BAA Spring Show combines new technologies with time-honored traditions.
Daffodils are blooming, alligators are returning, and the thermometer made a few mad dashes towards 80 degrees. That means it’s time for the Beaufort Art Association’s 51st Annual Spring Show and Sale. The event will run from March 16 through March 25 at the Charles Lind Brown Activity Center, located at the intersection of Hamar and Greene Street in Beaufort. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. All works, including the award-winners, will be for sale.
As the show enters its second half-century, committee members recognized the need to combine new technology with time-honored traditions. The Beaufort Art Association has started using an online registration system, designed by webmaster Bruce Morgan, that has simplified the process for both the gallery and the artists. After seeing how much more smooth and eco-friendly registration is now, it seemed logical to take the next step and make the electronic process available to all artists wishing to exhibit in the Art Association’s biggest annual event.
However, innovation cannot occur without a foundation from which to spring. This year’s show will have connections not only to Beaufort’s artistic past, but also our future. Fifty years ago, BAA founding member and past president Catherine Wolfe created a winning entry in a “Prologue to Freedom” art contest to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the landing at Port Royal of Jean Ribaut and the Huguenots. The original painting still hangs at the Beaufort City Hall. While 1000 prints were made in 1962, only roughly 100 remain. The late Mrs. Wolfe’s family has donated these to the Beaufort Art Association. They will be available for sale at the Spring Show, along with a few very rare prints signed by Catherine Wolfe herself, for Beaufort history aficionados and local art lovers.
One of the most visible ways that the show bridges the past and future of art is through the use of memorial awards. Some are meant to encourage artists working in certain mediums, like the Lissa Addington Memorial Award for Advancement of Digital Art, dedicated to an association member who loved digital photography. The Litchfield Memorial Prize, awarded to the “Best in Show” recipient from among high school students, honors longtime association member Geneva Litchfield, who also competed in the aforementioned “Prologue to Freedom” contest and had a winning entry. Even 51 years after the first Beaufort Art Association Spring Show and Sale, Beaufort’s art community, like the town it represents, honors the past and welcomes new people and ideas.
The Beaufort Art Association’s 51st Annual Spring Show and Sale runs from March 16 to March 25 at the Charles Lind Brown Activity Center, 1001 Hamar Street. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
