© Gamini Ratnavira
from Green Cheeks

Jan 15 - Feb 28

Art of the Rainforest

exhibit snapshot

A nationally touring exhibit, Art of the Rainforest features 60 pieces of artwork by leading artists whose focus is the rainforest. This exhibit runs the stylistic gamut (from photorealism to impressionism) and depicts the diversity of flora and fauna of the world's great rainforests, over one-third of the total species living in the world today.

ART OF THE RAINFOREST was produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.; David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director; davidjwagnerllc@yahoo.com

apologies to Robert Henri

“The Girl with the Red Hair,” an oil on canvas by Robert Henri, was acquired by The Arts and Crafts Club in 1907 as the first piece of a permanent collection for the community of Spartanburg. The Palmetto Bank Endowed Permanent Collection now includes works by George Aid, Leonard Baskin, Lowell Birge Harrison, G. Thompson Prichard, and William Trost Richards as well as many Upstate South Carolina artists such as August and Irma Cook, Margaret Law, and Josephine Sibley Couper.

Mar 12 - Jun 17

4th Biennial Hub City Juried Art Competition
regional art competition

the exhibit online

Art reflects the culture in which it is created. Here in Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina we are blessed to have a rich history that is a culmination of many different cultures.

As we move forward into the future with and through the creation of new artwork, this juried competition and exhibition is a means by which The Museum seeks to remind area artists of the rich history that is a part of their creative foundation.

May 7 - Jun 24

Bikers:
Expressions of Freedom
J. Michael Johnson
Taylors, SC

exhibit snapshot

J. Michael Johnson’s photographs and articles about the motorcycle world have appeared in numerous articles in national biking magazines. Although his portraits of custom motorcycles and their riders present intriguing glimpses into another culture, Michael’s work has a poignant side as well. Images of bikers at the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial honoring family members, friends, and comrades are touching reminders of the ultimate sacrifice that has been made for our country.

Mar 12 - Apr 29

Lynn Baney
Abstrabets
Martinsburg, PA

Lynn Baney uses Abstrabets to teach and lecture at childrens museums across the country. A part of a research project on visual perception, each watercolor image of this interactive exhibit represents a different letter of the English alphabet.

Baney is a professional artist and the owner of the Brownstone Art Studio located in Martinsburg, PA. She is also a published author and illustrator.

2006 Best-of-Show
by Sam Mitchell

July 13 - August 16

The Artists' Guild of Spartanburg
34th Annual Juried Exhibition

Formed in October of 1957, the AGS is among the longest-lived visual arts organizations in South Carolina. This annual event is a benchmark of the guild’s success, always impressing outside judges with the amount of talent that resides in Spartanburg, Cherokee, Greenville, Laurens, Polk, Rutherford, and Union Counties.

July 2 - Aug 26

Susan Read Cronin
Fables, Foibles and Fairy Tales
Manchester, VT

Susan Read Cronin has exhibited her lively bronze sculptures in numerous solo museum exhibitions around the country and is represented by galleries from Massachusetts to New Mexico.

In addition to mastering the compositional demands of traditional figural sculpture, Cronin has brought to her art a playful sense of humor which has remained at the core of the work in design and art throughout her career. In a world where most art is to be looked at and not touched, Cronin has a unique point of view. She seeks to engage and amuse the viewer of her art, encouraging the idea that art should be lived with, and even played with.

Sep 29 - Nov. 4

The South Carolina Watermedia Society
Annual Juried Art Exhibition
state art competition

Formerly the South Carolina Watercolor Society, the South Carolina Watermedia Society is the largest statewide visual arts group in South Carolina. Its annual Juried Exhibition is a real treat, showcasing the diversity of style and depth of talent which calls our state home.

Oct 3, 2007 - Mar 9, 2008

People Reading: Selections from the
Collection of Donald and Patricia Oresman”

the exhibit online

Sixy pieces of work selected from a collection numbering over twenty-three hundred works that has been featured in portfolios in The New Yorker and The Paris Review. The Oresman's collection may be the largest and most distinguished collection in America assembled around the particular theme of persons reading.

Among the artists whose works will be seen in the Spartanburg exhibit are: Pierre Bonnard, Elizabeth Catlett, Marc Chagall, Fritz Eichenberg, Jean Louis Forain, Edward Gorey, Kyokei Inukai, Clare Leighton, Leo Meissener, Diego Rivera, and Ben Shahn.

The exhibit will provide the basis for community programs focused upon the issue of literacy, the literary enterprise, and the pursuits of book and art art collecting.

This exhibit is conceived and curated by
Thomas L. Johnson, PhD.

Oct 3 - Dec. 30

Mundane and Sublime:
Wash Day Images from the Johnson Collection

Featuring paintings from Southern masters such as Elliott Daingerfield, Alfred Hutty, Eugene Healon Thomason, Elizabeth O'Neil Verner, and William Aiken Walker, this exhibit features works whose "Wash Day" images will be familiar to anyone growing up in the South before washing machines and dryers moved the weekly (and often daily tasks) indoors.

Nov 11, 2007 - Jan 6, 2008

Spectacular Achievements:
Audubon's Animals of North America

John James Audubon (1785-1851) trekked across the American wilderness to document the birds and mammals of a country teeming with species never before documented in the world of science. His legacy lives on in his life’s work and the profound influence he had on future generations of scientists and artists.

Audubon, primarily known for “The Birds of America,” later undertook to publish the animals of America. This proved more arduous than he had expected, as many of the animals were nocturnal and their habits difficult to learn.

This exhibit provides a unique opportunity to view Audubon’s lithographic works in depth and to appreciate his skills as an artist, observer and interpreter of nature. Seventy masterpieces of art and science that are uniquely American will be on display.

Courtesy of the Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas Tour Development by Smith Kramer Fine Arts Services, Kansas City, MO