Preservation Through Art - Charleston Wraps September 8, 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