April has been labeled "Eat Local Month" in the Lowcountry and Charleston Supported Art, LLC, is advocating for "localvores" to not only fill their bellies with local foods, but to fill their live and work spaces with local art. The group has established an easy, affordable, and fun way to do so by offering seasonal shares of art for purchase based on the community supported agriculture model. Individual shares are priced at just $450, and consist of six original pieces of artwork produced by a curated group of local, established and emerging artists. The shares are limited and will be delivered through exclusive pick-up events for each season - spring, fall, and winter. The debut pick-up event, dedicated to the spring season, takes place on Wednesday, May 14, at GrowFood Carolina, a venue and organization with strong ties to traditional CSAs and the buy local movement. Shares may be purchased at www.charlestonsupportedart.com, or at the event.
The eighteen artists participating in the inaugural year of Charleston Supported Art (CSA) were announced in February and the public was invited to get to know them and their work at a Meet and Greet event at Redux Contemporary Art Center in early March. The well-attended gathering provided potential shareholders a glimpse of the quality and variety in styles and media of the works offered in each of CSA's 2014 seasons.
CSA's spring season features works by Jen Ervin, Tina Hirsig, Anna Hopkins, Alan Jackson, Joshua Lynn, and Kate MacNeil. Each artist produced 32 pieces of original artwork specifically for and exclusive to Charleston Supported Art. The May 14 pick-up event, open only to spring shareholders, will be the first time these works will be revealed. The pieces, which include photography, mixed media, wooden sculpture, pen-and-ink drawings, oil paintings, and intaglio prints, will not be available for purchase anywhere else.
For more information about Charleston Supported Art or to purchase a share online, visit www.charlestonsupportedart.com. Depending on availability, shares may also be purchased in person at the seasonal pick-up events via cash, check, or credit card. Questions or requests to be added to the CSA mailing list should be directed to info@charlestonsupportedart.com.
About CSA's Spring Artists
Southern artist Jen Ervin is currently working with a 1963 Polaroid Land Camera to explore the ethereal world of childhood at her family's historic cabin, located on the Little Pee Dee River. She received her MFA in Graphic Design from Boston University, and a BA in Fine Art from Francis Marion University. Originally a painter, Ervin became interested in photography while under the tutelage of Alston Purvis (artist/author and former student of Walker Evans). Ervin actively exhibits her work in the Southeast. Recent solo shows include Land & Family at the Charleston Center for Photography, and This Side of Summer at Jericho Advisors. In 2013, Rebekah Jacob Gallery selected and featured Ervin as an Emerging Artist of the South. Ervin was invited to show her work among many notable photographers in the recent exhibit, Somewhere in the South, at Rebekah Jacob Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina.
After graduating from Illinois State University with a Bachelors Degree in Education and Art, Tina Hirsig moved to Boston, Massachusetts where she studied painting and printmaking in the Studio Diploma Program at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This experience solidified her commitment to the arts and arts education. Teaching the next ten years in Boston, Tina gained the knowledge and experience in art education, arts advocacy, as well as established a studio practice. In 2003 she moved to Charleston, South Carolina and has since completed a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College. Hirsig currently maintains an active studio practice, exhibits her artwork nationally, and gives back to the community through teaching at local universities and public schools.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Anna Hopkins is preparing to graduate at the College of Charleston in May. She studied drawing, painting, and photography, but has landed on sculpture as her true outlet. Hopkins is exhilarated by the process of bringing an idea from her mind into the third dimension. Her work explores the visual stimulation that results from various color combinations when applied to geometric shapes. Hopkins is inspired by her daily surroundings, street art, patterns, architecture, design, and the natural world. Her work has been featured in the 2012 and 2013 Young Contemporaries exhibitions at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art.
Alan Jackson is originally from Savannah, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Florida College of Architecture in 1975 and worked in a series of architectural offices in Savannah, Beaufort, Kiawah Island, and Charleston. He has lived in Charleston since 1979. He is a LEED accredited professional architect and formerly a partner in the Mt Pleasant architecture firm McKellar & Associates. He now has a private practice. Jackson's interest in black and white photography began while he was in Architecture School. He developed and printed his own work until the mid-90's, when his focus turned to freehand pen and ink drawing. Borrowing from his training as an architect, these non-representational compositions include elements of both hard line drafting and freehand sketching. They are intended to provide a creative counterpoint to the representational work demanded of architectural drafting and rendering. Each piece is conceived and initiated with a set of limitations while the final execution is intended to be a spontaneous, and creative semiautomatic process allowing for progression and innovation within the limitations. Uninterrupted, straight lines are executed with a continuous vertical stroke not unlike the vertical cut of a sword.
Joshua Lynn was born and raised in Springfield, IL. He received his BFA in 2003 from Savannah College of Art and Design with a major in painting and a minor in printmaking. While attending he received the Manhattan Studio Award and interned at the Center for Book Arts. After graduating, he moved to Chicago, IL, where he pursued his painting practice and exhibited regularly. Lynn returned to Savannah, GA and achieved his MFA at Savannah College of Art and Design in 2012. He currently lives and works in Charleston, SC, where he is a professor at the College of Charleston.
Born in Asheville, NC in 1989, Kate MacNeil spent her childhood all across the US, roaming from the Rocky Mountains to the shores of Californ-I-A to Fostah-Glostah, Rhode Island. She has spent the past few years in Charleston, SC, where she currently resides. MacNeil graduated from the College of Charleston Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Studio Art in 2011. She has been a studio renter at the Redux Contemporary Art Center since 2011 and currently works as the Printmaking Technician at the College of Charleston. In her most recent work, MacNeil uses flowers as an allegory for emotional responses to death experienced in life. A portrait of a hanging sunflower recalls a once fragile existence, just as a memory preserves the life of a loved one. She manipulates plants and their spatial surroundings, the way the mind manipulates thoughts, to re-tell a never-ending story of life, struggle, and ultimately, release.
About Charleston Supported Art, LLC
Charleston Supported Art is a platform to connect emerging and established artists and collectors. Launched in November 2013, the program is part of a nationwide movement that has developed in over 40 communities across the country and is the first of its kind in Charleston, SC. Co-founders include Kristy Bishop, Camela Guevara, Stacy Huggins, Karen Ann Myers, Erin Glaze Nathanson, AnneTrabue Nelson and Ann Simmons. Supporters include 1600 Meeting Street, Artist & Craftsman Supply, Básico, Enough Pie, Frothy Beard Brewing Company, GrowFood Carolina, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Mixson Bath & Racquet Club, Redux Contemporary Art Center, The Cut Company, and Three Little Birds Café.
