By Brenda Litchfield

Beaufort’s Fall ArtWalk is back! After being canceled last year, it has returned in full swing for Friday, October 22nd from 4:30 – 9:00 p.m. The Lowcountry Art Celebration which is Beaufort’s 17th Art Walk, features 13 galleries and shops downtown, including The Charles Street Gallery (914 Charles), Basecamp Gallery (500 Carteret) and USCB Center for the Arts (801 Carteret). All participating galleries will be displaying an ArtWalk flag so they will be easy to find.

The Lowcountry Art Celebration is the same weekend as the Historic Beaufort Foundation’s Fall Festival of Houses and Gardens. These two events will showcase the art and architecture that make our area famous and a distinctive Southern city.

Collectively representing over 400 artists, ArtWalk will showcase Lowcountry talent in a variety of media: oil, acrylic, watercolor, multimedia, fiber, glass, jewelry, pottery, and more. Beginning in May, representatives from the galleries met to plan the event. It has truly been a group effort to create advertising, a budget, and demonstrations, along with communicating with individual galleries and the city.

The City of Beaufort graciously agreed to help with printing and advertising, providing additional exposure on their website, so news of ArtWalk reaches a wide audience in our region.

A new addition this year will be demonstrations at four locations. These will be scheduled on the hour and will last for about 20 minutes. They will be an opportunity to talk with artists and learn how they do what they do. If you have ever had questions about techniques or processes, this is the time to observe and ask.

At The Charles Street Gallery (5 pm), Georgia Phillips will share her wealth of knowledge about how to select the perfect frame and mat for your original artwork. This is excellent information for artists and collectors, as well as those who would like to improve the look of their art.

Just in time for Halloween, there will be pumpkin decorating for children at Coastal Art Supply (6 pm), with owner Lindsey Eavenson. Children will be guided in the design techniques to create their own orange masterpiece to take home. They will have 40 pumpkins ready for the creative young artists.

At 7 pm Thibault Gallery will present a glass demonstration by artist Greg Rawls, who will pull glass through a kiln to form glass rods to create glass bowls and plates. This unique technique is interesting and fun to watch.

The final demonstration will be held at 8 pm at the Beaufort Art Association. It will be a watercolor painting demonstration by a local artist, James Powley.

Another fun addition this year is two fabulous door prizes. One winner will receive a night at the Cuthbert House Inn Bed and Breakfast and dinner for two at Saltus. Another lucky winner will receive dinner for two at Breakwater. Thanks to these two fine restaurants for their donations to ArtWalk.  There will be entry forms at every gallery to increase the chances of winning these desirable prizes. So, visit them all!

Most of the galleries will be serving wine and hors d’oeuvres. This will be a relaxing and interesting evening to see art in Beaufort and meet others who appreciate the fine talent we have here.

This is a quote from over 50 years ago in a mid-1970s news article I found in my mother’s art scrapbook. It is just as true now as it was then:

Beaufort today is filled with top artists. Some have mentioned earlier; others are Nancy Ricker Webb, Will Causey, Geneva Litchfield, Nan Fisk, and Charles Parnell, but there are too many fine artists to name them all. We have such talent and creative sensitivity in our community!

We hope you will join us to revive the Lowcountry Art Celebration – Fall ArtWalk. The exceptional talent in this city is what has made Beaufort one of the top 15 art towns in the US with hundreds of local artists adding to this distinction. We would like to celebrate our art in a big way. See you October 22nd.

 

List of Participating Galleries and Shops

  • Atelier Off Bay
  • Basecamp Gallery
  • Beaufort Art Association
  • Beaufort River Glass
  • Charles Street Gallery
  • Coastal Art Supply
  • Green Herring Framing
  • I Pinckney Simons Gallery
  • Legacy Art Gallery
  • Melissa Lyons Art
  • Rhett Gallery
  • Thibault Gallery
  • USCB Center for the Arts

 

For more information contact Brenda Litchfield at 251-622-1930.