The Travelers Rest Artists Alliance in Travelers Rest, SC, is calling for participation in the Art on the Trail 2018 taking place in Trailblazer Park, on Oct. 20, 2018, from 10am-4pm.
Now is the time to apply for your space! The application fee is still $25 – Click on this link (http://www.artonthetrail.com/online-application.html) to get started!
Trailblazer Park is located at 235 Trailblazer Drive, Travelers Rest, SC
For more info call 864/610-2732
Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg, SC, has set the date for its fifth annual Spartanburg Soaring! International Kite Festival presented by Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. The fun happens on Saturday, Apr. 21, 2018, from 11am – 5pm. This free and family-friendly festival has quickly become a much-anticipated event for people of all ages from all over region. Hundreds of kites fill the sky behind the Chapman Cultural Center in downtown Spartanburg, complemented by live street music and performances, food trucks, and a maker’s market. During the course of the day, individuals and members of the Spartanburg Soaring Kite Club float kites of every imaginable shape and size to the sky, from small kites to octopus-size kites made from the latest technology and advanced materials. It is a colorful and creative experience.
The Spartanburg community has embraced the kite as a symbol of its creative, progressive, and playful spirit. Last year, the event attracted more than 3,500 participants from all over the region and this year will be even better.
“Every year we grow the Festival in terms of creativity and attendance,” Jennifer Evins, President and CEO of Chapman Cultural Center, said. “It is part of our mission to increase community vibrancy and civic engagement. Spartanburg Soaring is a beautiful showcase of what it means to live in Spartanburg. It acts as a symbol of our progressive mindset, our creativity, our curiosity, and our playful nature.”
The rain date is scheduled for Sunday, Apr. 22nd, 2018 from 1pm-5pm.
Chapman Cultural Center is now accepting the participation of artists and makers for the maker’s market, volunteers, and business partners interested in sponsoring the festival.
For more information about this event, please call 864/542-2787 or visit our Facebook Event Page at (https://www.facebook.com/events/1972346109694954/).
The Oconee County Arts & Historical Commission announces Martha File as the recipient of the 2017 Arts and Historical Ambassador Award. File is the inaugural winner of the Ambassador Award, created to recognize a volunteer with “Outstanding Contributions” in the fields of Art, History or Culture in Oconee County. The Ambassador Award honors achievements that extend beyond the expected and make a difference in our community.
Martha File, a founding member of the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail (UHQT), has worked diligently to educate and grow the efforts of South Carolina’s first quilt trail. Oconee County was the first County in South Carolina to embrace the quilt trail concept and there are now over 200 quilts on display across Oconee, Anderson and Pickens Counties. File has coordinated trail expansion, recruited numerous volunteers and as a result, the trail now has a studio in each of the three counties. In addition, she has worked with other counties across South Carolina and neighboring states to introduce and provide resources for additional quilt trails.
Mari Noorai, chairperson of the arts and historical commission says, “Martha’s service to the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail has promoted Oconee County and its heritage. Her dedication and unwavering initiative make Martha the 2017 Arts & Historical Ambassador. Many thanks to Martha and all our exemplary volunteers that help us to ‘Celebrate Oconee.'”
Phil Shirley, director of parks, recreation and tourism for Oconee County says, “I remember Martha’s very first pitch to me about the idea of a quilt trail in 2009. I never imagined it growing to over 200 quilts and spreading across the Upstate. File’s dedication and leadership bring a shining light to our community and we congratulate her on being named the 2017 Oconee County Arts and Historical Ambassador of the Year.”
File says, “On behalf of the all the volunteers of the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail we are honored to have been selected for this award. Helping preserve and promote the history of the Upstate through quilts and sharing the stories of those who made them is a very rewarding experience for us. We would like to thank the many people who have helped us on the journey and we look forward to the new adventures that await us.”
File will be recognized and presented an engraved plaque at the Spring Arts and Historical reception. In addition, a donation will be made in her honor to the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail.
For more information on the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail, visit (www.uhqt.org).
Editor’s Note: This is an article that should have been in our Jan. 2018 issue of “Carolina Arts”, but I dropped the ball during my dance with cancer in December. Unfortunately things like that happen, but we’re trying to make up for it. Help me out my sharing this with others on your social network.
Main & Maxwell in Uptown Greenwood, SC, is featuring the exhibit, “Furnishing a Future program with Greenwood Pathway House,” on view through Jan. 31, 2018. A reception will be held on Jan. 25, from 5:30-7pm.
Furnishing a Future is a wood workshop on the Parham campus of Greenwood Pathway House. There, homeless clients learn woodworking skills and learn to rehabilitate and refurbish used and damaged furniture. In addition, clients learn to design and produce handcrafted bread boards. Furnishing a Future equips clients with a new skill set, job training, and the potential for employment. The program focuses on helping the homeless by facilitating intentional, long-term relationships.
This model fosters authentic relationships that empower clients. The goal is that, while the program works with homeless people to transform furniture, they also instill skills and values that will help clients see the potential for a personal transformation as well. Completing the circle, Greenwood Pathway House then sells the renovated furniture, and bread boards directing the proceeds back into the ministry.
Main & Maxwell has partnered with Greenwood Pathway House to provide a venue for the sale of their bread boards.
Main & Maxwell is a unique gallery and retail shop offering a selection of high quality art and handcrafted pieces. It is their intent to support the Greenwood community by featuring locally and regionally produced work for sale.
For further info call the gallery at 864/223-6229 or visit (www.mainandmaxwell.com).
Greenville Center for Creative Arts in Greenville, SC, invites established and emerging artists (ages 18+) to submit proposals for solo or group exhibitions for the 2019/2020 exhibition calendar. The GCCA Main Gallery provides approximately 4,000 square feet of exhibition space and features the work of local, regional, national, and international artists from all disciplines in 6 – 8 shows per year. All mediums will be considered for exhibition.
Deadline for Exhibition Proposals: January 12, 2018.
Exhibition proposals will be reviewed and scored by the GCCA Exhibition Committee using the following criteria:
Work reflects consistency of quality
Work reflects clear objectives and a strong overall concept or theme
Work represents GCCA’s mission to enrich the cultural fabric of the community through visual arts promotion, education, and inspiration
Only original artwork created and executed by the applicant will be considered for exhibition
Submission Requirements:
Artist Statement or Exhibition Description
Artist Bio
CV or Resume
6 – 8 images of work
$30 application fee submitted electronically with application form
CLICK HERE (https://podio.com/webforms/17017714/1144294) to submit a solo or group exhibition proposal to GCCA.
Notification e-mails will be sent mid March. A contract and additional information will be provided if the proposal is accepted. Work will be insured by GCCA while on display. The artist is responsible for delivery of work to and from GCCA. Shipping costs will be the responsibility of the artist.
Contact (exhibitions@artcentergreenville.org) if you have any questions or call 864/735-3948.
Greenville Technical College in Greenville, SC, is presenting an exhibition entitled, f word, featuring works by Alice Ballard, Katrina Majkut, Lynne Riding, and Katya Cohen, on view at RIVERWORKS Gallery, located along the Reedy River in Greenville, through December 16, 2017.
F word is usually a more palatable, polite, hushed version of a caustic, curse. This exhibition, f word, politely whispers an all too often misunderstood term, “feminist”– feminist as the curse of cuckolding, uppity women.
The f word defines feminist as regenerative, life-giving nature as seen in Alice Ballard’s exquisite ceramic wall pods. Ballard defines her process: “I spend countless hours contemplating a particular form in order to feel its energy. It becomes a Zen-like connection not unlike a meditation.” Ballard, a grandmother, currently teaches at the SC Governor’s School for the Arts (SGCAH) and Humanities and Christ Church Episcopal Middle School and maintains a studio here in Greenville.
Work by Katrina Majkut
The f word is intricate, petite, cross stitched samplers of contraceptive products from Katrina Majkut’s “Control” series. She states, “Such mediums contain their own patriarchal or submissive history, and modernizing them to convey how particular cultural practices are often at odds with women’s parity.” Majkut is a visual artist and writer living and working in Brooklyn, NY. She is dedicated to exploring and understanding feminine narratives and civil rights.
Lynne Riding’s “Concerning Beings” fills the floor of RIVERWORKS with strikingly fragile white paper bowls – vessels, the ancient, mythological female symbol. According to Riding, “It occurred to me that the daily practice required when making these bowls references the daily chores and some of the tedium involved with many daily domestic chores, aligned with attention to detail and the care required.” Riding is a practicing artist in Charleston and on the faculty of the College of Charleston and the Art Institute of Charleston.
Works by Lynne Riding
Katya Cohen states, “Contemporary Art cannot be addressed without tracing its roots to Duchamp’s readymades; his most (in)famous being Fountain done in 1917…” In homage to the 100th Anniversary of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, Cohen paints, in the manner of Rubens, details of this classic male fixture as seductive, sensuous, female curves. Cohen lives and maintains a studio practice in Clemson after gracefully retiring from teaching classes, ranging from printmaking to seminars in contemporary art theory, at UGA, Clemson, Anderson, Furman and at the SGCAH.
f word’s subtle images and palette invite contemplation and possibly a rethinking of the cultural myths of feminism. Through its quiet images, forms, and tones it politely asks for consideration of women as equals.
RIVERWORKS Gallery is operated by and for the faculty and students of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Greenville Technical College. The gallery is located on River Street, Suite 202, along the scenic Reedy River in downtown Greenville.
For further information call 864/271-0679, e-mail to (elizabeth.markel@gvltec.edu), or visit (www.gvltec.edu/dva) and click on RIVERWORKS.
“The name of this quilt pattern is a Star Flower however, we call the quilt Granny Morris’s Dresses since my Maternal Grandmother, Julia Kemp Morris, sewed this quilt back in the early 1940s from fabrics of her old dresses and my grandfather’s shirts,” says Jeanie Morehead Christopher. Julia probably learned the art of quilting from her mother. Most likely, she and her 5 sisters passed the time away while quilting together. “My grandfather, Joseph Walker Morris, bought his first truck when he was 38 years old in 1927. He built a lucrative business known in the Anderson area as J. W. Morris Transfer. Later, the name was changed to Morris Van Lines as that is the name on all the advertising memorabilia (key chains, pencils, pens & business cards) we have in the family. Morris Van Lines moved to Belton Highway in July 1948 where it remained until liquidation by his children in 1993. Both of his children, O. V. Morris and Jeanette Morris Moorhead were involved in this business venture until their retirement. Mr. Morris’ son-in-law James Robert Moorhead was also employed by the company until his retirement in 1982,” adds Christopher.
This quilt is placed on the site of the Morris’ home at 2023 E. River Street (Belton Highway) in Anderson, SC. Hill Electric and Morris Van Lines were business neighbors for many years and Hill Electric bought the property in the 1990’s. They renovated the warehouses and office spaces to suit their electric business. “My grandparents’ home became their temporary offices while they did the remodeling. After a recent tour of the home and the warehouses, I found that much of it remains as it was when I was a child. Roller skating around the transfer trucks and having talent shows in my grandparent’s attic and basement are fond memories at Granny’s house,” say Christopher. “I also recall being able to see the double ferris wheel at the Anderson Fair Grounds from an attic window. We grandchildren would slide down the hill beside the house on broken down packing boxes from the moving business. Granny made fig preserves from her fig tree that is still standing at the bottom of this hill.”
“This quilt has already been a great example of how the Upstate Quilt Trail brings families back together. My first cousin and I have been in contact many times over the last few months while this quilt was being painted. I learned during those conversations that her daughter (the next generation!) has many fond memories of Granny’s house, her meals, her sewing, her garden in the back of the lot and playing as well around the transfer trucks. This would be Granny’s great-grand daughter and she hopes to come up to Anderson and see the quilt installed as well as get a current tour of the house where we all had such a good time!,” adds Christopher.
For further info about the Quilt Trail call 864/723-6603 or visit (www.uhqt.org).
The SE Center for Photography in Greenville, SC, is looking for non-representational imagery, though it can be from found objects in nature, man made or figurative works. We’re seeking images that do not attempt to represent external reality, but seek to achieve its effect using shapes, forms, colors, and texture.
Our Juror for the Abstract Image is Adam Finkelston, who is the owner, publisher and co-editor of, “The Hand Magazine: A Magazine For Reproduction-based Arts”, an internationally- recognized quarterly art magazine. In addition to curating, Finkelston has also juried exhibitions for LA Photo Curator and Core New Art Space in Denver, CO. Mr. Finkelston holds an MA in Photography from the University of Missouri- Kansas City (UMKC), a BFA in Photography from the Kansas City Art Institute, and a BA in Art Education from UMKC.
Abstract Prospectus (http://www.sec4p.com/abstract-prospectus-1)
Submissions Close 11/5/17
Exhibition Opens 1/5/18
The SE Center for Photography, 1239 Pendleton St, Greenville, SC 29611
For further info call 864/605-7400, e-mail to (info@sec4p.com), or visit (sec4p.com).
It’s been a busy summer for the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail (UHQT). We have opened a new studio in Pickens County at the Holly Springs Center and moved the Walhalla studio to the former Oakway Intermediate School in Westminster. The Anderson studio is still located at the Anderson Arts Center. All the studios are integral components of the UHQT and production of quilt panels. All our production teams are hard at work and looking forward to a busy fall and winter. Direct communication links are highlighted.
Anderson County
110 Federal Street, Anderson
Painting studio located in the Old Carnegie Library Basement
Hours: Fridays 9:30 – Noon
Contact: Diane Schonauer by calling 864/231-9317
Oconee County
150 Schoolhouse Road, Westminster, former Oakway Intermediate School
Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, from 9:30 – Noon
Contact: Chris Troy by calling 864/985-1096
Pickens County
Holly Springs Center
120 Holly Springs School Road, Pickens, Room #110
Hours: Thursday and First and Third Saturdays, from 10:00 -2:00. Check Face Book for updates Holly Springs Center Quilt Painting Group
Contact: Cindy Blair by calling 864/973-3921
Visit our Face Book page for production updates and news. Please contact us at 864/723-6603 or visit (www.uhqt.org).
Hub City Empty Bowls will host its annual Soup Day, on Oct. 28, 2017, from 11am-4pm, at the Chapman Cultural Center, to raise money and awareness for hunger in Spartanburg, SC, where about 16 percent of the people are not sure where their next meal is coming from. Spearheaded by Carolina Clay Artists, Soup Day is a community event where citizens can make $15 donations to receive locally handmade pottery bowls and a simple meal of soup, bread, tea, and the fellowship of others who want to make Spartanburg a better place to live.
All money raised will be given to TOTAL Ministries, a local nonprofit charity that helps Spartanburg citizens in dire financial straits. Last year, 2016, Hub City Empty Bowls gave more than $33,000 to TOTAL Ministries. For every bowl taken by a patron, 83 pounds of food can be secured for those in need.
In addition to several hundred pottery bowls to choose from and about two dozen soups donated by local restaurants, patrons will be able to enjoy live music, a silent auction, and a drum circle on an autumn day.
During the summer, Hub City Empty Bowls hosted three public bowl-making events, where the general public was able to make handmade pottery bowls at no cost. All supplies, space, and instruction were donated. These were wholesome, creative, and well attended community events that welcomed everyone, even children who made some of the most endearing bowls. The hand-shaped bowls were left in at the host studios – West Main Artists Co-Op and Spartanburg Art Museum – for touch-ups, painting, and firing. In addition, several experienced and professional potters donated bowls, many of which were wheel thrown and of professional quality. All of those bowls will be available on Soup Day. Many people do their Christmas shopping at Soup Day, securing gifts that have significant social and creative meaning.
Empty Bowls is a worldwide charitable and social phenomenon without any oversight or headquarters. It was started in 1990-91 by a high school art teacher who wanted to involve his students in an art-based community project of making pottery bowls that could be used to raise money to feed the poor. From that humble beginning, the concept spread around the world, taking on many different aspects, but always keeping locally made pottery bowls as the source of the fundraising.
For more information about Hub City Empty Bowls’s 2017 Soup Day, please visit online at (www.HubCityEmptyBowls.com).
This program is funded in part by Chapman Cultural Center, its donors, the County and City of Spartanburg, and the South Carolina Arts Commission that receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of SC.
Carolina Arts Unleashed
