August is Artist Appreciation Month

This post was last updated 19 July 2023. - gmc

As Conscious Magazine states: "While the life of an artist is mostly one of solitude, their work is for others, and this is an important month to appreciate those American Artists who are creating or have created works of art intended to inspire humanity." Many artists currently live in Beaufort County these days, some drawn to the area as a result of its natural beauty and growing acclaim for being arts friendly.

The Beaufort Online website (2019) summarized how Beaufort, SC became recognized as a center for the arts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries:

Beaufort has long been recognized as an arts community: we are home to prominent painters, photographers, writers, musicians, art galleries, performing arts centers and various art associations. In 2005, John Villani rated Beaufort as one of America’s top 100 art towns in his book The 100 Best Art Towns in America: A Guide to Galleries, Museums, Festivals, Lodging and Dining. In 2008, American Style Magazine rated Beaufort as the number 14 Small City Arts Destination. Southern Living Magazine listed Beaufort at number 12. Historic houses and gorgeous marsh river views have served as the subject for thousands of oil paintings. Being a college, military and retirement community, Beaufort is a melting pot of diversity when it comes to artistic influence. Art organizations include the Beaufort Art Association, the University of SC-Beaufort Performing Arts Center and ARTworks: Community Art Center, Theater, and Gallery.

A great many artists and the general public appreciate the art of Garden's Corner's Jonathan Green. Read more about this Beaufort County native painter, printmaker, and book illustrator in the South Carolina Encyclopedia. His work is well represented in the holdings of the Library. He's made something of a side career illustrating the books of others. 

For example, a re-issued children’s book Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls by Louise Meriwether (1971, 2018) contains his wonderfully vibrant paintings about one of the most important persons in Beaufort’s long and storied past. 

The award-winning but publicity-shy Aldwyth of Hilton Head Island creates collages and assemblages. You can see examples of her work in a book we have in the Research Room Aldwyth work v./work n. (2009). We also a small vertical file about her work and career as well.

Capturing Life: The Art of Jack Williamson includes plates of his paintings from 1947 to 2002. After a career in business, he retired to Hilton Head Island around 1990. He includes many scenes from the local area.

Sam Doyle (1906 - 1985) was born and lived his entire life on St. Helena Island. He used cast-off materials at hand, like house paint, softened plywood and roofing tin, to paint his colorful and vibrant vision of Gullah life on the sea islands. The greater folk art world discovered his work in 1982. See our BDCBCL: Links, Lists & Finding Aids WordPress blog for more information about this important folk artist.

Ten percent of the watercolors in A Charleston Sketchbook, 1796-1806 by Charles Fraser (1782 - 1860) are of sites in Prince William's Parish, Beaufort District. His elder brother, Capt. Frederick Fraser owned the Fraser's Place Plantation near Old Sheldon Church. Odds are he painted some of them when he visited.

Art in South Carolina, 1670-1970 compiled and edited by Francis W. Bilodeau and Mrs. Thomas J. Tobias with E. Milby Burton (Columbia: South Carolina Tricentennial Commission, 1970) has Jacque Le Moyne's "Rene de Laudonniere and the Indian Chief Athone visits Ribaut's Column" (1564) gracing the cover. Sections are arranged chronologically and each is prefaced with an introduction about the art and artists featured.

Local artist Nancy Ricker Rhett's family ties to Beaufort District go back many generations. In addition to running a gallery on Bay Street in downtown Beaufort, she has illustrated a number of books that are available through the Library.

 

Diligent research into identifying the artist of one of the most famous paintings of the enslaved led Susan Shames to some ground-breaking conclusions. Read more about John Rose of Beaufort District and his "The Old Plantation"painting. Better yet? Borrow her book and marvel at how Shames figured out which John Rose was the painter. 

Gullah Woodburning Folk Art by Rev. Johnnie F. Simmons [2018], is a delightfully colorful little book (literally little, the book measures 5 inches by 4 inches) of his wood-burned depictions of Gullah culture and life on St. Helena Island. This book is so special that both copies in SCLENDS are held in special collections at the Beaufort County Library.

Called "one of Beaufort's gifted sons whom she has lent to the outer world", James Reeve Stuart (1834-1915) had a long career as a portrait painter and artist. Read more about his life and work in our WordPress blog.

(Beaufort District Collection Archives)

We have other visual art related materials in addition to books. For example, we have a number of vertical files on some specific local artists, on local artists in general, some art installations from the recent past such as the Big Pig Gig and the River of Art, as well as some vertical file materials on the art associations.  Make an appointment to come see the folders about ARTISTS, FOLK ARTISTS, GULLAH CULTURE--ART/ARTISTS, ARTS AND CULTURAL COUNCIL OF HILTON HEAD and/or ARTS COUNCIL OF BEAUFORT COUNTY. (JSYK: The Sirsi-Dynex software that houses the SCLENDS catalog post June 20, 2023 calls vertical files "continuing resources.")

In our Archives section, we take care of at least four art related collections: the organizational records of the Beaufort Art Association; The Madame Murray sketches; the Wales Journal; and the Beaufort Chronicles Portfolio. 

The Beaufort Art Association (1957 - ) donated their papers to the Beaufort District Collection in March 2019. The collection has twelve scrapbooks, two guest books, two binders, ninety-three posters, newspaper clippings, association records, photographs, negatives, exhibit brochures (1976-2013), newsletters (1995-2011) and other miscellaneous material. The Finding Aid has been posted online in our BDCBCL: Links, Lists and Finding Aids blog since August 2021 and a print out is available inside the Research Room. 

(Murray Sketches, reproduction, Beaufort District Collection)

Mrs. Thomas Murray (nee Harriot Despaud) was better known as "Madame Murray". She was the mother of Ellen Murray who taught at Penn School and lived on St. Helena Island with her friend Laura Towne. Madame Murray created these sketches in 1863 while on a visit south to see her daughter.  The Madame Murray Sketches Collection contains reproductions of fifteen of her drawings. 

The Susan Wales Journal, 1887 - 1895 is a charming daily record of her time abroad in Europe. Most pages contain a small sketch or painting of people, places, things she encountered that day.  One of our beloved and dedicated volunteers, Laura Lewis, is hard at work transcribing the journal as we prepare it to be our ninth digital project with the Lowcountry Digital Library. Please note: It was delayed by the COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020 but Laura is doing her best to get it ready for launching by Halloween 2023. 

Beaufort Chronicles Portfolio was a partnership project between the USCB Art Department and the Beaufort Three-Century Project.  The partnership employed a semester-long course to create a limited edition fine art portfolio of 16 original prints based on Beaufort’s history.   The exhibition opening was held in conjunction with the January 17, 2010 Anniversary Event with an estimated 1,000 people viewing the project during the month-long exhibition in the USCB Gallery as it was also in situ during three of the 2010 Tricentennial Lecture Series events.  One of the limited edition portfolios is in the project archive for the Beaufort Three-Century Project.

We also have some Crosscup & West sketches of Beaufort in the late 19th century and numerous posters from local art exhibitions with a concentration on those from the very late 20th to the present day. If Beaufort Branch gets a poster to display, the BDC gets that poster after the exhibition is over for permanent retention.   

Many of our Branch Libraries contain art that was donated to or purchased by the Library Board of Trustees through the years. Be sure to keep your eyes open when you visit one of our locations. Truly, art is all around you in Beaufort County and here in the Research Room.