Jan. 14, 2011. You can read that post on our blog “Carolina Arts Unleashed” at this link (http://carolinaarts.com/wordpress/?p=1156). Well, it wasn’t my first trip to Florence, I’ve been there many times before to Francis Marion University’s gallery and to the old Florence Museum, but I kind of gave up on the area as we couldn’t get people to keep us informed about their exhibits.
One of my planned visits was to the Art Trail Gallery. Here’s what I said about that visit in 2011, “Next stop, the Art Trail Gallery, at 135 South Dargan Street, soon to really be in a prime location. At the south corner of the intersection of South Dargan and Cheves Street you’ll find construction going on at the new Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center, which I understand may open this year. Across Cheves Street is the site of the planned new Florence Museum and next to that is the Art Trail Gallery complex in the old, massive Kimbrell’s building – an old furniture store, now owned by the Florence Downtown Development Corporation.”
Inside the first Art Trail Gallery
At times the receptions would be packed
The second location on Evans Street
A view inside the second location
That location today
This gallery was all due to the efforts of Jane Madden, an unpaid volunteer, who has a full time job at Francis Marion University. Madden had to finally give up doing everything to keep the gallery going for health reasons, and eventually the gallery moved over to Evans Street and then had to move out of that location to move into a building which had to be renovated – back on Dargan Street but things fizzled out and eventually the City of Florence turned that building over to Francis Marion University and today we have the University Place Gallery, on the first floor at 142 North Dargan Street. I think things turned out for the best.
That was eight years ago when I eventually gave into the pleas of Madden to come see what was going on in the Pee Dee. I put her off at first, but I eventually gave in. Once I showed up, I was impressed and became a regular promoter of the growing visual arts community in the Pee Dee area. Then she told me something big was going to take place in Lake City. And, something big did take place there, but I won’t hold that against her. Long story short, I liked ArtFields, was a cheerleader for ArtFields, and then ArtFields started getting funky, and I didn’t care for ArtFields anymore. I stopped going to the Pee Dee and then I got cancer. I’m so over ArtFields and cancer, so I have returned to Florence and good things are still going on there.
Madden is one of the biggest supporters of “Carolina Arts” and I think she deserves a lot of credit for showing folks that a broken downtown area could come back to life and the arts was a good place to start doing that. And, it’s a good thing some other folks had the money to make it all happen. And that the Florence City Mayor’s Mother was an artist. It’s all history now. I could hardly believe all the changes that had taken place in the Dargan/Evans Street area since I had been there last – maybe 4-5 years ago.
I’m including some photos from 2011 and today, but I can’t express what the smell of decay was like on Evans Street in 2011. Old abandoned buildings smell.
Corner of Evans and Dargan a few years ago
Corner of Evans and Dargan today
View of Evans Street
Outdoor area on Evans
Old shot of buildings on Dargan Street
Shot of Dargan Street today
There was a very large Hyatt Place Hotel there now. Most of the empty buildings were now filled with clothing stores, restaurants, and a brewing company. The Chamber of Commerce was there and WBTN News 13 was there. An open field next to the Florence County Museum was filled with a very large apartment complex – so that is wasn’t just businesses moving back in, so were people. The area was landscaped to the max with piped in music built into the landscaping. The place was dresses up for the Holidays (that’s Christmas and New Years and the other Holidays Mr. you know who you are – there’s more than one holiday taking place this time of year so most people say, “Happy Holidays” to be polite – there’s no war on Christmas). And, did I mention the parking is free in that area.
View of sculpture, Big Bleu Birdnanna by Mike and Patz Fowle.
New Apartment complex next to the Florence County Museum
Shoot for the Moon sculpture in area behind Evans and Dargan Street
Outdoor eating area, part of Victors in the Hotel Florence
Sculptures made by Bob Doster and school children from Florence at back of James Allen Plaza off Dargan Street
Front of James Allen Plaza on Dargan Street
Brewing Company on Dargan Street. You can see the reflection of the University Place Gallery building across the street
There was no one around to get a photo of me.
Francis Marion University’s University Place Gallery
Anyway – things have really changed in this section of Florence and I think people around the Carolinas would find it a pleasant visit to downtown Florence – with a lot of culture to take in. I won a stay at the Hotel Florence (a Hyatt property) on Evans Street about five years ago and it was first class all the way.
So, I went to go see the SC Watermedia Society’s “42nd Annual Exhibition”, which was their third National Exhibition, taking in works from 12 states, as far away as California and Alaska. It was in the new University Place Gallery, showing through Dec. 20, 2019.
The space is run by Colleen A. Critcher, who’s title is Gallery Coordinator. She is also an artist, which is good and bad – good that she knows what it’s like to deal with a gallery space, bad in that I always hate to see an artist end up spending too much time running a facility and not making art, but it’s better for the artists who will show there to have someone who understands an artist’s way or mind set, and can keep them on track to bring a show together. Not that I’m saying some artists or art groups don’t have their act together and sometimes need a little shove. Well, yeah I’m saying that.
The gallery space was a good combination of new and old – old brick walls, new lighting and new panels to change the shape of the space around from one show to the next. This exhibit was well spaced and well lit. I liked that small works were placed together and works not under glass were together. This new gallery space was going to be a great new addition to the visual art community of the Pee Dee area of South Carolina and SC as a whole as I’m sure the University will be bringing in works from beyond the Pee Dee. But no rush there, as the Pee Dee has plenty of talent to be showcased.
This was the first national show I’ve seen of the SC Watermedia Society and I liked the added diversity it gave to what was once an annual member exhibit. There were still many works and names of artists I recognized from throughout SC, but also plenty of new works with different subject matter, styles, and even a few with a political message. You don’t see much of that in a watercolor show – at least I haven’t.
Work by Michelle Peterlin of Evansville, IN
The “2019 National Exhibition” was juried by Ryan Fox, a Signature Member of American Watercolor Society and of five state and regional societies. Fox selected 74 works to be included in the exhibition and also selected the top 30 award winning works which will travel throughout SC as part of the SC State Museum’s Traveling Exhibitions Program.
The top three award winners included: Best of Show, was “Enxhi” by Ashley Arakas of Myrtle Beach, SC, who won the Jo F. Scarborough Memorial Award ($1,000); Second Place went to “Towing The Line” by Russell Jewel of Easley, SC, who won the Employee Rewards Solutions Award ($700); and Third Place was given to “Daydreaming” by Gail Cunningham of Columbia, SC, who won the Hotel Florence, Hyatt Place Rosie Coleman, Rosemary Segreti Award ($600).
“Enxhi” by Ashley Arakas
“Towing The Line” by Russell Jewel
“Daydreaming” by Gail Cunningham
Now, you just have until Dec. 20, 2019, to see this exhibit in its entirety, but as mentioned above the top 30 award winning works will travel around SC and its next stop will be at the Sumter County Gallery of Art in Sumter, SC, where it will be on view from Jan. 16 through Feb. 20, 2020.
I have professional photos of the top three winners and I took some of works that were not under glass and just general shots of the gallery, but none will ever look as good as standing right in front of these works – so go see them, don’t live thought my report. I only offer this as a reason for you to get up off your rear and go see something.
And, finally no show like this happens out of thin air or grows on trees – it takes a village to put on an exhibit like this and it all started with the 2019 SCWS President Lynda English, who happened to be the 2018 Best of Show artist – surprise, you win and you get to pull the next show together. Just joking Ashley Arakas. English got a lot of help from other SCWS members all over the state, and staff members and those who sponsored the awards and helped pay for the exhibit catalogue – which is where you’ll find everyone’s name when you attend this show somewhere in SC.
Just remember, since 1977, the South Carolina Watermedia Society has been promoting the artistic and professional interests of its members as well as providing visual arts programs to the public and SCWS is the largest statewide visual arts group in South Carolina.
Next up at this gallery will be, “Charlie Mills: Painting Blind – Views For The Intuitive Eye”, on view from Jan. 14 – Feb. 21, 2020. A reception will be held on Feb. 21, from 6-8pm. After Forty-eight years of commercial design work, Charlie Mills now focuses his time on abstract painting. His interest in non-literal expression is fueled by his focus on accessing the intuitive mind or the subconscious. Mills’ large scale paintings express clearly defined shapes and edges, calligraphic shapes and pin-striping. They are a result of the artist finding a balance of the analytical and the intuitive.
The University Place Gallery is open: Tue.-Thur., 11am-6pm; Fri., 11am-7pm; and Sat., 10am-3pm. There is no admission.
For further info call the gallery at 843/661-4637, visit (https://www.fmarion.edu/universityplace/), Facebook at (https://www.facebook.com/fmuuniversityplace), and Instagram is at (https://www.instagram.com/fmu_university_place_gallery/). For info about the SCWS visit (https://scwatermedia.com/).
OK – next stop, the “Out of Paradise” exhibit, featuring works by Jim Boden, at the Florence County Museum’s Waters Gallery, located at 135 South Dargan Street – just down the street from the University Place Gallery. Unfortunately this show ends on Dec. 13, so you have to go see it quick and the gallery is only open Mon.-Fri. It’s been shown in other spaces so I’m hoping it will come up on view again soon. Keep an eye out for this one.
This exhibit is a horse of a different color. You can’t just look at Boden’s works and say – that’s nice and go on to the next one – you’re going to be looking hard at these works and wondering what you’re looking at. His work falls into that category where I think to myself, “Man, I’m glad I don’t have his dreams or nightmares!” and at the same time thinking, “Why do I like his works so much?” Some images come right out of the Bible – the old testament Bible I’m sure. Well, I don’t know the Bible that well, but I know there’s a lot of dark stuff in there. And, there’s a lot of dark stuff reflected in Boden’s paintings.
Work by Jim Boden, I forgot to get the title as I had this photo on file
Work by Jim Boden, again I messed up and forgot to get the title of this work
The exhibition is composed of works created by Boden during the last ten years. Boden is Professor Emeritus at Coker University in Hartsville, SC, where he taught from 1999 to 2016. The official PR on this exhibit says, “Boden’s lush and darkly toned paintings are figurative in more ways than one, frequently using the human body as a means of expressing personal and cultural tensions. The exhibition’s title is taken from the artist’s most recent series, which depict modern man and woman in an ambiguous, sometimes surrealistic landscape, evoking biblical references to Adam and Eve’s exit from Eden”.
View of the exhibit in the Waters Gallery
There was one painting called “Witnessing”, where it looks like two men are forcing a child to look at a naked woman on a cross or positioned in the form of a crucifixion. Maybe it’s the child’s Mother, but the child doesn’t want to look at her, and the men are forcing the child to look. It didn’t remind me of anything in the Bible or about Adam and Eve, but I did think of this as a representation of what the border guards were doing to children who they had taken away from their parents when families tried to get in our country just to be safe. And, here we were making them look into hell on earth – an America that doesn’t want them. They came to be safe and we put them through hell to teach others not to come.
“Witnessing” by Jim Boden
This was a pretty powerful show of works one might not expect to see in Florence, SC, but I think it was a good sign that they were being seen in Florence. Some people tend to think that Charleston is the cultural center of South Carolina, but most of the art being made in Charleston is pretty tame. Boden would have a hard time getting a venue to show his works in one of the Holy City’s public spaces – maybe – maybe not. It would be nice if they did. It would be great if someone proved me wrong.
Being a Professor Emeritus means you’re probably up there in years – you’ve been around. South Carolina’s arts establishment has a blind eye when it comes to our older artists who are still producing work that should be seen. It’s seems most of the arts agencies and arts organizations are more interested in the young guns in the art world or the long gone, but if you find yourself in the middle – people are less interested. I’d like to see a program or juried show opportunity where you had to be 65+ to enter. You might be surprised at what these elder artists who have been around the block a few time might be up to and what they could show you – when they’re not trying to fit themselves into the latest trending round hole – just to get some funding or recognition.
If you can’t tell – I really liked Jim Boden’s work and I wish I had gotten out to see it much earlier so I could have told you to go see it sooner – with more time on the clock.
The FCM Waters Gallery is open Mon.-Fri., 10am-5pm. Admission is free.
For further information call 843/676-1200 or visit (http://www.flocomuseum.org/).
Well, it was a short trip, but I enjoyed getting to see these two shows and what Florence has been up to since my last visit. I think I’ll be back sooner than later the next time.
Oh, and for those wondering, I went to Florence on Hwy. 52 and drove right through Lake City, SC, like I always used to, and I didn’t see anything that would make me want to stop there – especially that big white cross. I really don’t understand why some folks need such things to remind them that they need religion or that others should be afraid if they don’t.
Until the next time.