Karyn Healey Art - blog

When FLOCO calls / 2025 Eastern Carolina Contemporary Biennial

3/3/2025

I'm happy to be a part of the Florence County Museum's first Eastern Carolina Contemporary Biennial in Florence, South Carolina. The competition will occur every two years beginning in 2025, and culminates in an exhibition in the FCM Special Exhibits Gallery. The museum is beautiful and I'm very pleased to have been selected for the show. www.flocomuseum.org/

What makes it an incredible honor is the concurrent show Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. I look forward to taking in his work.

..."Johnson draws on historical images to create a visual narrative that celebrates the struggles and triumphs of both past and contemporary leaders. His works serve as a poignant reminder of the enduring quest for freedom and social justice." www.flocomuseum.org/exhibitions/fighters-for-freedom/

My painting, Harry Fenn's Roadside Scene, 1870, is based in history and specifically an etching by Harry Fenn which initially appeared in Appletons' Journal and later in The Land We Live In - Charleston and Its Suburbs. The text and image inspired me to create a number of works with freedom and social justice whispering in my ears.

Contemporary Biennial Show March 20 - Oct 19, 2025
opening reception March 20, 5:30-7:00pm

Brooks Watford
Curatorial Assistant

Florence County Museum
11 West Cheves St.
Florence, South Carolina

Harry Fenn's Roadside Scene, 1870

Preservation Through Art - Charleston Wraps September 8, 2024

9/5/2024

It's been a year of learning and recording. In July 2023 I joined PAPA, preservationthroughart.org/, and the journey began. I charged right into painting and the basket sisters were my first subject. Reading the book from 1870 I started to sense the story was a bit out of touch when depicting life in Charelston during reconstruction. It totally ignored the elephant in the room.

But visitng the sites and reading "Creating Picturesque America" by Sue Rainey it all came together into a much bigger picture that was detailed and complicated. These books were designed to set a standard of beauty, encouraged exploration to parts unknown, and encouraged nationalism and pride after the Civil War. Always competing with the European continent, the Picturesque series thumbed its nose at the picturesque in Europe. And looking at dollars, Appleton publishers employed many artists, writers, engravers, sales people, and book binders. What a study in economics and I see a number of paintings as rebuttal in the future.

Thank you to all who purchased my work so the following preservation groups will directly benefit.

Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
Magnolia Cemetery Trust
Lowcountry Land Trust
American College of the Building Arts

More information - the pieces fit post Civil War

7/19/2024

Harper's Journal of Civilization, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, New York Daily Graphic, and Appletons' Journal which published Picturesque America all brought the images of America's potential to people who only knew of far away places by word of mouth. Wood and steel engravings produced by traveling artists included "The Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Forest, Water-falls, Shores, Canyons, Valleys, Cities and other Picturesque Features of our Country." Many people subscribed, the publishers made money, and the wounds of war were forgotten.

From Sue Rainey's bookcover- "...Picturesque America laid the foundation for a resurgence of nationalism rooted in the homeland itself, rather than in institutions of decomcracy as would have been the case earlier in the century." A fruitful strategy.

Part Three of her book is entitled "Reassuring Messages in Words and Pictures" and that totally sums up a key purpose of the series - to reunite a country recovering from war. We can see the "aspirations and denials" clearly.

Image of Sue Rainey's book Creating Picturesque America, published 1994.

Preservation - real or implied

7/15/2024

Preservation is a positive endeavor but I always look back, behind the history curtain. Preservation Through Art has been a unique opportunity to do that and I'm happy to have eight paintings accepted in the upcoming show. Forty artists have interpreted sites around the Charleston area that were originally depicted within The Land We Live In - Charleston and Its Suburbs, published 1873. The original text is happy and upbeat with gorgeous images worthy of our efforts to capture how they look now in 2024. See the article in the July issue of Carolina Arts, https://www.carolinaarts.com/

But true to verbiage of the time period, the writer found Charleston to be a graciously hospitable place and home to statesmen and men of letters. The author hoped Charleston could "attain a prosperity under the new dispensation as brilliant as that they enjoyed under the old...(and) renew the social triumphs of the brilliant past." Subscribers North and South apparently loved these books that were published during reconstruction.

The show is a fundraiser for preservation efforts that correspond with each location and many seek to tell the complete story. And keeping in mind who built the wealth and prosperity, my paintings are presented to honor their toil in addition to admiring the beauty of the place I call home. All the work is available to purchase online only and is grouped by location. You’ll find my paintings at the following links - A Roadside Scene Near Charleston, A Live Oak on the Ashley, Magnolia Cemetery, Magnolia, American College of Building Arts. https://preservationthroughart.org/current-show/

A Marvelous May

6/24/2024

My first experience at ArtFields as an exhibiting artist was a whirlwind and two things stood out. The first was how exciting this was for students to attend and participate in as artists.

And the second was how interested people were to meet artists who came from all over and were so different in practice. Nice vibe. Well done Lake City. Here's a little video ArtFields created that sums it up perfectly and they asked me to chime in too.
vimeo.com/943361305?share=copy

Instead of showing the art I’ve decided to highlight the people I met.

The bike patrol, volunteers on the street and in gallery spaces, and at Moore Farms Botanical Garden were eager to meet visitors, and businesses that hosted art were ready to talk about what they selected for their own space. They all chose wisely.

And two artists I met were Khiaire, an 8th grader whose yarn work was titled Expectations and Corinne Loperfido, a recycling textile creator from Austin, TX who had a residency with ArtFields. Khiarie’s statement with his crocheted wrap is touching. I met him standing in front of my work. An impressive person, to be sure.

ArtFields April 26 – May 4 / See 700 artworks in over 52 venues around Lake City, SC

4/6/2024

My ad appears in the April issue of Carolina Arts - "a publication covering the visual arts in the Carolinas." www.carolinaarts.com/

ArtFields 2024 or Bust
Lake City is putting on a shine and rolling out the welcome mat for hundreds of competition artists and the thousands of visitors descending on this little agricultural part of South Carolina.

My submission includes six paintings hanging side by side capturing the View From My Porch. Read more about my submission at the ArtFields website. www.artfieldssc.org/galleries/art/2024/view-from-my-porch/244858

My paintings will be on view at the Jones-Carter Gallery centrally located in Lake City. What an honor to be selected for ArtFields 2024 and to be on view in this space.

Each art location is unique and special which makes discovering the art sprinkled throughout town such an adventure. Wear your walking shoes.

ArtFields originally launched in 2015 and Lain Healey, aka #1 son, was in that inaugural show. How exciting to have two Healeys named competition artists at ArtFields.

Sewn Together - 1964 & now

3/18/2024

At a neighborhood New Year's Eve gathering I learned that an avid sweetgrass basket collector and author lived across the street from me. I told her about the three sisters and their stand in Mt. Pleasant where a group of plein air painters gathered last summer (detailed in a previous blog post). From what I could see her collection consisted of tiny creations, many of them made from pine needles. As it turns out, that was only the tip of the iceberg.

On my way out the door Laura Crosby handed me a manuscript and looking through the pages one photo caught my attention. It was taken by her father, Eugene B. Sloan, in 1964. I'm happy to say his photo is the basis for my latest collage of painted papers and color copies. In the young girl's hand is a large missionary bag and in her other hand is cash after presumably selling a basket. A Proud Moment.

Text from the 2019 Catesby Center Advisory Board listing. "A native South Carolinian, Laura Sloan Crosby is an artist, author, and advocate for the arts - particularly the arts and crafts indigenous to South Carolina.
... In addition to weaving her own baskets, she is an avid collector of Lowcountry sweetgrass baskets. The Crosby Collection resides at McKissick Library at the University of South Carolina where baskets from her collection were included in the Row Upon Row and Grass Roots exhibits."

It is gratifying indeed to discover connections that are sewn together.

Three Sisters - sewing together

10/18/2023

In 2008 I moved to South Carolina and saw my first Sweetgrass basket. And that same year as luck would have it, I heard about an exhibition and community project called Grass Roots - African Origins of American Art, by Dale Rosengarten, Theodore Rosengarten and Enid Schildkrout. What an incredible group effort that set the tone for learning about my new home for years to come.

I joined Preserving A Picturesque America whose goal is "Preserving natural and historic places through the power of the arts" and this summer we visited three sisters at their basket stand on Hwy 17 in Mt. Pleasant, SC.
preservationthroughart.org/

The history of Sweetgrass baskets is intertwined with the rice culture of South Carolina transplanted across the Atlantic by enslaved people from the Rice Coast of West Africa. Fanner baskets appeared in SC in the late 17th century and were used for winnowing rice. The joining of form and function with distinct designs and preserving the tradition of the sewers is what motivated me to acknowledge their place in history and art history.

So I brought my book from the 2008 project and had the ladies sign it this summer. Thank you Elizabeth F. Kinlaw, Linda F. Blake, and Alethia Foreman who is a left handed sewer, like her mother. Great women artists.

Development and time have put these artists, the sweetgrass and their roadside stands at risk so I'm thrilled to have been part of this painting adventure to preserve their work. These paintings were created using goauche and casein paints.

Much Ado - Professional Development

3/30/2023

Perhaps a fool's errand, but I'm circling the wagons and going back to workshop notes and exploration that piled up in a short time due to Covid and construction. Interesting to see some threads emerge and mesh with current workshops. More to come.

Oils, tetrapak printmaking, casein and gouache, and collage.

The far left panel is now closer to completion and is in the photo above. One more image from another time of day will be on the right side of the porch - five panels in total.

Homegoing: a juried exhibition to be on view 11/30/22 - 1/29/23 at 2 venues

11/28/2022

Sharing history and its complexities through art is important to me, so I was honored to participate in this unique opportunity. The book was wonderful too. The following is from the City Gallery website.

The Avery Research Center, and the MOJA Arts Festival kicked off the NEA Big Read with Homegoing, a “novel about the legacy of chattel slavery by African-born writer Yaa Gyasi spanning eight generations.” It shows the parallel lives of two 18th-century Ghana-born half-sisters and follows their descendants through historical periods such as the American Civil War and the great Harlem Jazz Age.
For this NEA Big Read juried exhibition, South Carolina artists were asked to submit recent work highlighting themes from the book, including heritage and identity, family, progress, racism, and slavery. Jurors for the exhibition were Dr. Tamara Butler, Executive Director of the Avery Research Center; Daron Calhoun II, Facilities, Outreach and Public Programming Coordinator and Race and Social Justice Initiative Coordinator; and Djuanna Brockington, 2023 Black Ink Festival Committee member.

Earlier this autumn as part of the NEA Big Read, the Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) hosted two special book club discussions in October, and the MOJA Arts Festival presented the premiere of a new dance work, Origin, by Harambee Dance Company, exploring connections between West Africa and the American South. More discussion groups are planned alongside special events with the Black Ink Festival and the Avery Research Center.

INVITED ARTISTS FOR THIS EXHIBITION ARE:
Fairoozan Abdullah
Oyindamola Adewale
Brittany Alston
Indira Bailey
Karole Turner Campbell
Lee Garrard
Karyn Healey
Tyeisha Jenkins
Okeeba Jubalo
Ben Kelly
Alia Kroos
Catherine Lamkin
Robert Maniscalco
Ervin McDaniel
Richa Pokhrel
Anne Sbrocchi
Cynthia Sims
Lauren Sloan
La Toya Thompson
Keith Tolen
Jalen Williams
Grace Womack

ABOUT THE AVERY RESEARCH CENTER FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE
The Avery Research Center’s mission is to collect, preserve, and promote the unique history and culture of the African diaspora, with an emphasis on Charleston, the South Carolina Lowcountry, and beyond. As part of the College of Charleston’s Library system, the Avery Research Center’s archival collections, museum exhibitions, and public programming reflect these diverse populations as well as the wider African Diaspora.

Homegoing show art drop at City Gallery with Anne Quattlebaum.

Limbs Akimbo

Connected Here, There, and Everywhere

Art drop at Avery Research Center's Cox Gallery with Anne Quattlebaum and Courtney Hicks.

AVERY RESERCH CENTER
125 BULL ST, CHARLESTON
Cox Gallery hours-
M,W,F 10am to noon and 1:30pm to 3:3opm;
T, Th by appointment only.
CLOSED: 12/22 through 1/2

An open house will be held Wednesday, December 14, 2022 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. and Wednesday, January 11, 2023 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Avery Reserach Center

CITY GALLERY
34 PRIOLEAU STREET, CHARESLTON
Gallery hours -
Wednesday-Sunday from noon until 5pm. CLOSED: 12/23-27, 12/30-1/2