Saul Alexander Gallery in the Main Library

FEBRUARY 2017–JANUARY 2018 Exhibition Schedule

The Saul Alexander Foundation Gallery of the Charleston County Public Library provides space for juried art exhibitions, solo or group, at the Main Library, located at 68 Calhoun Street in downtown Charleston. Preference is given to work reflecting experiences and viewpoints of South Carolina residents. Submissions to exhibit will only be accepted during September 2017. The works of each selected artist or group will be exhibited for one month, beginning in February 2018. Applications, which must be included with an artist’s submission, are available online at our website, www.ccpl.org/gallery, or by calling 843-805-6840.

Portrait of Saul Alexander, a Jewish immigrant and successful businessman who left his fortune for the religious, educational, and cultural needs of the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Gallery Procedures The Charleston County Public Library offers an opportunity to South Carolina artists and craftsmen who have been selected by a jury of local art professionals to present their work to the public. With the exhibition space serving as an avenue for the respectful exchange of artistic and conceptual ideas within a diverse constituency, these exhibitions should reflect the varied experiences and viewpoints of the people of South Carolina. The Charleston County Public Library Gallery Committee selects artists and craftsmen for inclusion in the exhibition schedule on the basis of the quality of their work and suitability for the space.

Submission Guidelines Artists must submit a current resume and eight to twelve examples of their work in the form of photographs, CDs, or other electronic media appropriate for display to the Charleston County Public Library Gallery Committee. We recommend visiting the space prior to submission to determine the suitability of the space for your work. Examples submitted must be representative of the work intended for display and appropriately labeled with the artist’s name and the work’s title, medium, and size. Artists must be at least eighteen years old to be considered by the Gallery Committee. The work should not have been previously exhibited at the library. Preference will be given to newly created works. After the Charleston County Public Library Gallery Committee has met to select artists to display their work in the following year, those selected will be notified and assigned their exhibition month. The director of the library has final approval for all exhibitions.

Schedule of Exhibitions

- 2017-

- 2018-

February Lenora Brown Arianne King Comer

Natalie Daise Jacqueline Johnson

Catherine M. Lamkin Michael D. Sanders

Torreah Cookie Washington

We Who Believe

March Therese Haynes Summerville, The Place I Call Home

April Ron Anton Rocz The Art of the Spray Can: Liberation Hip-Hop in Charleston

May Karyn Healey Women’s Work

June Peter Scala Contemplate

July Beth Melton-Seabrook Seven Plus One

August David R. Warren Lost As Sure As Found

September Rachel Jones Barns Silver Linings

October Barbara Montgomery Mornings

November Brad Carroll Civil Landscapes

December Lisa Van Raalte Lowcountry Abstract

January Andy Brack Cuba, 2015

- February -

Lenora Brown, Arianne King Comer, Natalie Daise, Jacqueline Johnson,

Catherine M. Lamkin, Michael D. Sanders, Torreah Cookie Washington

We Who Believe

We Who Believe features fiber art, photography, and oil paintings by Lenora Brown, Arianne King Comer, Natalie Daise, Jacqueline Johnson, Catherine M. Lamkin, Michael D. Sanders, and Torreah Cookie Washington. Their works are an expression of the experience of African American life in America/Africa. Stitches of hope, oil paintings depicting strokes of the civil rights movement, and photographic images tell the stories of a people. The title of this exhibition is based on a quote from the late, great civil rights activist Ella Baker. We Who Believe in Freedom Will Not Rest, Lenora Brown’s Nelson Mandela art quilt, is a testimony to the resilience of Mandela’s unbroken spirit under Apartheid. Her use of the words “It’s In Your Hands” speaks to the desire of an empowered people to fight against racism and discrimination. The vibrant blue color in Torreah Cookie Washington’s art quilt evokes the calmness of the goddess of the midnight sky and early morning dawn. Michael D. Sanders’s photography captures the essence of a bond between mother and daughter. Arianne King Comer’s Piece of Peace reflects the ancient art of batik and indigo, which was first grown in the 1600s in South Carolina by enslaved Africans. Catherine Lamkin’s Ms. Negro History is a tribute to Carter G. Woodson and a history of a people.

- March -

Therese Haynes Summerville, The Place I Call Home

Five years ago, I moved to Summerville—a small-town Kentucky girl with a passion for painting. My work was on display for the International Art for God’s Sake exhibition in Troy, Michigan, with amazing artists from all over the world. I am self-taught, and after raising two amazing daughters, I finally engaged my skills with the fine artists in Charleston’s guilds. The rich history here now beats in rhythm with my own heart, creating a greater passion to paint the voices and train whistles of the Lowcountry’s past.

From my murals depicting the history of our first trains and Saul Alexander arriving on one of those trains at the Summerville Museum, to paintings of Edisto Indians on the bank of the Edisto River in the 1800s in the new St. George Museum, to a mile and a half of depictions of historical and natural scenes that you might have seen 200 years ago in Rosebrock Park, come with me on a journey to feel the heartbeat of Summerville.

I am enjoying this amazing journey and welcome any projects to educate and enlighten our communities. Please contact me at Theresehaynes@gmail.com. Thank you for taking time to visit Summerville in Charleston!

- APRIL -

Ron Anton Rocz The Art of the Spray Can:

Liberation Hip-Hop in Charleston

An exhibit of contemporary photography by Ron Anton Rocz, featuring the interpretive modern hip-hop dancing of Lamar Hunter.

Scattered around Charleston are brilliant hip-hop graffiti and urban murals created with a spray can. They provide colorful backdrops to the interpretive hip-hop movements of one of Charleston’s rising dance talents, as captured by one of the city’s well-known photographers. The collection also represents a creative collaboration between a black youth and his older white mentor, as they mark the tenth year of their relationship.

From John’s Island, Hunter is a graduate of the Charleston School of the Arts. He dances and teaches with the Peace Love Hip Hop Dance Studio on Daniel Island. He has participated in workshops with Rennie Harris, America’s leading hip-hop choreographer. His great-grandmother, Janie Hunter, was a famed singer and storyteller with the Moving Star Hall praise house.

Ron Anton Rocz, a freelance photographer in Charleston for four decades, was previously active in antipoverty work, race-relations programs, and the civil rights movement. He has a degree in social work administration. He directed Charleston’s Kids-with-Cameras program, has published three books, and has exhibited his fine-art photography nationally.

- MAY -

Karyn Healey Women’s Work

As a child of the 1960s, I’ve seen some changes in our world. And as a painter, depicting those social issues via visual storytelling has become my work. So with a nod to the past, and observing where we find ourselves today, this collection explores the female experience.

Women’s Work captures the stories of some unique women and what they do—the not-so plain Janes, the gender-role averse, and the heroic among us who every day get up and do the work that needs to be done. The nurturers, the makers, the teachers, the readers, the organizers, the fighters, the righters of wrongs, the athletes, the artists, the scientists, the risk-takers, the would-be presidents, and the worker bees. They are often unsung—even discouraged or taken for granted—yet they get ‘er done regardless.

So in the spirit of this community of women, we stand on the shoulders of those before us and offer our shoulders to those who will follow. I purposefully present a group experience in this exhibition—hence its title, Women’s Work, rather than the singular woman’s work. Our paths may not cross, but we are together moving forward. Look and learn; lean in and get to work. www.KarynHealeyArt.com

- JUNE -

Peter Scala Contemplate

When Peter Scala talks about his work, he says, “My artwork is surrealistic. I do not paint what I see. I paint what I feel.” Scala learned to paint from his parents, who were Greenwich Village artists. Beginning in 2001, Scala traveled, lived, and painted in the subcontinent of Asia and East and Southwest Africa. Scala has felt and witnessed life’s diversity in his travels, and he advises viewers that his paintings require study to find the human moment.

This collection of work highlights Scala’s use of color, space, and line. Take time looking at his work. You will be drawn into a visual experience that is surreal and provoking. Many of his paintings develop from one of his quickly drawn pen-and-ink sketches created each morning. He states, “My paintings come about in much the same way. I do not seek subjects; they are found as the result of a happy accident of view, experience, or a sketch.” His exhibition, Contemplate, showcases this. The paintings are witty, challenging, and provocative. As you look at his work, muse a little, free your mind, and enjoy its stimulating viewing.

- JULY -

Beth Melton-Seabrook Seven Plus One

The auspicious number seven seems to pop up in the most unlikely places—even at the roots of my work. My artistic mentor, my maternal grandmother, had seven sons—and one daughter (my mother)—and her carefully clipped magazine snippets and costume jewelry are featured in the central cephalopod of this show.

Having painted my fair share of octopuses over the past few years, I feel as if the creature is my kindred spirit. It represents things I have aspired to lately: flexibility—both physically and emotionally—adaptability to uncomfortable situations, and the ability to escape these precarious situations if necessary. It may be no surprise, then, that I often arrive at the end of a painting only to realize that my subject has seven limbs rather than eight.

Seven Plus One honors my past and helps me to explore future potential. Raised in the South Carolina Lowcountry, I portray conventional, coastal images upon the unconventional surfaces of salvaged and repurposed materials. I thrive on combining unexpected ordinary objects with the natural beauty of coastal wildlife.

-AUGUST-

David R. Warren Lost As Sure As Found

I was born in Savannah, Georgia, raised as a Panhandle, Midlands, Lowcountry Southerner. As a child of a creative and musical household, I have always created and assumed I would be an artist. A naturally curious child, I benefited greatly from roaming the land around my family’s Lowcountry homes, the perfect backdrop for a very adventurous youth. Now an adult resident of Charleston, and a graduate in both art history and studio art from the College of Charleston, I intend to continue working in sculpture, photography, and painting, all while balancing the demands of being a husband and gardener.

This show is a reflection of a life spent throughout the South—from Key West through the Gulf and into Charleston by way of Savannah and the Midlands of South Carolina. These paintings and sculptures are a reflection of my South and the beautiful towns and cities she harbors. I found a handful of photos I had taken as a youth in Florida and Savannah, and those photos—along with newer ones of Charleston churches, residential architecture, and marshes—inspired these paintings. As a college student, I studied Charleston’s classical art and architecture. My early three-dimensional art showed a modern approach to classical sculpture, with architectural elements and the human form always present. I felt a new approach could represent a new South, soaked in tradition and classicism, but showing (and sometimes struggling with) growth and modernism.

-SEPTEMBER-

Rachel Jones Barns Silver Linings

Rachel Jones Barns works in oils, watercolors, and acrylics. She utilizes selective realism and various layering techniques to create narrative portraiture. Though lone females are frequently depicted in her work, a universal experience resonates. Her images are often quiet and mysterious, as the subjects fluctuate between distancing and inviting viewers into the space. Jones says, “My aim is not to tell a story from beginning to end, but to have observers immerse themselves in a moment.”

Silver Linings is an expanding body of work that examines the multiple layers of relationships, a merging of flawed personalities and often unrealistic expectations much like the mixing of two chemicals to produce varying reactions—from brilliant flames, to volatile and corrosive elements. Time creates opportunities to comfort, renew, or lose oneself in this self-made universe, just as trials, unexpected circumstances, and differences may expose weaknesses and forge cracks.

These painted snapshots display comfortable silences, tender moments, regrets, realizations, and connective energies. Though relationships do not always make sense, we all have bonds.

-OCTOBER-

Barbara Montgomery Mornings

In this body of work, I’m interested in creating a prolonged moment of tranquility in the landscape. Choreographer Twyla Tharp stated, “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” This idea is made visual in the work of Transcendentalist artists. Painters such as Caspar David Friedrich turned the sequential essence of time into a beautiful motif. I often turn to the writers and landscape painters of the Romantic era for inspiration.

The imagery in my paintings is gathered from specific environments that are my retreats. My personal places are on the water, where my only distraction is the sun setting on the changing tides. Whether it is in the calm, rolling waters of the early morning, or in the energetic warmth as the sun declines, the water decides my pace. Through the use of a warmly muted color palette and dense paint application, I replicate the calming effect these landscapes have on me. My paintings have a hazy, yet stable character that embodies the heavy stillness of the passage of time.

-NOVEMBER-

Brad Carroll Civil Landscapes

In painting, I am devoted to light, particularly that which shines at night—from the moon, a low-pressure sodium streetlamp, or the window of an after-hours shop or restaurant. The visual element most commonly represented in my work is these forms of light. I find inspiration in the blue hour and try to catch it as often as I can. In a city, the blue hour sets the perfect backdrop for artificial light to escort and distort our perception of what’s around us.

Structure is a common element in my work. The cheek-by-jowl placement of architectural and natural elements creates an unexpected balance between geometry and biology. From this relationship, civil landscapes can take their shape. A civil landscape exists within the embrace of a benevolent society. We traverse these landscapes through every wayfaring step we take down a paved sidewalk—whether in our own city or in some far off place.

If I can hope for anything with painting, it is to take hold of the viewer and briefly subjugate realism, providing an alternative idea of what walking down the street and exploring our world can look like.

-DECEMBER-

Lisa Van Raalte Lowcountry Abstract

Lowcountry Abstract is an autobiographical collection of contemporary abstract art. I have been fortunate to call the Lowcountry my home for over twenty years. I often interject myself into my paintings, which are heavily influenced by the geography of the Lowcountry. All of these works were painted in this region, some at the College of Charleston art studio, some outside at Folly Beach, and many in Mount Pleasant. Sometimes they were directly inspired by local landmarks and nature—such as Window, which was painted after a walk down Rainbow Row, and Rose Colored Grasses, which was inspired by our beautiful marshes.

I use an array of colors and bold brushstrokes to convey the flow I feel while painting. For some works, I use palette knives and even my fingers. Many of my paintings convey joy, playfulness, and lightness, while others focus on darker emotions. Abstraction allows me to express the complexities of life and ideas, feelings, and thoughts that are otherwise unshared. Experiences and how we interpret our daily interactions and environment are varied and mostly subjective. I hope my art inspires a feeling, thought, or even a conversation.

-JANUARY 2018-

Andy Brack Cuba, 2015

Cuba—an island just 90 miles off of Florida’s coast—has an exotic allure for Americans, largely due to the sociopolitical gulf that made it off-limits for more than 50 years. In Cuba, 2015, local editor Andy Brack zoomed in on the people and culture of Cuba just as relations between Cuba and the United States were thawing. During a nine-day August 2015 visit arranged by Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Brack and more than a dozen others visited the island nation to learn about innovative agricultural practices in urban and rural settings. In a tour spiced with mojitos, art, rich coffee, and the occasional Cuban cigar, the group experienced Cuba’s vibrant culture before too much of the commercialization that thirsty American tourists are expected to bring.

Brack, editor and publisher of Charleston Currents and Statehouse Report, has held leadership positions in local, state, and national groups. A graduate of Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he’s been a U.S. Senate aide, oyster shucker, country music radio host (for three weeks), political consultant, congressional candidate, reporter, photographer, drummer, and public relations spokesman. Named a “Champion of Change” by the Obama administration for work through his Center for a Better South, Brack and his family live in Charleston.

Charleston County Public Library Service Hours

Main: 68 Calhoun St. 29401 · (843) 805-6930 Mon.–Thurs. 9–8; Fri.–Sat. 9–6; Sun. 2–5

Cooper River: 3503 Rivers Ave. 29405 · (843) 744-2489

Mon.–Thurs. 10-8; Fri.–Sat. 10–6

John L. Dart: 1067 King St. 29403 · (843) 722-7550 Mon.–Sat. 10–6

Dorchester Road: 6325 Dorchester Rd. 29418 · (843) 552-6466

Mon.–Thurs. 10–8; Fri.–Sat. 10–6

Edisto: 1589 Hwy. 174 29438 · (843) 869-2355

Mon. 10–6; Tues. 2–6; Thurs. 2–8; Fri. 2–6; Sat. 10–2

Folly Beach: 55 Center St. 29439 · (843) 588-2001

Mon./Fri. 10–6; Wed. 12–8; 2nd Sat. of month 10–2

James Island: 1248 Camp Rd. 29412 · (843) 795-6679

Mon.–Thurs. 10–8; Fri.–Sat. 10–6

John’s Island: 3531 Maybank Hwy. 29455 · (843) 559-1945

Mon.–Thurs. 10–8; Fri.–Sat. 10–6

McClellanville: 222 Baker St. 29458 · (843) 887-3699 Mon. 2–6; Tues./Thurs./Fri. 9:30–1 & 2–6; Sat. 9:30–2

Mt. Pleasant: 1133 Mathis Ferry Rd. 29464 · (843) 849-6161

Mon.–Thurs. 10–8; Fri.–Sat. 10–6

Otranto Road: 2261 Otranto Rd. 29406 · (843) 572-4094

Mon.–Thurs. 10–8; Fri.–Sat. 10–6

Poe/Sullivan’s Island: 1921 I’on Ave. 29482 · (843) 883-3914

Mon./Fri. 10–6; Tues./Sat. 10–2; Thurs. 2–8

Hurd/St. Andrews: 1735 N Woodmere Dr. 29407 · (843) 766-2546

Mon.–Thurs. 10–8; Fri.–Sat. 10–6

St. Paul’s: 5151 Town Council Dr. 29449 · (843) 889-3300

Mon./Tues./Fri. 10–6; Thurs. 12–8; Sat. 10–2

Village: 430 Whilden St. 29464 · (843) 884-9741

Mon./Tues./Fri. 10–6; Thurs. 12–8; Sat 10–2

West Ashley: 45 Windermere Blvd. 29407 · (843) 766-6635

Mon.–Thurs. 10–8; Fri./Sat. 10–6