← View All Articles

Artist residency space available to all disciplines

Loft on East Main, Lake City


[caption id="attachment_48681" align="alignright" width="275"] Click image to enlarge.[/caption]

This artist residency is an independent, self-directed experience in the small southern town of Lake City, South Carolina.

Lake City is the home of the prestigious annual art competition, Artfields. You'll reside in the heart of this bright and welcoming town of artists and art appreciators, with access to studio space. We connect you with the community for customized engagement opportunities, whether it be promoting open studio hours, hosting pop-up gallery shows, offering artist talks, teaching classes, networking with local artists, etc. The Loft on East Main is conveniently located 90 miles from Charleston and 60 miles from the beach of Pawleys Island. Brookgreen Gardens is an hour and a half drive, and Moore Farms Botanical Gardens is right in Lake City. Come see why Lake City has branded itself the 'Make Your Art’ town! More information and living space images are available here. This residency is not affiliated with Artfields.

Submitted material

ArtFields readies for full 2021 schedule

The Southeast's largest visual arts competition is readying for nine days of events in 2021.

Ardie Arvidson of the Morning News has details at SCNow.com:

ArtFields, the largest visual arts competition in the Southeast, displays hundreds of art pieces throughout Lake City, along with hosting special events, live music, lots of food and fun for the whole family with student competition artwork and outdoor public art galore.

This nine-day art fest will feature artworks uniquely displayed in downtown businesses. Along with the artwork, additional events will include the Portrait Contest, Makers Market and Artist Talks, plus events all week at local businesses, said Roberta L. Burns, marketing manager of Lake City ArtFields Collective.
ArtFields joins Greenville's Artisphere and other S.C. arts events like Ag + Art Tour and Artista Vista (Columbia) in announcing plans for in-person gatherings. Read Arvidson's full story at SCNow.com.  

Jason Rapp

Tuning Up: Scottie Award presented to May, Fisher + ArtFields stories

Good morning!  "Tuning Up" is a morning post series where The Hub delivers curated, quick-hit arts stories of interest to readers. Sometimes there will be one story, sometimes there will be several. Get in tune now, and have a masterpiece of a day. And now, in no particular order...


Beam. Me. Up. Retiring SCAC Executive Director Ken May and the ABC Project's erstwhile Executive Director Christine Fisher were both presented with the Scottie Award from the S.C. Arts Alliance late last week in Charleston. See the full story from the SCAA here. Strength in numbers. Myrtle Beach twin brothers both became artists at a young age and are now winning awards for their work. Noah and Will Williams are seniors at the Academy for the Arts, Science and Technology. Recently, they captured accolades at Lake City’s ArtFields competition. See full story from WMBF here. More ArtFields. SavannahNow pans the festival: "It seemed as if this one arts event had transformed the city ... It was exciting to see that one arts organization could have such an impact on the city as a whole." See the full story on SavannahNow here.

Tuning Up: Experience the arts this weekend

Good morning!  "Tuning Up" is a morning post series where The Hub delivers curated, quick-hit arts stories of interest to readers. Sometimes there will be one story, sometimes there will be several. Get in tune now, and have a masterpiece of a day. And now, in no particular order...


[caption id="attachment_40184" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Jennifer Wen Ma’s team installs a version of Cry Joy Park at Beijing’s Tang Contemporary in October 2018. (Courtesy Halsey Institute) Jennifer Wen Ma’s team installs a version of Cry Joy Park at Beijing’s Tang Contemporary in October 2018. (Courtesy Halsey Institute)[/caption]

Hey, look; we made it.

Friday is here. You've been looking forward to it since 8:30 or 9 a.m. Monday, and it's finally here. The Hub will be mowing and pitching in on some house cleaning for sure, but a good weekend has more to it than the mundane. We are here to help. BLACKVILLE The 8th Annual Blackville Music & Art Festival is bringing a weekend full of entertainment and activities to downtown Blackville this weekend, May 17-19. Organizers promise a carnival, parade, car & bike show, several live performances, art displays, vendors, and live artist demonstrations by South Carolina artists Edmon Glover Richburg, Ment Nelson, and Terrance Washington. CHARLESTON Not an exhibition per se, but how about something that keeps on giving? Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art is offering BOGO memberships (for all membership levels!) until May 31. It's part of their May giving campaign. Use this deal to enjoy Cry Joy Park—Gardens of Dark and Light from Jennifer Wen Ma (opens Saturday).  Ma helped design the stunning opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. COLUMBIA Your last chance to see Jackson Pollock: Mural is Sunday, when the exhibit at Columbia Museum of Art closes. The museum devoted two galleries not just to the mural that launched his fame but to the techniques and creation that made it what it is. LAKE CITY Join ArtFields in Lake City for a dual gallery opening on May 18th from 6-8 p.m. at TRAX Visual Art Center and Jones-Carter Gallery. On opening night, enjoy hors d'oeuvres and drinks while you view artwork from Beverly Buchanan, Jenny Fine, and Jerry Siegel. Additionally, Fine and Siegel will be present to talk about their work and the inspiration behind their pieces.

Meade Agency in production for new ArtFields documentary

Meade Agency Professional Video Production of Charleston and Florence, in partnership with the Darla Moore Foundation, is pleased to announce the launch of production for "ArtFields: The Documentary."  This 53-minute motion picture film will highlight the ArtFields competition and the town of Lake City. The film is set to release in the summer of 2020.


"ArtFields: The Documentary" will capture the story of the revitalization of Lake City through esteemed businesswoman Darla Moore’s visionary efforts coupled with the power of art and community. “We have been a part of the ArtFields team for over five years now,” says Kris Meade, CEO of Meade Agency. “It has been incredible to watch the festival grow, but even more importantly, to watch Lake City’s transformation through the vision of Darla Moore and the Darla Moore Foundation. We are honored to have the opportunity to share this movement through film, and our hope is that it will inspire other communities to follow suit and bring restoration and revitalization to their towns and cities through art.” “The Darla Moore Foundation is excited to partner with Meade Agency to produce a documentary on the positive changes taking place in Lake City, ArtFields and our cultural movement,” says Dr. Marion Fowler, CEO and president of the Darla Moore Foundation. “We have worked with Kris Meade and his team for many years. Their video work product is outstanding. Once Lake City won the USA Today Award for #1 Small Town Cultural Scene in May of 2018, we realized we needed to document our efforts for historical purposes. We also wanted to share the Lake City and ArtFields story in hopes that we could be an inspiration to other small towns. We believe that Lake City’s future is bright.”
ArtFields is an annual nine-day art competition and exhibition in Lake City that awards more than $140,000 in cash prizes to artists from across the Southeast. ArtFields is the flagship art event in a town where an abundance of high-quality art is on view all year long. Aside from growing a collection of public art, the city has several exhibitions running at all times in professional art spaces such as Jones-Carter gallery and TRAX Visual Art Center. New art venues, including a sculpture garden, are on the horizon. This year’s ArtFields competition will be held  April 26-May 4, 2019. “This is going to be a powerful documentary,” says Meade. “We believe that once this story is told, the ripple-effect of ArtFields is going to be felt across the nation.” For more information about ArtFields, visit www.ArtFieldsSC.org. To reach the Meade Agency, visit www.MeadeAgency.cc or call 843.206.3871.

Submitted material

Win $50,000: ArtFields 2019 now taking submissions

Up to 400 artists to be invited to exhibit during ArtFields 2019 in Lake City

Submission deadline: Nov. 5, 2018 In southern Florence County there sits a small town that's a big player in the southeastern U.S. arts scene, serving as host of one of a major regional arts festival every spring. And you, #SCartists, could be invited to exhibit in Lake City next year and compete for the $50,000 ArtFields 2019 grand prize.

What's New

If selected, you and your artwork will be in one of the Southeast’s major art events, a nine-day April-May, 2019, affair in Lake City, S.C. Your work will be among up to 400 exhibited throughout our downtown in galleries, warehouses, restaurants, shops and other venues. Thousands of people will see it, including art curators, critics and other art professionals and news media of all sorts from all over the place. And then there are the collectors, of course. (Please look at the rules and prize information before you submit.)

For ArtFields 2019, there are new state awards and they revamped existing prizes. And campaigning for the People’s Choice Awards is banned. Furthermore, there's a new submission platform, ArtBooth, that's made specifically for ArtFields. You can read all about that on the prizes and rules page of ArtFieldsSC.org.


Michaela Pilar BrownPrizes

  • Grand Prize: $50,000
  • Second Place Prize: $25,000
  • People's Choice (Two-Dimensional): $12,500
  • People's Chouce (Three-Dimensional): $12,500
  • Merit Prizes (10): $2,000 (now a "best-of-the-rest," 3-12 ranking)
  • Category Prizes (8): $1,500 (now including textile art)
  • State Awards (12): $1,000 (one state winner for each state included in ArtFields)
The 2018 winner of the grand prize, Michaela Pilar Brown, is a South Carolina artist who is no stranger to the S.C. Arts Commission: she received an Artists Ventures Initiative grant in 2014 to help her start an arts-based business.  

U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith visits S.C. this month

Massachusetts native and Princeton faculty member Tracy K. Smith, named U.S. poet laureate in June 2017, will visit three locations in Rep. Jim Clyburn's district this month as part of a tour of rural America. She'll discuss poetry's connection to everyday life. The events are free, but you're asked to email ana.maxwell@house.gov to RSVP so they can plan adequately. Details for the three events: Lake City

  • Friday, Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m.
  • Lake City UMC
  • 229 W. Main St.
Summerton
  • Friday, Feb. 23, 5:30 p.m.
  • Old Summerton H.S.
  • 12 S. Church St.
Adams Run
  • Saturday, Feb. 24, 10:30 a.m.
  • Wiltown Community Center
  • 5779 Parkers Ferry Rd.

Lake City’s ArtFields invites artist submissions

Deadline is November 16

artfields-logo-roundEstablished and emerging Southeastern artists are invited to submit their work to ArtFields®, the region’s largest art competition, which is open to 2- and 3-dimensional artists in 12 states. The art festival (April 21-29, 2017) will award prizes of $50,000 for the Top Prize, $25,000 for Juried Panel prize and two $12,500 People’s Choice (one each for two- and three-dimensional work) in addition to seven new category awards of $1,500 each and ten Merit awards of $1,000 each.

Artists aged 18 and over working in any medium are encouraged to submit their work. ArtFields celebrates the art of the South through a broad mix of media. The submission period closes at midnight, November 16 (all submissions are online). Full rules are available at artfieldssc.org.

The first four ArtFields competitions delivered nearly half a million dollars in cash prizes to regional artists, encouraging submissions by artists who live in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Every year, ArtFields devotes extensive resources to an assertive, regional outreach program. The results are reflected in the diverse geographies represented by exhibit pieces and visitors. To date, 16 out of 36 prize-winning artists came from outside of South Carolina. More than 60% of winning pieces were exhibited in non-traditional settings.

Established and emerging artists alike have been featured in the festival. A jury of visual art professionals will select approximately 400 competition pieces from all submissions.

Art electrifies Lake City for nine days every year, more than tripling its population, as the historic downtown district transforms into an art gallery spanning 30-plus venues, including historic buildings, shops, cafés and offices. ArtFields showcases work in everyday settings, ensuring maximum visibility for each artist’s unique work.

Image: Jocelyn Chateauvert, Invasive Species, 2016 People's Choice 3-D winner

Via: ArtFields

ArtFields announces artists for 2016 competition in Lake City

ArtFields has announced the accepted artists for the 2016 event, which takes place April 22-30 in downtown Lake City, S.C. Selected by a jury of visual arts professionals, the accepted artists will exhibit nearly 400 works of art, representing the talent across the 12 Southeastern states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. These emerging and established artists will compete for their chance at a share of $110,000 in cash prizes, awarded based on visitor input and a panel of acclaimed judges and educators. “I was extremely impressed with the high quality of the submitted works,” said 2016 review panelist and University of South Carolina Art History Professor Bradford Collins, Ph.D. “The artwork is a wonderful mix of the pleasing and the provocative.” Prizes to be awarded include the Top Prize ($50,000), Juried Panel Prize ($25,000), People's Choice two-dimensional ($12,500), People's Choice three-dimensional ($12,500) and 10 Merit Awards ($1,000 each). The ArtFields 2016 Competition Artwork Gallery will be available online in March. Visit the ArtFields website to learn more. About ArtFields ArtFields is a charitable program and event sponsored by Lake City Partnership Council, which is a federally recognized Section 501(c)(3) organization located in Lake City, South Carolina. Its mission is to improve the quality of life and promote the well-being of citizens residing within the greater Lake City area through, among other things, educational offerings and activities that foster and develop culture and arts within the community. To learn more about ArtFields, visit http://www.artfieldssc.org.

South Carolina artists among prize winners at Artfields

Although the top prize at Artfields went to a Louisiana artist, South Carolina artists won the remaining top three awards and five of 10 in the honorable mention category. Artfields, held April 24 - May 2 in Lake City, S.C., attracted 1,000 entries from across the Southeast, an increase of 35 percent from 2014. Four hundred artists were invited to participate. Top prize winners: Top Prize ($50,000) Charles Anderson (New Orleans, Louisiana) for Central City Juried Prize ($25,000) Bretta Staley (Orangeburg, S.C.) for Third Heaven People's Choice (2-D) ($12,500) Melissa Askins (Manning, S.C. ) for Sisters Under a Canopy of Oaks People's Choice (3-D) ($12,500) Mike and Patz Fowle (Hartsville, S.C.) for Consume (pictured above)   From Lake City News & Post

The Village Green in Lake City filled with artists, families, and visitors from across the Southeast - and beyond – Saturday night and waited expectantly to hear who would take home prizes in the region’s largest art competition. Around 400 artists were competing for the $110,000 in prizes and just one got to go home today with a $50,000 Top Prize: Charles Anderson of New Orleans whose “Central City” was housed in Joe’s Barber Shop. Anderson said he doesn’t have any specific plans for the money yet but will use it not only to forward his own artistic career but also to give back the community that is the inspiration and subject matter of his works as well as Gregory – also known as Baby G – whose arresting expression was captured by Anderson in charcoal and graphite and has hung in Joe’s Barber Shop for the duration of the competition. “I was really amazed by the competition; I was really amazed by Joe’s Barber,” he said. “It was all so professional and you really don’t see this level of professionalism in just everything. From the booklets, to when I call people answer, … The whole experience is just beautiful and really rejuvenating.” Though Anderson hadn’t figured out what he would do with the prize money should he win, he does know that – like ArtFields – he wants it to be a part of his community and knows he wants to give part of his prize money to an organization called “Cease Fire” that he helped create to help stop violence in New Orleans. Anderson said he decided to enter ArtFields after finding out about the event through the online site Craigslist. Like many in the inaugural years of the competition, he at first thought the prize amounts were a mistake. “You don’t hear of art prizes being $50,000; It’s $1,000 and a residency for five weeks,” said Anderson. Anderson said attending the competition was done on a whim and he has been astounded by the ArtFields experience – including the hospitality of the area, the organization of the competition and the quality of the artwork he was competing against. “I am amazed. The work is phenomenal,” said Anderson who added that he has left many art shows angry because the work showed so little heart. “Here, I love about 95 percent of what is here. It’s just outstanding. Entitled “Central City” after the area in which Anderson worked for several years, the piece will now find a permanent home in Lake City as an ArtFields piece. Also remaining in Lake City will be the work that won the $25,000 winning Juried Prize, which was awarded to Bretta Staley for “Third Heaven” Works from previous winners are currently housed in the Inn at the Crossroads and the ArtFields Gallery – no word yet on just where “Central City” or “Third Heaven” will be displayed. TOP PRIZE Charles Anderson for Central City JURIED PRIZE Bretta Staley for Third Heaven PEOPLE’S CHOICE (2-D) Melissa Askins for Sisters Under a Canopy of Oaks PEOPLE’S CHOICE (3-D) Mike and Patz Fowle for Consume  HONORABLE MENTIONS, with special consideration provided by The Citizens Bank: Townsend Davidson (Charleston, S.C.) (Supercritical Flow) Kate McNeil (Charleston, S.C.) (Inference) Susie Ganch (Bale: Diptych) Matt Bryant (Ana10G0US) Aron Belka (To Market, To Market) Mary Gilkerson (Columbia, S.C.) (Minervaville, 100 Views) Brant Barrett (Surfside Beach, S.C. ) (Murphy Island Youth Hunt, 2013) Loren Schwerd (Peak) Robert Logrippo (Villa Cannery) Stacey Davidson (Rock Hill, S.C.) (Lake Norman) Tyrone Geter, one of the four judges who determined the winners, said the hardest thing about judging the works was “trying to be fair.” “Also, everything here is elevated. It’s just one of those unique things with the people involved in it…people are just starting to really get into it,” said Geter who said the Lake City community – the volunteers and venues – have really embraced the artwork as their own. “It’s just such a wonderful plan.” Geter said he expected the quality of art to continue growing in future years. “You’re really going to get top-flight artists competing in this event,” said Geter. “Because it’s not just the money; it’s that you just get treated so darn good and the city is so relaxing.” Judges for the Juried Prize and Top Prize were:
  • Chad Alligood - curator of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and a former Cranbrook Art Museum curator who recently researched the State of the Art show developed from visits to 1,000 art studios in 80 cities and small towns.
  • Tyrone Geter - a painter who has exhibited worldwide, a professor of art at Benedict College, and an art gallery curator.
  • Jay Heuman, an art museum educator and curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston where he works collaboratively to organize more than 120 public programs a year.
  • Cecilia Stucker - the founder of Curating & Collections, a curatorial consultancy to private and corporate collectors, who splits her time between New York City, Los Angeles and Paris.