State Art Collection gets 12-day run at S.C. State Fair
And FOLKfabulous is back for third year

Funnel cake? Check. Corn dog? Check. Cotton candy? Check. Tyrone Geter? Check.

McKissick Museum celebrates return of FOLKfabulous

Starting today, join the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum at the South Carolina State Fair for FOLKFabulous@theFair.
This year, our signature folklife festival celebrates South Carolina’s vibrant pottery traditions, drawing on two McKissick exhibitions: Swag & Tassel: The Innovative Stoneware of Thomas Chandler and Place It/Face It: Pottery by Eugene. Also featured are Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award recipients and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Initiative artists, highlighting the Folklife & Traditional Arts Program of McKissick Museum and the S.C. Arts Commission.
FOLKFabulous@theFair brings together outstanding tradition bearers from around the state, so that we may better know and appreciate our region’s unique cultural heritage.
FOLKFabulous@theFair is not an event to simply observe, but also an invitation to participate and engage with artists and cultural traditions that make the Palmetto State home. Come to the Rosewoods Building to enjoy arts displays, demonstrations and hands-on craft activities, an exhibit featuring South Carolina’s pottery heritage, concerts and hands-on music workshops, and our oral history station. New this year, Share Your Fair Story offers visitors an opportunity to record their South Carolina State Fair memories in preparation for the Fair’s 150th Anniversary in 2019. You won’t want to miss the chance to join in a community drum circle, try your hand at making a pot or a story quilt block, or contribute to our yarn-bombing display. You’ll also find music to move your heart and dancing feet: Piedmont Blues by Freddie Vanderford & Millbilly Three, bluegrass by Kristin Scott Benson & Friends, and a cappella spiritual and gospel singing by the Blackville Community Choir.
Featured ceramic artists and organizations include:
The University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum's signature festival, FOLKFabulous, has an expanded time frame at a new venue, moving from a one-day event at the museum to a 10-day extravaganza at the South Carolina State Fair October 11 - 22.
Drawing on the yearlong exhibition “WELL SUITED: The Costumes of Alonzo V. Wilson for HBO’s® Treme”, FOLKFabulous@theFair 2017 celebrates the traditions and spirit of Mardi Gras—in New Orleans and South Carolina. Also featured are Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award recipients and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Initiative artists, highlighting the Folklife & Traditional Arts Program of McKissick Museum and the South Carolina Arts Commission.
This folklife festival brings together outstanding tradition bearers in an immersive atmosphere to help visitors better understand our region’s unique cultural heritage. Each day of FOLKFabulous brings a new opportunity to learn and engage with narrative stages, concerts, hands-on-activities for the whole family, and even a King Cake Contest.
Visit www.artsandsciences.sc.edu
The University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum will present the second annual FOLKFabulous festival on August 23, 2014, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in front of the Museum on USC’s historic Horseshoe. This event is free and open to the public.
FOLKFabulous is the largest, single-day gathering of Southeastern Native American artists in the history of the University of South Carolina. The festival will feature Native American musicians, storytellers, artisans, and community leaders from more than six Southeastern tribes, each sharing their cultural traditions. Participating artists include Keith Brown demonstrating Catawba pottery (pictured right), Choctaw bead artist Roger Amerman, Tuscarora music by the Deer Clan Singers, and Cherokee storyteller and stonecarver Freeman Owle. Traditional food will be available from the Native American Café, and attendees will have numerous opportunities to talk with artists and community leaders.
For a full listing of participants, visit artsandsciences.sc.edu/mckissickmuseum/folkfabulous-2014.
FOLKFabulous will open McKissick’s newest exhibition, Traditions, Change, and Celebration: Native Artists of the Southeast. This exhibit represents year two of McKissick’s Diverse Voices series, which celebrates the traditional arts and folkways of the Southeastern United States. The South is home to a wide variety of deeply-rooted Native American tribal groups, each with its own dynamic history. Traditions, Change, and Celebration pays particular attention to five primary culture groups: Iroquoian, Muskogean, Algonquin, Mobilian and Siouan, and features the expressive culture of more than 40 Natives tribes throughout the Southeast.
Related: McKissick Museum exhibition features artwork from 25 Native American tribal nations.
McKissick Museum is located on the University of South Carolina’s historic Horseshoe with available parking in the garage at the corner of Pendleton and Bull streets. All exhibits are free and open to the public.
For more information, call Ja-Nae Epps at (803) 777-2876. This program is funded in part through the support of the South Carolina Arts Commission and the Humanities CouncilSC.
Via: McKissick Museum
McKissick Museum will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Awards with FOLKfabulous, a folk heritage festival taking place April 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the University of South Carolina's historic horseshoe. The event features live music, dance, and storytelling; demonstrations; hands-on art-making activities; and traditional South Carolina foodways. This event is free and open to the public. Performers