A Day in Charleston



East Bay Homes

HISTORIC CHARLESTON, SC

walkway along E. Bay Street

It was a gorgeous day in Charleston. 

A. Paul & I started our day with a walk along E. Bay Street that skirts around the historic downtown peninsula and Battery Park, where Civil War cannons are frozen in time.  The southern mansions with their covered porticos were washed with sunlight.  The residents here were awakening from the winter season, painting, planting, and cleaning this pristine corner of the world.

After stopping in for a morning meal at East Bay Meeting House, where local resident Brit Washburn gave us an inside rundown on the art scene, we ventured along Broad Street to the section aptly named "Gallery Row." There, we were met with warm hospitality in the many galleries we visited.  What we were surprised to see was the diversity of the gallery collections.  Given the historic nature of the area, we expected to see much more emphasis on native "low country" scenes and though there was a strong showing of these works, there was also a substantial collection of regional and international artists' works of urban scenes, figurative works, and abstract art.  When we inquired about this at the Wells Gallery,  Director Keli Tolley stated that her gallery used to show mainly local artists' works  but the trend has shifted to meet the needs of the changing collector base.  There was evidence of this in most of the galleries we visited. To see the works at Wells Gallery you can visit http://www.wellsgallery.com/

Margie Veitel (L) & Kerry
at Edward Dare Gallery

"Matilda" by Roberta Remy

The Edward Dare Gallery does feature some gems of "low country" artwork by Roberta Remy.  Remy visits the area and is enraptured by the long standing history of sweetgrass weavers who, for decades, have graced the corners of Charleston. Having spoken to one of the street weavers, Jennifer, the spaces in which they sit are handed down through the family.  The corner where Jennifer has woven her baskets for the past 27 years was occupied by her mother for over 50 years.      


Scott Amrhein Glass at
Martin Gallery

 At the Martin Gallery, A. Paul & I were surrounded by monumental sculpture, paintings, and glass.  One artist's work that did capture our attention was the metallic glazed and etched art glass by Scott Amrhein.  The simplistic, fluid lines and crackled metallic glazed glass on ironwork stands were striking with the light filtering through the window.  http://www.martingallerycharleston.com/

Kerry (L) with Maggie Kruger (R) at M Gallery

Our most informative encounter was with Maggie Kruger of the M Gallery.  For many years, Maggie operated a successful art business and artist in residence program in Florida. When the overall economy declined, her business did as well.  Though she continues her artist in residence workshops in Florida, she relocated her entire gallery business to Charleston after driving across the country scouting out the best art community in which to move.  Though she is a recent addition to the gallery scene here, she is already benefitting from Charleston's strong art collector base. Maggie is a savvy business woman with an innovative approach to developing the relationship between her artists' works and collectors. We had a wonderful visit with her and hope that she will take us up on our offer for her to visit us someday.  Thanks, Maggie, for given us your time. We wish you well.  http://www.mgalleryoffineart.com/

Mr & Mrs. Hereford with Kerry,
A. Paul & Mickey



Mickey Williams in his studio-gallery



At day's end, we met up with Mickey Williams at his studio gallery on East Bay Street.  http://www.mickeywilliams.com/  It happened that A. Paul and Mickey had mutual artist acquaintances from the Provincetown area.  (Guess we just missed you Jerome by a week or so.)  As the two of them engaged in the artist world of Provincetown and Charleston, studio visitors, Mr. & Mrs. Hereford, joined in the interaction.   We lingered with Mickey learning more about him, his life, and work.  According to Mickey, the arts here have been in survival mode and only recently have been showing signs of growth.                      

A. Paul (L) with Mickey Williams

Reflecting on this day, A. Paul & I were both struck by just how connected the community is to the arts. No matter where we went, the individuals who work and or live here, both young & old, were knowledgable about the artists, galleries, events, history, and not simply on a superficial basis.  There is a lot to savor here in Charleston and it will take a few more days for us to really digest all that we have learned and have seen.  Tomorrow, we will explore Charleston's Gibbes Museum of Art  http://www.gibbesmuseum.org/ then off to Beaufort, SC and landing in Savannah, GA by nightfall.