Submitted/Richard Darby

Dance, shimmy, and rock out to a live zydeco beat with Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers at this grand fundraiser for ARTworks, the arts council of Beaufort, Port Royal and the Sea Islands.

The event is a bead-swinging bash, in celebration of ARTworks' mission to apply the many creative tools of The Arts to strengthen artists and to enrich audiences, collectors, and visitors through high quality arts experiences and arts education programs, 365 days a year.

Mardi Gras Beaufort is Saturday, January 29th, 7 to 11pm, at The Lyceum on Parris Island. For the festively-dressed guests, the twenty-member MGB committee has put together a parade of surprises: dinner, live music, spacious dance floor, creative camaraderie, and a silent auction.

In the auction, guests will have a chance to peruse the treasures and then bid to win original art, from tribal beat leopard god masks donated by a private collector to contemporary abstractions by Carol Kamm to a vivid, large-format photograph of cherished Lowcountry scenery by Richard Darby.

The Hellraisers, it must be noted, play the meanest washboard and the hunkiest squeezebox around. Direct from New Orleans, Dwayne Dopsie is the son of the Rockin' Dopsie, and he's carrying on the family tradition quite adeptly.

Tickets are $75 per person & tables of 8 are $600, available at 843-379-2787 and ArtWorksInBeaufort.org.

Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler for the Arts!