Untitled, 1950, by Merton Daniel Simpson (American, b. 1928)

Whether you are a loyal blog follower or joining us for the first time, it is clear by your attention that you are a fan of the Gibbes Museum. In reading this blog, even this exact post, you must have realized by now that our untitled blog needs a name of its own!

As you may recall, we invited you to join our Face Lift: Caption This! contest last fall. With September already underway, we would like to again invite you to use your wit and creativity by indulging in our newest challenge. The Gibbes Blog has been consistently growing since its launch in 2008. It has been our goal for the blog to be an active place for visitors, curators, staff, and friends to continually build their relationship with the museum and the larger art community.

Perhaps a play on words comes to mind, or perhaps this blog means something specific to you. Either way, we would love to hear about it! Starting on Friday, September 16, we will be accepting entries to Blank Canvas Blog contest. Your suggested title should be clever and relevant, yet short, as any title should be.

We look forward to seeing what your creative minds produce! Follow the rules below and let the games begin!

Contest Rules:
1. The Blank Canvas Blog contest begins September 16, 2011 and ends at 11:59pm on Friday, September 30, 2011.

2. Entrants represent and warrant that their submission is their original work, it has not been copied from others, and it does not violate the rights of any other person or entry.

3. By submitting a title in the Blank Canvas Blog contest, you authorize the Gibbes Museum and/or others authorized by the Gibbes Museum the right to edit, adapt, and modify the submission. Each entrant releases and discharges the Gibbes Museum, any party associated with the development or administration of the Contest, their employees, agents or representatives from any and all liability in connection with the contest, including without limitation, legal claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages, demand or actions of any kind.

4. Subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void outside the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and where prohibited.

5. By participating in the contest, you authorize the Gibbes Museum of Art to use your submission for educational and promotional purposes related to the Gibbes Blog, and for archival purposes in any media.

How to Participate:
1. Scroll down to the “Leave a Reply” section of this post.

2. Log in to add a comment and submit your suggestion for our blog title.

3. Submit as many entries as you would like. There is no restriction on the number of entries permitted by an individual.

What to Expect from the Gibbes Museum:
1. Comments will be moderated. Off-topic comments, captions containing foul language, or any submission deemed inappropriate by Gibbes Museum staff will be removed.

2. The Gibbes Museum reserves the sole discretion over the selection of, and the decision not to select, any title submitted on the blog.

3. Five top entries will be selected from the contest submissions by a member or members of the curatorial and editorial staff of the Gibbes Museum of Art. In the event two or more valid entries contain the identical caption (including punctuation) and are selected as a finalist, the Gibbes staff will draw the finalist by random selection. Gibbes staff may also submit entries but are not eligible to win the grand prize. The winning title will be chosen by you, our audience, through a vote in a future post.

4. The qualified winner and two runners up in the Blank Canvas Blog contest will receive two (2) free-admission passes to the Gibbes Museum of Art. The qualified winner will also receive two (2) free passes to one (1) upcoming museum lecture or performance during the fall season (October 1 – December 31, 2011).

5. The winning title and author will be announced on our blog in October.

How to view all submissions:
View all suggested titles by scrolling down to the comments below.

Questions:
Contact Lasley Steever at lsteever@gibbesmuseum.org with any questions.

—Contributed to by Brett N. Skirkanich, museum intern, and Lasley Steever, program & events manager and blog editor

adminlasley :: Sep.16.2011 :: Uncategorized :: 7 Comments »

If you’ve visited the Gibbes Museum in the past few weeks, you may have noticed some different objects in The Charleston Story exhibition. We’ve changed out a number of works, including a group of woodblock prints by various artists working in this medium. I was particularly interested in this selection of prints because a number of them are actually by 19th-century Japanese artists, and the history behind how this medium influenced many Charleston artists was equally fascinating to me.

Nearly 500 woodblock prints in the Gibbes permanent collection came from one collector, Motte Alston Read. Read traveled extensively and began avidly collecting Japanese woodblock prints in the early 1900s. During this same period, South Carolina artist Anna Heyward Taylor also traveled abroad in Europe and Japan, where she was exposed to the traditional Japanese method of using different blocks for each color to create a polychrome print. Upon returning to the United States, Taylor met American artist B.J.O. Nordfeldt, who had developed a method for using only one block to create a polychrome print. In Nordfeldt’s method, each shape was separated by grooves to prevent the colors from mixing when applied to the block, which produced white outlines around each area of color. Taylor connected with this white-line technique and it can be seen in many of her pieces, including Carolina Paroquet, now on view.

            
Another South Carolina artist, Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, found inspiration much closer to home here in Charleston. Smith was a close friend and distant relative of Motte Alston Read, and had ample opportunity to study his collection in person. Smith translated many of the techniques she saw in Read’s Japanese print collection into her own work, such as the vertical composition seen in Crescent Moon from the series Twenty-eight Views of the Moon. A similar format is seen in Smith’s Moonlight on the Cooper River, however she incorporates Lowcountry imagery that was familiar to her.

These two artists found inspiration in the vivid colors, respect for nature, and striking compositions that they saw in Japanese woodblock prints. Taylor and Smith made this technique their own by incorporating common themes in Japanese art such as birds, flowers, and landscapes, into their own unique perspective of Charleston and South Carolina.

—Amanda Breen, Museum Relations Summer Intern, Gibbes Museum of Art

adminlasley :: Aug.04.2011 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

On May 21st the Gibbes launched Society 1858, a new museum support group geared toward up and coming arts patrons. The next Society 1858 event is scheduled for Friday, July 16 at 8pm. Event details will be posted on the Gibbes website soon!

Mary Ramsay and Leize Gaillard

Mary Scott McLaurin, Andrew Smock, and Helen Pratt-Thomas

Claire Slover, Jennifer Burns, Helen Rutledge, and Francis Parker

Cindy Hayes, Mary Scott McLaurin, and Anja Urbanski

Phil Lynch, Winslow Hastie, and Amber Lynch

To view more photos, click here.

Photographs courtesy of Carolina Photosmith.

adminmarla :: Jun.07.2010 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Artist Mary Whyte was featured on the news last night in Columbia. Click here to watch a clip. Whyte’s work is included in the Gibbes permanent collection and will be showcased in the upcoming exhibition Mary Whyte: Working South, scheduled to open in May 2012.

Artist, 2007, by Mary Whyte, watercolor on paper, museum purchase with funds provided by Dr. and Mrs. (Caroline) Anton Vreede, 2007.005

adminmarla :: May.20.2010 :: Uncategorized :: 2 Comments »

Anne Cimballa, an art teacher for grades 7, 9, and 10 at the Charleston County School of the Arts received the 2010 Mary Whyte Art Educator Award and the $1,000 cash prize that accompanies the award. Awarded annually by the Gibbes, the Mary Whyte Art Educator Award is designed to recognize a high school visual art teacher in the tri-county area who has demonstrated superior commitment to his or her students and craft. Ms. Cimballa submitted the lesson plan Palette Knife Painting Inspired by the Works of Brian Rutenberg. Students visited the Gibbes exhibition Brian Rutenberg: Tidesong and created original landscape paintings using their own photos of the Lowcountry while painting with palette knives in the style of Rutenberg.

Bettina Whyte, Smith Coleman, Anne Cimballa, Mary Whyte, and Angela Mack

Anne Cimballa working with a student

Anne Cimballa in her classroom

adminmarla :: May.13.2010 :: Uncategorized :: 1 Comment »

In case you missed Adam Parker’s article in Sunday’s Post and Courier, click here to read about renovation plans for the Gibbes Museum of Art, including renderings of new exhibition and education spaces in our historic building.  Exciting plans are in the works, so stay tuned!

adminmarla :: May.05.2010 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Congratulations are in order for mixed media artist Radcliffe Bailey who was named the 2010 winner of the Factor Prize for Southern Art and received the $10,000 cash prize that accompanies the award. Awarded annually by the Gibbes, the Factor Prize acknowledges an artist whose work demonstrates the highest level of artistic achievement in any media while contributing to a new understanding of art in the South. Bailey was selected from a group of six finalists that also included Aldwyth, Willie Birch, William Christenberry, Sally Mann, and Joyce Scott. To view work by these artists and to learn more about the Factor Prize, click here.

Windward Coast, 2009 (detail), by Radcliffe Bailey, piano keys, plaster bust, glitter, dimensions variable, courtesy of Solomon Projects

adminmarla :: May.04.2010 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

This summer the Gibbes is teaming up with Southern Protocol to offer etiquette lessons for children ages 4-7 and 8-12. The modern manners experts at Southern Protocol will teach children all the basics of proper etiquette including introductions, thank you notes, phone manners, table manners, museum etiquette, and other important lessons. Classes will be held in the museum’s Welcome Gallery and students can bring a bagged lunch to enjoy in the Gibbes Courtyard. 

Petite Protocol
June 21-25, Ages 4-7
June 28-July 2, Ages 8-12
12-2pm
$60 per week 

For more information or to register, please contact Rebecca Sailor at (843) 722-2706, ext. 41.

adminmarla :: Apr.21.2010 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Join us at the Gibbes this Saturday, April 17, for our Jr. League of Charleston Community Day.  This day of family fun includes hands-on art activites, demonstrations, and free admission from 10am to 1pm.  We hope to see you at the Gibbes!

adminmarla :: Apr.14.2010 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »

This Saturday, the Gibbes participated in the Mt. Pleasant Art Festival at the Towne Centre. It was a fun-filled day of visual art activities and special performances including hula hoopers, jugglers, and a ballet group. The event was well attended and the weather was perfect!

adminmarla :: Mar.22.2010 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »