South Carolina State Museum presents: Reflections on the River
April 25, 2019
New art exhibit to feature 16th and 19th century prints on display for the first time
The South Carolina State Museum announced the opening of its new art exhibit, Reflections on the River. The exhibit will open, Saturday, May 4 in the museum’s Lipscomb Art Gallery. From 16th century engravings and Catawba pottery to contemporary paintings and photographs, this exhibition will explore the significance of our state’s rivers on culture, industry and landscape, as well as the ways in which they have inspired artists in the state.
The exhibit will feature treasures of the collection by renowned artists like William Halsey, and Anna Heyward Taylor. Guests will also discover a few pieces that have never been on display and several new acquisitions, including a 19th century oil landscape by painter Charles Fraser from Charleston, SC. Also included, a 9-foot long collage by Aldwyth, from Hilton Head, SC, which won the Curator’s Choice Purchase Award in the museum’s recent 30th Anniversary Juried Exhibition.
The river is a common inspiration in South Carolina art, including Upstate, Edgefield and Catawba pottery – also on display in the exhibit. These centuries-old traditions of pottery use clay from riverbanks.
“It’s not just an exhibit of landscape paintings; there are so many ways that rivers are connected to our culture and history,” said State Museum Art Curator, Amy Chalmers. “ My hope is that guests will explore the exhibit and then stroll along the nearby river walk afterward to see how the river might inspire them.”
The State Museum’s prime location on the banks of the Congaree, along with its history as a textile mill, which was dependent on the river, makes this the perfect opportunity to focus on the immediate surroundings. Rivers are a source of industry, recreation, wildlife and even religious imagery, and this exhibit explores a variety of those themes.
Reflections on the River is free with museum membership or general admission. General admission to the South Carolina State Museum is $8.95 for adults; $7.95 for Seniors; $6.95 for children; infants 2 and under are free.
About the South Carolina State Museum:
As the state’s largest and most comprehensive museum, the South Carolina State Museum, offers a unique, entertaining and educational experience to visitors throughout its 225,000 square foot facility located in the heart of downtown Columbia’s Congaree Vista. The State Museum is housed in one of its largest artifacts, an 1894 former textile mill listed on the National Registrar of Historic Places. In addition to beautiful meeting spaces throughout the facility, guests can explore outer space in one of the largest planetariums in the Southeast, watch an interactive 4D movie and look through a vintage telescope in a one-of-a-kind observatory. These exciting opportunities are all in addition to the four floors of South Carolina art, cultural history, natural history and science/technology. Visit scmuseum.org to learn more.
