by Jess Abbott | Jan 31, 2024 | News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Greenville Center for Creative Arts Announces Five New Members on the Board of Directors
GREENVILLE, SC – Jan. 31, 2024
The Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) is thrilled to welcome five distinguished individuals to its Board of Directors, each bringing a wealth of experience and a shared passion for advancing the arts in the Greenville community. The new members include Bill Stephenson, Mark Colby, Kacee Lominack, Mary Church Cornette, and Dan Helwing.
Bill Stephenson, a 1982 graduate of the University of North Carolina in Business Administration, joins GCCA after a remarkable 36-year banking career, with 30 years dedicated to BB&T. Bill’s extensive civic engagement includes his current role as Chair for the YMCA’s Foundation Board (Endowment) and various positions with Caine Halter Y over the last two decades. He has also served on the boards of Greenville Theatre, Friends of the Reedy River, and the Metropolitan Arts Council, demonstrating his commitment to the local arts scene.
Mark Colby, the Director of Digital Transformation – Purchasing Americas at Michelin North America, Inc., adds a unique perspective to the board. With a decade-long career at Michelin and a background in the US Marine Corps, Mark’s leadership and experience in digital initiatives will contribute significantly to GCCA’s growth. Beyond his corporate responsibilities, Mark is the CEO of the Michelin Charity Golf Tournament, showcasing his dedication to community service.
Kacee Lominack, Marketing Manager at Peacock Marketing and a graduate of Presbyterian College, brings nearly two decades of experience in the non-profit sector. Her expertise in database management, fundraising campaigns, and event planning, combined with a genuine passion for the arts, aligns seamlessly with GCCA’s mission. Kacee’s commitment to the community extends to her volunteer work with Mill Village Farms and involvement in Greenville County Schools.
Mary Church Cornette, CEO and Head of Creative at FUEL, is a seasoned creative professional with over 20 years of experience working with major brands. Her entrepreneurial spirit and approachable mentor leadership style have transformed FUEL into a purpose-driven brand-building agency. Mary’s dedication to serving nonprofits in the Greenville community is evident through initiatives like the FUEL for Good Grant, which provides marketing support to local nonprofits.
Dan Helwing, a Partner at Ernst & Young, brings a wealth of financial expertise to the board. As a leader in the Technical Accounting Advisory Group, Dan focuses on SEC Reporting, Corporate Governance, and business combinations. His extensive background in accounting and finance, coupled with his commitment to effective reporting and corporate governance practices, will enhance GCCA’s financial stewardship.
Jess Burgess, CEO of GCCA, expresses her enthusiasm for the new additions, stating, “We are thrilled to welcome Bill, Mark, Kacee, Mary, and Dan to our Board of Directors. Their diverse backgrounds and passion for the arts will bring renewed energy to our organization. We look forward to the exciting work ahead of us as we continue to support and uplift artists in the Greenville community.”
With these esteemed individuals joining the Board of Directors, GCCA is poised to embark on a new chapter of growth and community impact. The collective expertise and dedication of the new members will undoubtedly contribute to the continued success of the Greenville Center for Creative Arts.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Jess Burgess, CEO
Greenville Center for Creative Arts
jess@artcentergreenville.org
864-274-0351
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by Ben Tarcson | Nov 28, 2023 | News
Greenville, SC – Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) is excited to announce the opening of their Main Gallery exhibition, Pent Up Pink by Fleming Markel. GCCA will hold the opening reception on Friday, December 1st from 6-9 PM and continues on display until Wednesday, January 24th, 2024. During the opening reception CEO, Jess Burgess, will give opening remarks for the exhibition. GCCA’s Main Gallery exhibition Pent Up Pink is generously supported by media sponsor TOWN.
“Pent Up Pink” features a solo exhibition showcasing the artwork of local Greenville artist, Fleming Markel. Markel’s sculptures question and defy consumerism, along with the methods and myths it perpetuates about womanhood and femininity. The exhibition consists of 12 life-sized, freestanding sculptures made from everyday feminine materials arranged in a maze-like exhibition space. This layout creates alcoves, enabling individual observation and interaction with each sculpture.
In American culture, beliefs and behaviors are influenced by institutional traditions, including governance, religion, society, and family. Many of these traditional beliefs are, indeed, myths. Fueled by consumerism, these myths wield substantial influence over our daily lives, particularly shaping the self-perception and worldview of and about women. Markel challenges these prescriptive myths by composing her sculptures with everyday consumer products marketed toward women. The approach is lighthearted, embracing the absurd, and paying homage to the Feminist Art movement of the 1970s. Markel’s sculptures are personal and autobiographical, symbolizing an ongoing effort to debunk these controlling myths one step at a time as part of a feminist life journey.
Fleming Markel
Fleming Markel currently lives and works in Greenville, SC. She is the Director of Greenville Technical College’s Benson Campus Galleries. She holds a BA from Winthrop University, a MEd from the University of South Carolina, and an MFA from Clemson University.
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. GCCA’s galleries are open Tuesdays-Fridays from 9am – 5pm & Saturdays from 11am-3pm. 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 Ben Tarcson | Oct 26, 2023 | News
Greenville, SC – GCCA will open a new Community Gallery exhibition, “Mono No Aware”, on First Friday, November 3rd from 6-9pm. ‘Mono No Aware,’ is a Japanese term meaning “beauty tinged with sadness.” More specifically, the term alludes to the bittersweet awareness that all things inevitably change form or come to an end. Both a deep ache and a deep appreciation accompany this awareness.
In “Mono No Aware,” exhibiting artist Leigh Mitchell presents over 30 black & white photographs inspired by the ephemeral nature of things and relating to ideas of impermanence, reverence, beauty, and loss. Included in the exhibition are images that allude to feelings of vulnerability and loneliness as well as to the feelings of awe one can experience while marveling at nature’s various manifestations. Underneath Mitchell’s personal associations and experiences is a deep concern for the damaging impact we are having on our environment. Mitchell’s work speaks to the tangled mess humanity and the earth are in and conveys an eerie sense of foreboding for what may lie ahead.
Mono No Aware will be on display from November 3rd – December 20th, 2023 and admission is free during open business hours.
Leigh Mitchell
Leigh Mitchell is a photographic artist and educator. She obtained a master’s degree in Studio Art from Western Carolina University, and she was a college instructor for twelve years, teaching Film Photography I and II, Digital Photography I and II, and Photography Appreciation. Her work has been exhibited in a variety of locations, including The Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, CO), The Asheville Area Arts Council (Asheville, NC), The SE Center for Photography (Greenville, SC), Rochester Contemporary Art Center (Rochester, NY), and The Asheville Art Museum. She was the juror for Knoxville Photo at the Emporium Center in 2018 in Knoxville, TN, was a Regional Scholastic Art Judge through the Asheville Art Museum in 2011, 2013, and 2018, and juried the Diverse Works exhibit at the YMI Cultural Center in Asheville, NC in 2015. Her sensibility is toward images that have a lyrical quality while, at the same time, are able to capture the tension and reality of life.
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 Jess Abbott | Sep 18, 2023 | News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jess Burgess, CEO
864-274-0351
jess@artcentergreenville.org
Tickets on sale for The Color Gala at Greenville Center for Creative Arts
GCCA’s first signature fundraising event, The Color Gala, will be held on Thursday, November 2, from 7-9:30pm at 101 Abney Street. The event will feature delicious food and beverages by ChefanieB and Mingle Masters, music from the Fine Arts Center Jazz All Stars, live artmaking, a silent auction, and more.
“We are thrilled to host this special evening to benefit GCCA’s artist community,” said Jess Burgess, CEO of GCCA. “The Color Gala will be a wonderful opportunity to recognize and promote the impact of the visual arts in Greenville.”
Proceeds from the event will support GCCA’s core programming, including free public exhibitions, professional development and resources for emerging and working artists, and youth outreach, bringing essential arts engagement to everyone in our community.
Single tickets are on sale—$50 for GCCA Members and $65 for non-Members. Sponsorship packages with recognition and other special benefits are also available starting at $500. Visit artcentergreenville.org/colorgala for tickets and additional information.
Event Details:
When: November 2, 2023
Where: Greenville Center for Creative Arts
101 Abney St. Greenville, SC 29611
Tickets: www.artcentergreenville.org/colorgala
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. GCCA’s galleries are open Tuesdays-Fridays from 9am – 5pm & Saturdays from 11am-3pm. For more information, visit www.artcentergreenville.org, call 864-735-3948, or check out GCCA on Facebook (Greenville Center for Creative Arts) & Instagram (@artcentergvl).
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by Ben Tarcson | Sep 1, 2023 | News
Greenville, SC – Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA) is excited to announce the opening of their Main Gallery exhibition, Parting Lines. The exhibition features the artwork of acclaimed artists TeaYoun Kim-Kassor, Mayuko Ono Gray, and Sabre Esler. GCCA will hold the opening reception on Friday, October 6th from 6-9 PM and continues on display until Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023. During the opening reception CEO, Jess Burgess, will give opening remarks for the exhibition. GCCA’s Main Gallery exhibition Parting Lines is generously supported by media sponsor Vive.
In Parting Lines, artists TeaYoun Kim-Kassor, Mayuko Ono Gray, and Sabre Esler explore common threads of human existence, memory, and identity through varying representations of lines, whether explicit or implied. Featuring over 30 intricate drawings, paintings, and silk works, Parting Lines invites us to consider the power of diverse perspectives converging on a shared exploration of what it means to be human.
TeaYoun Kim-Kassor’s installation series, “Modulation,” delves into the concept of identity and questions the interplay between personal history and migration. Her work speaks to the universal human experience of grappling with questions like “Who am I?” and “Where am I?” as we navigate life’s complexities. Sabre Esler’s art takes a markedly scientific approach, probing the invisible constructs of thoughts. Esler uses color theory to represent abstract ideas. Her “what if” hypotheses serve as a bridge between art and science, resonating with the exhibition’s theme of exploring uncharted territories of the human condition. Mayuko Ono Gray’s graphite drawings offer a unique blend of cultural influences, seamlessly merging traditional Japanese calligraphy with Western drawing practices. Ono Gray’s works capture everyday life experiences and incorporate matching Japanese proverbs, intricately woven into a single, continuous line of hiragana and kanji characters. The calligraphic line symbolizes the journey of life, from birth to death, echoing the overarching theme of the exhibition.
Mayuko Ono Gray
Mayuko Ono Gray is an artist based in Houston, TX whose primary medium is graphite drawing. Born in Gifu, Japan, she was trained in traditional Japanese calligraphy in her youth and later studied classical Western drawing. Ono Gray moved to the United States following high school and went on to receive an MFA in painting from the University of Houston in 2007. Her work has been exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad, including exhibitions in Japan, Mexico, Germany, Italy, UK, and Greece. Ono Gray is the former Gallery Director and adjunct faculty at College of the Mainland, Texas City, TX. Gray served as an Instructor at the Glassell School of Art in Houston, TX in 2022. Her works are represented by Hooks-Epstein galleries in Houston, TX and Galeria 910 in Oaxaca, Mexico.
TeaYoun Kim-Kassor
TeaYoun Kim-Kassor is originally from South Korea, where she received her B.F.A. in Fine Arts at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul. She continued her research in Art Education as the Japanese equivalent of a Fulbright Scholar at Saitama University in Japan, where she earned a Master of Art Education (MAAE). In America, Kim-Kassor continued her exploration of arts in the Terminal Degree in visual arts, M.F.A. program at the University of Tennessee, focusing on Spatial Practice. Currently, she is a Professor and Department Chair of the Foundation Program at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.
TeaYoun has been a very active artist having numerous exhibitions, including at the Korean Cultural Center – Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Washington DC, University of South Carolina Beaufort, SC, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MoCA), GA, The Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile, AL, Venice Printmaking Studio in Murano Italy, La Macina di San Cresci in Florence, Italy, Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY, Montana State University Gallery in Bozeman, MT, Maryville College Gallery in Maryville, TN, Black-box Theatre in Milledgeville, GA, Folklore Museum in Sendai, Japan and many more. Her artwork has been supported by the Folklore Museum in Sendai, Japan, the National Performance Network (supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and the Nathan Cummings Foundation), CESTA in Tabor, Czech Republic, and Can Serrat in Barcelona, Spain.
Sabre Esler
Sabre Esler (b. Cleveland, OH) lives and works in Atlanta Georgia. She received her MFA from SCAD, Atlanta and she received her BFA from Miami University, Oxford OH where she studied graphic design, illustration and biology. Esler has exhibited in New York, Charleston, Knoxville, Boston, Connecticut, Atlanta, Nashville and Miami, and museums such as Miami University, SCAD Museum of Art, Alexandria Museum, Valdosta State Museum, Oglethorpe University, Agnes Scott College, and Georgia State University as well as Chastain Art Center, and Glynn Visual Arts Center and SCOPE and Aqua during Art Miami. She is currently a studio artist at Atlanta Contemporary. Esler has taught at Georgia State University, Perimeter College and SCAD. She is represented by Jennifer Balcos Gallery, Atlanta GA. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of Tufts University, Miami University, Georgia State University Perimeter College, The Federal Reserve Bank, Fulton County Arts Council, City of Atlanta, and corporate collections of Acoustic, AdvantEdge Executive Offices, Atlantic Capital Bank, Boston Consulting Group, Boardwalk Inn at Wild Dunes, Cognia, Crowell & Moring, Fieldpoint Private Bank & Trust, Georgian Bank, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Oglethorpe Bank, Preferred Office, Reaction 35, Ritz Carlton, SunTrust Bank, The Lofts at Capitol Quarters, Trammel Crow to name a few. Collectors throughout the United States and internationally have been collecting her work since 1995.
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. GCCA’s galleries are open Tuesdays-Fridays from 9am – 5pm & Saturdays from 11am-3pm. 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 Ben Tarcson | Aug 1, 2023 | News
Join us at GCCA on First Friday, September 1st from 6-9pm for the opening of our newest Community Gallery exhibition, Rural Carolina Revisited. This exhibition showcases over 30 watercolor paintings of Pat Konicki and looks at conjunctions of beauty and antiquity of rural life in the Carolinas. Changing the perceptions of overlooked subjects is at the core of Konicki’s work. Subjects such as dilapidated barns or broken down cars hold intrinsic beauty and Konicki explores that idea by enhancing color and light. Konicki’s work provokes an emotional response to a place or thing, thus highlighting the value in protecting or restoring the environment around us in the Carolinas. The challenge is to see beyond the surface of the decay and capture its splendor and history.
Rural Carolina revisited will be on display from September 1st – October 25th, 2023 and admission is free during open business hours. Konicki’s work will be for sale throughout the duration of the exhibition. Purchase inquiries can be sent to Gallery Director, Ben Tarcson at ben@artcentergreenville.org.
About the Artist
Pat Konicki graduated from American Academy of Art and began her career as a graphic designer and illustrator in Chicago. After relocating to Miami, Pat opened a graphic design and advertising firm focused on clients in the fashion, retail, healthcare and manufacturing industries.
Pat now resides in the Carolinas, where she derives much of her inspiration of often forgotten treasures. She is an award winning, contributing member of the Southern Watercolor Society, North Carolina Watercolor Society, South Carolina Watermedia Society, Catawba River Visual Artists Guild, Rutherford County’s Visual Arts Center and Tryon Painters and Sculptors. Galleries and studios throughout North and South Carolina have exhibited her work.
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).
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