by Greg | Jul 12, 2022 | News
Greenville, SC – The Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) has named Chelsea Rudisill as its next Development Director. As the newest member of the GCCA team, Chelsea brings extensive experience providing strategic direction and generating funds to support and sustain high-impact nonprofit organizations.
Chelsea is a native of Greenville, SC. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and has previously held development positions at the Peace Center in Greenville, Asheville Art Museum in Asheville, NC, and Richland Library in Columbia, SC. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from Duke University and a master’s degree in Arts Administration from Winthrop University. Chelsea is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and served as a 2020 and 2021 committee member for AFP Global’s Women’s Impact Initiative.
“We are extremely excited to have Chelsea join our team. Her fundraising and grant writing experience, coupled with her interest in the arts, makes her a tremendous asset,” explains Jess Burgess, GCCA’s CEO. “GCCA works tirelessly to bring high-quality accessible arts experiences and education to the community of Greenville. Chelsea’s expertise will help the organization develop a funding model that supports our mission and programs to continue to make a lasting impact for Upstate South Carolina.”
Chelsea comments: “I am thrilled to be joining the team at Greenville Center for Creative Arts and look forward to helping build sustainable support to strengthen visual arts engagement and provide resources for emerging artists.”
Please consider joining us for our 7th Annual Showcase on Friday, August 5, 2022, from 6-9 PM, and greet Chelsea to welcome her to our team.
About GCCA
Greenville Center for Creative Arts is a non-profit organization that aims to enrich the cultural fabric of the community through visual arts promotion, education, and inspiration. For more information, visit www.artcentergreenville.org, call 864-735-3948, or check out GCCA on Facebook (Greenville Center for Creative Arts) & Instagram (@artcentergvl).
by Greg | Jun 3, 2022 | News
June 3rd, 2022: Greenville, SC – Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) is excited to announce the opening of their Main Gallery exhibition, In Flux. The exhibition features the work of acclaimed artists Brent Dedas, Tom Dimond, Andy Holliday & Lijun Chao. The exhibition opens with a First Friday reception from 6:00 – 9:00 pm on Friday, June 3rd and continues until July 27th, 2022. The exhibition will also be open during GCCA’s First Friday event on July 1st, 2022.
In Flux communicates visual conversations either between the artists, with chaotic external forces, or with their own memories. Their work requires them to relinquish a certain degree of control and react in turn to the conversation revealed before them. The tense visual motion the artists create highlights the collaborative processes in which they work.
Brent Dedas
Brent Dedas is an Associate Professor of Art at University of South Carolina. He received his Masters of Fine Arts degree along with a Museum Studies Curatorial Certificate from the College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning, University of Cincinnati. His Bachelor of Fine Arts is from the Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville.
Tom Dimond
Tom Dimond retired in 2006 as an Emeritus Professor of Art from Clemson University. He began his career at Clemson first as the Director of Lee Gallery and then as Professor of Painting. He grew up in Massachusetts and received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and an MFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He taught at both Winthrop College and Clemson University. He also worked as Art Director for the National Lampoon Magazine.
Andy Holliday
Andy Holliday teaches at Auburn University in Auburn, AL. He earned his MFA in Printmaking from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and his BFA in Printmaking from Auburn University. His studio practice ranges from printmaking to ceramics and sculpture. He seeks to broaden the boundaries of technical printmaking and expand accessibility to the medium.
Lijun Chao
Lijun Chao teaches drawing at Auburn University in Auburn, AL. She is originally from Heze City, Shandong Province in China. She specializes in drawing and painting, including traditional Chinese watercolor. She earned her MFA in Painting from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Lijun is interested in themes of motherhood, distance and connections in her work, and she is eager to connect traditional practices to diverse techniques and approaches.
About GCCA
Greenville Center for Creative Arts is a non-profit organization that aims to enrich the cultural fabric of the community through visual arts promotion, education, and inspiration. For more information, visit www.artcentergreenville.org, call 864-735-3948, or check out GCCA on Facebook (Greenville Center for Creative Arts) & Instagram (@artcentergvl).
by Greg | Jun 3, 2022 | News
Greenville, SC – Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) will begin accepting applications for its annual emerging young artist program, the Brandon Fellowship, on Friday, June 3, 2022. This 12-month program aims to develop three emerging artists between the ages of 21 to 30 who represent the diversity of the Greenville community. Those selected receive free studio space, a stipend for supplies, a supportive environment, mentorship, and complimentary art education for one full year. Through this unique opportunity for young creative arts professionals, Fellowship alumni have established themselves as full-time working artists, designers, graduate students, artists-in-residence, instructors, published artists, grant recipients, and award winners.
This will be the eighth year for the program, which was created in 2015 when the Art Center was founded. The application will be available until July 3rd on GCCA’s website. In addition, paper copies can be picked up in person at 101 Abney Street Tuesday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Applicants must be legal citizens of the United States and residents of Greenville County. They must also be between the ages of 21 and 30. Prior professional art training or post-secondary education is not required for consideration. Completed applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3, 2022, to be considered.
To learn more about the Brandon Fellowship or to support the program with a donation, visit www.artcentergreenville.org/brandonfellowship.
About Greenville Center for Creative Arts
Founded by a dedicated group of local artists and philanthropists, Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) opened in May 2015 as a community hub for the visual arts. A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, its mission is to enrich the cultural fabric of the communities it serves through visual arts promotion, education, and inspiration. GCCA provides arts education to more than 900 people each year, as well as showcases local artists, and nurtures appreciation and enjoyment in the arts. It houses artists’ studios, an emerging artists’ fellowship, exhibitions, free community programs, and classes for all ages. For more information, visit www.artcentergreenville.org, call 864-735-3948, or check out GCCA on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
by Greg | May 17, 2022 | What Will You Create Today?
Each year GCCA features over 100 local artists in its Annual Showcase during the months of August and September. The upcoming 2022 Annual Showcase will mark the seventh consecutive year of the exhibition. This showing of the community’s proliferation in the arts would not be possible without the generous support of donors, who in this case, double as the artists themselves. Those who donate $50 or more become members of GCCA and gain eligibility to showcase one of their artworks in the Annual Showcase. This exhibition is a non-juried opportunity and gives artists the freedom to display their own unique styles.
For GCCA member John Pendarvis, donating to his local community art center can help serve many purposes. He states, “It is tough enough already for artists to find venues to not only show their artwork but also find places that serve as sources of encouragement.” By supporting GCCA, John hopes that his donations each year help artists of all ages to find courage in themselves to put brush to canvas and through the Annual Showcase, provide a venue for those artists to begin their art journey.
John is no stranger to GCCA or the Greenville art scene. He served on GCCA’s Main Gallery exhibition committee, helping create over 10 exhibitions. John is also a native South Carolina artist whose work reflects his love of music, and his Southern African American heritage. He shows his artwork across South Carolina but also participated in two of the past Annual Showcases at GCCA. In the 2021 Annual Showcase, John displayed his painting entitled “Boy In White Shirt.” John explains about the painting, “This was a statement piece reflective on black lives matters and the shooting of George Floyd. It represents all the black men that have a target on them figuratively and literally. I generally don’t do statement or activism pieces but I felt compelled to share my voice on this matter.”
John plans to participate in this year’s Annual Showcase. He and many other local artists will have their work on display in the Main Gallery from August 5th to September 28th, 2022. Be sure to donate and submit artwork yourself before the July 22nd, 2022 RSVP deadline.
by Greg | Apr 18, 2022 | What Will You Create Today? |
As a thriving community art center, an important aspect of GCCA is its volunteer network. Volunteers at GCCA help with the day-to-day operations including providing customer and docent services at the front desk and in the galleries, assisting with events and programming, and offering much-needed support for a small staff. In honor of National Volunteer Week, we’ve highlighted one of GCCA’s volunteers, Suzanne Woolf, who donates her time and talent each Tuesday morning manning GCCA’s front desk, as well as assisting with a variety of special projects. Suzanne is a mixed media artist with a home studio in the West End. She also teaches collage and mixed media as one of GCCA’s workshop instructors.
Kara Bale, GCCA’s Operations Manager, had the pleasure of interviewing Suzanne to find out more about her background and volunteering at GCCA.
1. How and when did you first learn about GCCA?
When my husband and I first moved to Greenville I made an effort to stop in at some of the local galleries and the Metropolitan Art Council. I don’t recall who specifically directed me to GCCA but I’m sure it was one of those organizations.
2. What made you want to volunteer your time at GCCA?
I thought volunteering at an art center would be a great way to meet other artists and get to know the Greenville art community, and I was right.
3. Where are you from and how long have you been in Greenville?
I grew up in Minnesota but spent 25 years in and around Boston, which is where I met my husband. We moved to Greenville in 2015. We had grown tired of the winters and were ready for change. For me that meant leaving the corporate world so I could focus on my art full time and I haven’t looked back.
4. Tell me a little about your own art practice… What do you create and why do you like that medium?
My elevator pitch is “I am a mixed media and collage artist. I primarily use vintage papers and ephemera in the background. I then incorporate vintage photos as the focal point adding them using an image transfer technique with acrylic medium.” I like the idea of the story that vintage materials provide, taking the discarded and giving it a new life. Who was the person that wrote that letter or what is the story of the person in the photo. It’s nostalgic and mysterious.
5. When you aren’t making art or volunteering at GCCA, what do you like to do with your free time?
When I’m not creating art I love making altered books and teaching classes, at GCCA and other locations. I also enjoy reading, running, baking, and spending time with my husband.
6. Do you have a favorite artist? If yes, why?
This is a very difficult question as I love a broad spectrum of art but two come to mind. I think Joseph Cornell was a master at assemblage, which to me is like a 3-D collage. Robert Rauschenberg’s use of everyday materials shows how art can be created from the most mundane materials.
Volunteerism isn’t only a key factor in the success of GCCA and other non-profit organizations, but also provides positive health benefits to those who do it, as detailed in this article from Science Daily.
If you are interested in learning how you can get involved as a volunteer at GCCA, please email info@artcentergreenville.org.
Recent Comments