New Documentary Headed to SCETV (PBS) in Fall 2026

Producer/Host Luke Frazier

New documentary The Art of Believing screens August 1 at Penn Center’s Frissell Community House, highlighting the faith, artistry, and enduring legacy of three Sea Island artists.

WHAT: A screening of the documentary The Art of Believing, a collaboration between NOW Communications and Harden Creative that explores the connection between faith and art through the stories of three Sea Island artists: Rev. Johnnie Simmons, Susan Stone, and John M. Bradley. The 30-minute screening will be followed by a Q&A and artist reception.

WHO: Hosted by Luke Frazier, Producer, and Sasha Horne Hirshout, Associate Producer. Featuring Sea Island artists Rev. Johnnie Simmons, Susan Stone, and John M. Bradley.

WHEN: Saturday, August 1, 2026, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.

WHERE: Frissell Community House, Penn Center Campus, St. Helena Island, SC

WHY: The screening offers the Lowcountry community a rare chance to hear directly from three Sea Island artists whose deeply personal spiritual journeys, from Gullah pyrography to shamanic healing to spray-painted ministry art, shape everything they create. Free admission, $5 suggested donation benefits the York W. Bailey Museum.

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Rev. Johnnie Simmons

Rev. Johnnie Simmons is a self-taught Gullah folk artist and ordained minister raised in the farming community of Frogmore on St. Helena Island. He graduated high school in 1969 and served as a paratrooper with the Army’s 173rd Airborne in Vietnam. Years later, while working

Rev. Johnnie Simmons

through PTSD in a treatment program, he found an ordinary rock shaped like a lion’s head, an encounter that sparked a new way of seeing the world around him. Soon after, an impulse buy of a wood-burning kit set him on a path as a pyrography artist. Simmons now etches Gullah folk scenes and biblical imagery into wood, often painting in vivid color and captioning his work in the Gullah language. His art has been shown at Penn Center, Four Corners Gallery, and other Lowcountry venues.

 

Susan Stone

Susan Stone is a Port Royal-based artist, author, and healer. She holds an associate degree in commercial art and spent decades working in advertising, landscape design, and kitchen design while continuing to paint and teach. In 2010, Susan

Susan Stone

was struck by lightning, an event that required eye surgery and, by her account, opened a deeper spiritual awareness that continues to inform her art today. She is a Certified Crystal Healer, Reiki Master, and Initiated Shamanic Practitioner, and founded The Arts Port Royal, a school offering classes in fine, mystic, and healing arts.

 

John M. Bradley

John M. Bradley has roots on St. Helena Island and is known for his large-scale spray-painted tunnel installation at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, celebrated for its striking depiction of historic figures. Bradley has since developed what he calls “Ministry Art,” using bold

John M. Bradley

spray-painted imagery paired with biblical passages to carry messages of faith, often inviting viewers to look beneath the surface for a deeper meaning.

 

PRESENTED BY

NOW Communications and Harden Creative

Free tickets and RSVP: The Art of Believing Screening Event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-art-of-believing-documentary-screening-tickets-1993466448811