It’s easy to spot what art is (abstract paintings filling gallery walls, for example) and what it does (display beautifully on your mantle; add live music to the swinging-in-Waterfront Park experience.) But, how does it all work? The Arts Council of Beaufort County, a non-profit organization, provides answers as it labors to support the community— and in turn depends on support and donations from the community— like a sweetgrass basket showing off a selection of hand-carved bracelets. Here’s the current answers, always subject to change, like landscape painters trying to keep up with the seasons:
Art works because of open enthusiasm. With your clicks and vote, Beaufort and Hilton Head can move up the list of 25 Favorite Art Destinations, ranked by American Style Magazine, the nation’s premier arts lifestyle magazine for art lovers, collectors and travelers. Each issue features contemporary art and artists, art galleries, art collectors, and arts travel and tourism— features of Beaufort County that the world should know about! Visit http://tinyurl.com/BeaufortHasStyle and click on the purple ‘Top 25’ logo to get your vote counted.
Art works when it’s explored— especially when dwelling on a transcendent subject. Throughout the month of February @ ARTworks, that topic is Jonathan Green: field trips for students, including a tour, lesson plans, and a printmaking demonstration can be arranged by calling the arts council at 379-2787. For the general public, the show opens on Friday the 5th, immediately followed by a Jazz concert with MaryLouise, 8 to 10pm and $10 at the door.The Seabrook-based singer’s jazz stylings are a steamy sauce for the heaping colors of the artist from Gardens Corners. On Friday, February 12th, Jonathan Green himself will sign books @ ARTworks, 6-8pm, $10 at the door. Meet the artist-printmaker while surrounded by an extensive collection of his original, limited edition lithographs and screen prints, which will remain on view @ ARTworks, free for the public to browse, through the 28th.
Art works when you grasp it. Linda Sheppard is a consummate artist-instructor, and her next class @ ARTworks is “Painting Landscapes, Clouds, and Seascapes in Oil, Acrylic, or Pastel, February 24-26, 8:30am-3pm, $300. Students will learn to use the key elements of composition, color, and value to best portray a visual interpretation of emotion, mood, or weather. The goal is to paint these subjects in a way that engages the viewer. To register, contact Linda at 843-379-4633.
Art works when you embody it. Auditions for Theater X’s production of Painted Alice are February 26 & 27 from 6:30 to 8:30. This multimedia experience, premiering in SC in April, needs actors, videographers, techies, stagehands, and audience members. Painted Alice is an ensemble-based take on the Alice in Wonderland story, told through the world of artists, critics, gallery openings, hangers-on and patrons; it’s a comedy with a dark streak. Contact JW Rone @ jw@beaufortcountyarts.com & 379-2787.
Art works when you plan ahead! ARTsbiz, a series of talks @ ARTworks about the business side of the arts, will re-emerge in March, which is also the 2nd Annual Youth Art Month exhibition @ ARTworks, coordinated with the help of hard-working St. Helena Elementary School art teacher Michelle Maynard. The arts council maintains a busy website with an even busier arts calendar of events and opportunities, county-wide. Save the dates, bookmark www.beaufortcountyarts.com, and let the enthusiastic, exploratory, grasp-able, embodiment begin!
ARTworks in Beaufort Town Center is the home of Arts Council of Beaufort County which promotes and nurtures the arts 365 a year, and works as an independent, non-profit service organization that is not a function of the Beaufort County government. www.beaufortcountyarts.com, 843-379-2787.
The painting above is by Jonathan Green.
