THE ART LOVER’S GUIDE TO COLLECTING FINE ART IN CHARLESTON
The Art Lover’s Guide to Collecting Fine Art in
Charleston, South Carolina, is recognized widely for being one of the country’s premier art destinations. It is home to dozens of galleries, art museums and annual events that draw collectors to the city. Many local artists have studios or have opened art spaces in the city that focus on regional artwork—often paintings of the Lowcountry and the charming architecture—while other storefronts specialize in an array of subject matter.
The main peninsula of downtown Charleston has a number of districts where fine arts are located—French Quarter, Lower King, Upper King and Gallery Row on Broad. These areas are walkable, allowing visitors to wander easily across cobblestone streets from gallery to gallery. As part of the adventure through the historical streets, visitors and locals alike can spend the first Friday of every month participating in one of the Charleston Gallery Association’s ArtWalks. These monthly events, from 5 to 8 p.m., keep gallery doors open late for exhibition openings, artist demonstrations and just to welcome patrons to view art and ask questions about what they’re seeing. While in the city they also can stop by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, which is located at the College of Charleston, or the Gibbes Museum of Art in the heart of downtown. January 17 through 29 the Halsey Institute will present Butch Anthony: INSIDE/OUT, an exhibition of images, assemblages and installations by the Seale, Alabama, artist. Upcoming at Gibbes is Charles Williams: SUN + LIGHT, featuring painting from the South Carolina artist’s Everyone Loves the Sunshine series that juxtaposes Williams’ past and present encounters with the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
In February, Charleston becomes a mecca for wildlife and sporting artwork with the annual Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. Held at various locations around the city, hundreds of artists gather to paint and exhibit new works of art. The
2020 event will take place February 14 through 16.
Among the artists and galleries calling the area home are
Fer Caggiano, Keith Wilkie, John C. Doyle Art Gallery, Reinert Fine Art and Robert Lange Studios.