Gallery showcases local, state artists

BY IVY MOORE ivym@theitem.com | Posted: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 6:00 am

The Sumter County Gallery of Art begins a new year of exhibitions Thursday night with the South Carolina Watermedia Society (SCWS) Traveling Exhibition and the Sumter Artists' Guild Winners Show. The shows open with a 5:30-7:30 p.m. reception, to which the public is invited.

The 2011 SCWS exhibition is its 34th in as many years. The state's largest visual arts guild, the SCWS' mission is to promote South Carolina artists through exhibition opportunities such as this, as well as throuth educational programs.

The 2011 SCWS show is an especially vibrant one. The juror for the show was Florida artist Mary Alice Braukman. She has been the president of the Florida Watercolor Society and has served on the Society's Executive Board as well. Braukman is also the Director of the Kanuga Watercolor Workshops held in Hendersonville, N.C.

Winner of the Best in Show award was "Izabella" by Barbara Stitt. Sumter is well represented in the 2011 SCWS show with two Sumter artists winning prizes in the SCWS Traveling Show: Rose Metz won the Crooked Creek Arts League Award for her mixed media work "Paradox," and Denise L. Greer won an anonymous award for her mixed media work "Hung Out To Dry."

Sumter County Gallery of Art Curator Frank McCauley said, "This show has a wonderful selection of diverse work with a little something for everybody. The variety of imagery and subject matter is stunning, from mixed media abstract works to more traditional representational work including landscapes, figural and still life compositions. The South Carolina Watermedia Society Show is one of the finest examples of the incredible talent of South Carolina artists."

"The S. C. Watermedia Society Traveling Exhibition is one of our favorite shows that we present annually," said SCGA Executive Director Karen Watson. "Folks really look forward to it and seem to enjoy such a beautiful reason to venture out in the cold January temperatures."

This year's Sumter Artists Guild Winners Show is also an exciting one because it showcases such a broad range of mediums and approaches, Watson added.

Gerald Williams, a perennial winner in the Sumter Artists' Guild show, whose meticulously painted "Fragmentary Apparition #2" won first place; John Cotner, whose mysterious painting, "Cahokia," won second place; and Adriana Vasilut, whose abstract painting, "Sprouts," won third place.

Rembert artist Denise Greer, who has won many honors for her art throughout the state in the past two years, is included in this show as well for her Honorable Mention piece, "Talk to Me."

"Rounding out this impressive group are Mike Fowle with his playful and interactive Honorable Mention work 'Plastic Planet,' and Michael Broadway, for his unique Honorable Mention mixed media composition 'Discord.'" Watson said.

Several winners of the Sumter Artists' Guild show as well as other guild members will be present at Thursday's reception, which is also sponsored by the guild.

Watson noted that the Sumter County Gallery of Art is truly a venue for and by the public, with sponsorship by local businesses, organizations and individuals supplementing public funding and gallery memberships to enable the SCGA to bring in outstanding exhibitions and to showcase local artists.

"It would not be possible to bring these exhibitions to the gallery without these generous sponsorships," she said.

Enabling the SCGA to bring in the South Carolina Watermedia Society Traveling Exhibition and the Sumter Artists' Guild Winners Show are NBSC - A Division of Synovus, Sumter Hearing Associates and Dr. and Mrs. Philip Finley. Jackie Gamble and the Poinsett Garden Club have provided the flowers and floral design.

The Sumter County Gallery of Art presents two exhibitions opening Thursday with a 5:30-7:30 p.m. reception: The S.C. Watermedia Society Traveling Exhibition and the Sumter Artists' Guild Winners Show. The public is invited to the reception; members are admitted free, guests with a $5 donation. At all other times, admission to the gallery is free. Both exhibitions will remain in the gallery through Feb. 10.

The Sumter County Gallery of Art is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30-5 p.m. Sunday.

For more information call the gallery at (803) 775-0543.