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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
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 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/         
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. 
 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.
The annual North Charleston Arts Fest 2022 is open for business and runs May 4 - 8. The size and scope of this free event is impressive and the organizers make participating enjoyable. Lots of artists to wrangle in order to pull this off. No small task. Tonight is the Opening Celebration from 6-8pm. and there will be live music, painting demos, food, wine and beer. And on the other end, it will conclude with a Encore including music, more demos and "bubbles & bites." Hope to see you there and look for my two collages and two casein paintings amongst the hundreds of entries. Purchases support artists and the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department.
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