New director on board at ARTworks in Beaufort
From the Island Packet:
Laura Maxey, the new managing director at ARTworks, says art is a locally produced commodity that's often best enjoyed where it is created.
"There's a huge movement to buy locally grown food, eat at restaurants that use local ingredients, and I think that art should be looked at like that as well -- as a local consumable," she said.
Maxey started her duties Jan. 2 leading the nonprofit community art center, theater and gallery in Beaufort that's run by the Arts Council of Beaufort County. She said she is on a "listening tour" to find out what ARTworks means to people before she starts making plans for her new job.
Maxey will be available during an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at ARTworks, 2127 Boundary St., in the Beaufort Town Center.
Previous executive director J.W. Rone has been an adviser to Maxey, who has not previously led a nonprofit.
The daughter of two visual artists, Maxey turned a high school love for tech theater into college degrees and worked for years on off-Broadway sets. After unsettling events that included the death of a friend and being mugged at gunpoint, she sought the slower pace of the Lowcountry.
A front-desk job at a golf course led to facility and construction management positions with the Town of Hilton Head Island and the town of Bluffton. She said that's how she learned to coordinate events and write and manage grants.
"It was a little eclectic, and I was worried at some times in my life about being a generalist instead of a specialist, but it all comes together," Maxey said.
Maxey, who lives in Bluffton, hopes to bring together area art organizations and galleries to find ways to cooperate and improve programming.
"As the Arts Council of Beaufort County, it makes sense that we would be the ones to spearhead such an initiative, versus another arts group who may be affiliated with a particular town, city, university, etc.," she said.
Last fall, ARTworks reorganized, splitting the executive director job into multiple positions. Board member Melissa Florence was set to take the position but declined. Then Keith Mahoney was hired as interim director, a position he held only briefly.
Local artist Deanna Bowdish was brought on as curator and moved her art gallery to the center.
Gail Westerfield and her Misspent Youth Productions have been hired as the resident theater company. Westerfield has been involved with ARTworks for years and was a co-producer two years ago. Along with planning a fall theater season that she hopes will include youth either performing or assisting, she plans to begin teaching a series of acting classes by the end of the month.
Westerfield will also be at Thursday's open house.
Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2014/01/14/2892884/artworks-hires-new-director-open.html#storylink=cpy
ARTworks in Beaufort seeks new executive director
The Arts Council of Beaufort County, ARTworks, is seeking a highly motivated individual to fill the position of executive director. The right candidate will possess excellent leadership, organizational, and communication skills. In addition, the executive director will be responsible for grant writing, community/corporate relationships, consistent achievement of mission and financial objectives. The executive director will report to and work closely with the board of directors. Overall, the executive director will maintain a climate which attracts, keeps and motivates a diverse staff of top-quality talent.
Interested persons should submit a cover letter, resume and letters of recommendation to Search@beaufortcountryarts.com or by mail to ARTworks, 2127 Boundary Street, Suite 18-A, Beaufort, SC 29902. Salary based on experience. Position open until filled.
Job description
The executive director is the chief executive officer of ARTworks, the community arts center of the Arts Council of Beaufort County. The executive director reports to the board of directors, and is responsible for the organization's consistent achievement of its mission and financial objectives.
Specific duties
Program development and administration:
Assure that the organization has a long-range strategy which achieves its mission, and toward which it makes consistent and timely progress.
- Provide leadership in developing program, organizational and financial plans with the board of directors and staff, and carry out plans and policies authorized by the board.
- Promote active and broad participation by volunteers in all areas of the organization's work.
- Maintain official records and documents, and ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.
- Maintain a working knowledge of significant developments and trends in the field.
Communications:
See that the board is kept fully informed on the condition of the organization and all important factors influencing it.
- Publicize the activities of the organization, its programs and goals.
- Establish sound working relationships and cooperative arrangements with community groups and organizations.
- Represent the programs and point of view of the organization to agencies, organizations, and the general public.
Relations with staff:
Be responsible for the recruitment, employment, and release of all personnel, both paid staff and volunteers.
- Ensure that job descriptions are developed, that regular performance evaluations are held, and that sound human resource practices are in place.
- See that an effective management team, with appropriate provision for succession, is in place.
- Encourage staff and volunteer development and education, and assist program staff in relating their specialized work to the total program of the organization.
- Maintain a climate which attracts, keeps, and motivates a diverse staff of top quality people.
Budget and finance:
Be responsible for developing and maintaining sound financial practices.
- Work with the staff, finance committee, and the board in preparing a budget; see that the organization operates within budget guidelines.
- Ensure that adequate funds are available to permit the organization to carry out its work.
- Jointly, with the president and secretary of the board of directors, conduct official correspondence of the organization, and jointly, with designated officers, execute legal documents.
Via: ARTworks
Students invited to submit art for Sam Doyle Celebration in Beaufort
ARTworks in Beaufort and the Penn Center invite students to submit artwork as part of the Sam Doyle Celebration, an event recognizing St. Helena Island native and self-taught artist Sam Doyle's ingenuity and self-expression. Doyle documented life on the island with house paint and honesty, scraps of tin and a strong sense of humanity, often painting on household objects. Students are encouraged to do so as well, using items such as plywood, tin roofing, empty paint cans, doors, etc.
Teachers are encouraged to take advantage of several educational resources to teach students about Doyle and then have students create art for the celebration. Teachers may submit work by students in grades 3 through 12, and work should reflect what students have learned about Doyle and from his paintings. 2D and 3D visual art works are eligible. Entries are welcome from any school, not just Beaufort County schools.
Available resources:
- DVD of Victoria Small's "Sam Doyle: Historical Portrait of a Gullah Icon" presentation
- Color copy of "Sam Doyle: Haints & Saints" by Gordon W. Bailey (a booklet of Doyle's biography, context, and 10 paintings.)
- "Sam Doyle's Themes & History Lessons" lesson plan -- a discussion guide of Doyle's themes, subjects and materials.
- "That's Natural, Man" -- five steps through sketches and creative writing.
The resources, other helpful links and complete submission details are posted on
ARTworks' website. Find more about Doyle and his work on the
Foundation for Self Taught Artist's website, and view Doyle's work,
Adlade, a Slave, which is in the South Carolina Arts Commission's State Art Collection.
Artwork must be delivered to the Penn Center by Oct. 1. All accepted work will be exhibited at Penn Center in October, with three pieces chosen for recognition. Student artwork will be part of
Sam Doyle Night, scheduled for 5 - 8 p.m. on Oct. 10, when Penn Center's collection of Doyle's paintings will be on display. Student work will be for sale (at a very affordable price) and will benefit ARTworks & Penn Center's continued support for emerging student artists. The public is invited to the Oct. 10 event (tickets are $25), but students, their immediate families and sponsoring teachers are admitted free. Contact Victoria Smalls, director of history and culture at Penn Center, for information about the event and arrangements: (843) 838-2432.
Related:
Read more about the Sam Doyle Celebration.
Image: Sam Doyle,
Wellcome Table. Collection of Gordon W. Bailey.
Via:
ARTworks
ARTworks and the Beaufort community celebrate artist Sam Doyle
Beginning in September, visitors to ARTworks in Beaufort will have the rare opportunity to see the work of self-taught artist Sam Doyle presented in the community where he spent his life and derived his inspirations. The Sam Doyle Celebration kicks off Sept. 22 with a special reception and runs through Oct. 6. All paintings in the exhibition are on loan from private collections.
Born in 1906 on St. Helena Island in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Doyle "fashioned his uniquely styled personal portraits and tributes with evangelical enthusiasm, blending ancestral Gullah lore and his devout Baptist faith into a rich multicultural impasto," according to Gordon W. Bailey, an expert on Doyle's work. Doyle attended Penn School (now the Penn Center), established in 1862 to provide educational and vocational skills to newly liberated slaves.
The artist filled his property -- the "St. Helena Out Door Art Gallery -- with portraits of people important to his community, such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., First Black Midwife, Penn Drummer (detail pictured right, from the collection of Gordon W. Bailey) and other icons. He also created two important series: "Penn" (school), which paid tribute to people associated with the historic center and "First" (achievements), which commemorated special events such as the first football game played on St. Helena Island.
"I have been intrigued by his art, and the man, since I moved to Beaufort 20 years ago," said Claudette Humphrey, a board member for ARTworks. "It's time that we have a Sam Doyle Celebration so the rest of the community can be inspired by his unique art style and talent. The children and the community need to be enriched by his creativity and the diversity of Gullah art."
The Sam Doyle Celebration opening reception is Sept. 22 from 2 - 5 p.m. Tickets are $25 and must be purchased in advance by calling (843) 379-2787. The reception includes special guests sharing firsthand stories about Doyle, a presentation by Victoria Smalls, Penn's Center director of history and culture, and a buffet at the "Wellcome Table," inspired by one of the artist's paintings (pictured left, from the collection of Gordon W. Bailey).
On Oct. 10, the Penn Center will host Sam Doyle Night from 5 to 8 p.m., where guests can see the center's Sam Doyle Collection and enjoy a student art show and sale. Tickets are $25. Call (843) 838-2432 for more information.
Related: Students invited to submit art for celebration.
The Sam Doyle Celebration is a partnership between ARTworks, Penn Center, the Red Piano Too gallery, and Gordon W. Bailey.
For more information about Doyle, the exhibition and related events, visit ARTworks' website. For more information about Doyle's life and work, visit the Foundation for Self Taught Artists website. View Sam Doyle's work, Adlade, a Slave, which is in the South Carolina Arts Commission's State Art Collection.
Via: ARTworks
ARTworks hires new business-focused executive director
According to The Island Packet, ARTworks in Beaufort has revamped its administrative structure, hiring new executive director Keith Mahoney and freeing current director J. W. Rone to take on the role of artistic director.
Keith Mahoney calls himself an unrepentant capitalist and says he can barely draw a line.
And now, ARTworks calls Mahoney its executive director.
The recent transplant from Florida said he has agreed to handle the business aspects of the gallery and performance space run by the Arts Council of Beaufort, Port Royal & Sea Islands.
"What I want to do is bridge the creative artist with the capitalist," said Mahoney, who also is CEO of The Human Factor LLC, an executive-search consulting firm, which he will continue to run.
Mahoney wants to create a more financially stable ARTworks that will become a model for similar organizations.
"What are we without the humanities?" he said. "Nothing. The humanities take the sharp edge off of life."
Mahoney assumes the title that until recently was held by JW Rone.
The organization's leaders recently decided to divide the responsibilities the executive director once handled alone.
Rone takes on the newly created position of artistic director.
Past board president Deanna Bowdish becomes gallery curator, also a new position.
Other local artists have agreed to teach and coordinate public classes, including Alana Adams of the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and S.C. 2010 Craft Fellow Kim Keats. Keats is known for her basket weaving, Rone said.
"Each one of these people is going to help us expand our reach with the community," he said.
Board member Melissa Florence was to fill the executive director position starting Thursday, but declined the role.
Mahoney was contacted about it Thursday afternoon and accepted on Friday.
Mahoney's duties include combing through five years of finances, as well as identifying events that are profitable, such as the annual Mardi Gras celebration, and creating more of them.
Some events that run at a deficit could be eliminated, Mahoney added, but he doesn't know which ones yet.
He said he would seek the board's input before ending them.
Mahoney intends to move ARTworks' financial base from government funding toward business donations.
"If someone says they like what we're doing, I'm going to ask them for a check," he said. "... Be ready for my visits and be ready for my phone calls."
Via: The Island Packet
ARTworks of Beaufort celebrates five years
Join ARTworks in Beaufort on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. 
for a celebration of the arts, an overview of the past five years, a peek into the future and a few surprises. Enjoy hors d'oeuvres and watch artists working in their studios. The Bull Grapes will perform, and Beaufort artist Greg Rawls will reveal his Quilt of Humanity, a fused glass installation going to ArtPrize in Michigan this fall. The event is free to the public. (pictured right: Quilt of Humanity detail)
In 2012 alone, ARTworks orchestrated 418 activities, serving an audience of 11,575 (2,095 children and 9,480 community members). Best of all, 176 artists were paid to work in their chosen field.
ARTworks is the home of the arts council of Beaufort, Port Royal and the Sea Islands and serves as a community arts center, theater and educational resource.
For more information, visit ARTworks' website.
Via: ARTworks
Artist Kim Keats teaches the “joy of random weaving”
Take a peek inside a basketry class taught by South Carolina Arts Commission Craft Fellow Kim Keats through Local Life, a monthly column in the Beaufort Gazette/Island Packet. Local Life is written by Lisa AnneLouise Rentz, publicity coordinator for ARTworks in Beaufort, where Keats teaches classes.
An excerpt:
"'If you've got something loose or popping out, just weave more over it, that's the joy of random weaving,' Kim Keats told her class. We were seated around worktables covered with grape vines, bins of water, and baskets in progress. ... Supple ribbons of bark soaked in one of the bins. Gathering is a part of her creative process. Use of materials is important to her -- she doesn't want to let anything go to waste -- 'turning a tree into something beautiful.'"
Read the complete column.
Keats' next class begins Tues., Nov. 6 and runs weekly through Dec. 4. Class is held from 6 - 8 p.m. Registration is $55. Find out more about the class and how to register on ARTWorks' website.
Photo above: Example of Keats' work made of poplar bark, waxed linen and palmetto root. More photos of Keats' work can be found here.
Via: Lisa AnneLouise Rentz, Beaufort Gazette/Island Packet
[caption id="attachment_1954" align="aligncenter" width="614"]
Artist Kim Keats, right, demonstrates "the joy of random weaving."[/caption]
Bridging cultures and generations through gospel, blues and arts education
Storyteller-bluesman Guy Davis and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Spiritual Ensemble will share their creative process with high school students in Beaufort, S.C., and then release their joyful noises into the wilds of the Sea Islands in public concerts. This arts-education celebration is part of Bridging Cultures & Generations Through Music, an initiative developed by ARTworks, Beaufort's community arts center.
"We've observed that there are racial, cultural and generational audience diversity issues which could be addressed through creative music-based projects," commented ARTWorks Executive Director J. W. Rone. "Our Bridging initiative is our way of addressing both youth education and audience diversity, of race and age, by enlisting prominent musicians to perform and teach in Beaufort County."
The goals for the project are to introduce students and the community to the musicians and their art forms, to inspire young musicians regardless of race and socio-economic status, and to encourage audience diversity and assist in bridging cultural and generational divides.
The project is supported by a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts through its Arts Education in American Communities program.
Davis will be in residency and in concert at Beaufort Academy on Sept. 29. The son of actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Davis made his Broadway musical debut in the 1991 Zora Neale Hurston/Langston Hughes collaboration "Mulebone." Davis also arranged, performed and co-wrote the music for the Emmy-award winning film "To Be a Man." In the fall of 1995, his music was used in the national PBS series, "The American Promise," and in 2003 he toured with Jethro Tull.
Throughout his career, Davis has dedicated himself to reviving the traditions of acoustic blues through the material of the great blues masters, African-American stories and his own original songs, stories and performance pieces.
"I will conduct these classes in layers," Davis said of his plans for students in Beaufort. "Some students are there to hear the stories, some to see how I put the blues lyrics together, some are musicians I can teach the basics to, and if there's someone who's more capable, I can make it more complex. No one will be left out."
The Charleston Symphony Orchestra Spiritual Ensemble's residency includes two days of vocal music classes at Whale Branch Early College High School and Battery Creek High School. Their work will culminate Oct. 20 in a community performance of “Circa 1871: An Ode to the Fisk University Jubilee Singers" at the Battery Creek High School Performing Arts Center.
Now in its fourth season, the ensemble strives to honor the devout musical tradition that African-Americans formed as slaves after arriving in this country and in particular its relevant history in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The 2012-2013 season marks David Richardson’s debut as director of the ensemble. A noted baritone soloist, Richardson is a recipient of the prestigious Charleston Southern University Horton School of Music Senior Excellence Award for his exceptional work in choral music education.
Visit ARTworks' website for details and ticket information about both performances or call 843-379-2787.
Via: ARTWorks
[caption id="attachment_997" align="aligncenter" width="269"]
Guy Davis[/caption]
