Lake City SC artFields

ART IN SHOPS, WAREHOUSES, RESTAURANTS

Even in the barbershop

My visit to ArtFields last week was an eye-opening couple of days. For starters, I found out you can’t see all the art exhibits in two days. Secondly, I experienced art-fatigue (common in museums like the Louvre or MOMA).

Lake City, South Carolina, is proving that we look to more than football, hamburgers, and television for gratification. It took grunt work and dollars to showcase more than 400 pieces of art, including paintings, installation art, photographs, mixed media, sculpture and digital media. Every work or art was skillfully displayed.  

At the Welcome Center, I registered to vote on the art and cast 15 votes. Here’s a painting I consider a winner. It's huge, covered an entire wall/corner of the ROB (formerly a tobacco manufacturing building):

Robert Keith's Clifton & Drake

Illustrators don't get the respect they deserve. Some of the most endearing images are appearing in children's books. This is a shot of one window in an Alice Ratterree's composition that appeared at the Lake City Library.

Alice Ratterree's 24 Hours

A Crunch Lunch program on Thursday allowed artists about five minutes to introduce themselves and talk about the work they had on display—a great addition to the program. It was also a welcome opportunity to sit and rest for a spell.

Emily Clanton explains the unusual mushroom paint she used

Some artists (writers included) produce shocking, if not repulsive, work to get noticed and, given our media circus today, this ruse often propels them into the spotlight and can make a career. Vera Tracy's combination of sex and violence is an example.

Vera Tracy's Just One Gun (shown at the ROB)

I voted for several installation art pieces, despite my resistance to this type of art. Unlike most paintings and sculpture, installation art isn't usually possible in a home environment but requires the space of a museum. This is a photo of a free standing wall made of postcards by George Blakely. The art entry consisted of several walls making rooms of postcards.

George Blakely's Re-inventing the Landscape

I also voted for Sarah Mosteller's Hello, Society, It's Contrived To Meet You, which was a dress made of woven steel strings. Mark Woodward turned bicycle parts into a scene titled It's a Dog Eat Dinosaur World. This was displayed in a former livery stable now a spacious area for art. Yelitza Diaz took a literary icon and turned it into installation art titled The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 

Displayed outdoors on the lawn of the The Citizens Bank was a piece I wish I could have shared with my grandchildren. Vivianne Lee Carey's Cinderella: The Sequel is a dark concept with an ominous figure and a deathly looking carriage. 

My sister Nila stands between Cinderella and carriage

ArtFields was a great find for me. I can't wait to go next year!