Muse Fest

Celebrate and revel in all things art at the first-ever Muse Fest, November 11-13, 2010. This festival will take place in & outside of various art spaces and eateries in Old Town Rock Hill, SC.

Among the many other activities, Space 157 will be hosting its Grand Opening. Thursday, Friday & Saturday we will be open from 6-9 pm. Come enjoy some refreshment and celebration with us!

Jeremy Casella House Show

Friday Arts Project is proud to bring singer/songwriter Jeremy Casella back to Old Town Rock Hill for a second year in a row. This year's concert will be a house show.

Jeremy's most recent offering, RCVRY, has been called "A Masterwork" by Derek Webb. Christianity Today Magazine says "5 out of 5 stars...captivating, a hauntingly beautiful album to say the least."

We are excited to be able to act as patrons, providing a small opportunity for an excellent artist to share his work with us. As artists ourselves, we understand the importance of people being willing to support our work. Here are a few thoughts from another musician, Andrew Peterson, on this important issue:

"Go to the websites of your favorite artists and see if they’re coming to a town near you. They’ll be glad you showed up, I guarantee it. Most of the time the tickets are about what you’d pay for a movie, only in this case your money won’t be lining Jerry Bruckheimer’s silken pockets–it’ll go to diapers or the new transmission or the mixing engineer for the new album...Most of us who play music pay the bills by touring. CD sales are helpful, but touring is where the rubber meets the road. We need you to come to the shows. We like to play our songs for other members of the human race. We like meeting you. We love the crackle of spiritual electricity when our songs and your stories intersect. Bring your friends. Concerts–event bad ones–are usually more memorable than movies. Plus, it pays the mortgage."

concert info:

The Crotts Home

616 Cedar Street Rock Hill, SC 29730

Friday, October 22 - 7 PM

Admission $8, Refreshments available

contact Stephen - scrotts86@gmail.com for more info or to reserve tickets

Hope to see you there!

Space 157

On August 26 we had our first open studio at Space 157 as well as a group show next door at the Loading Dock Gallery. Here are some glimpses:


Work in progress by Christopher Doehling


Jon & Jess area


The Illustration Department


Carlee & Jessie


Some professors came too.


Mike Gentry's space


Nicki Verechia's space

Mike brought the best wine.


Tunes.


Our Group Exhibition at the Loading Dock Gallery

images © Jay Grant

A Beginning

Our building circa 1945
Rock Hill National Bank, 1970s

Friday Arts Project started 4 years ago now, at the start Winthrop University's school year in 2006. It began as a group of creative students gathering to work together and journey through questions that might have consequential answers. Who am I? What do I believe? What am I going to do about it?

We have brought to each other our work, our critique, our experiences and our encouragement. We have traveled together, we've collaborated and we have dreamed.

Over a year ago, we started working toward fleshing out our group mission statement more fully. Especially the piece that says "We provide a forum for dialogue enabling artists to inspire, engage, and create toward the renewal of hearts and culture." Ideas for a studio and gathering space began to formulate.

After so many dead-end meetings and looking at so many spaces that were just out of our reach, we finally found the perfect place and people willing to make it happen.

This week eight artists move into what we're calling Space 157, an eighty-year-old former bank building on East Main Street in Old Town Rock Hill, SC. We have 3,000 sun-filled square feet above a restaurant, right at the canopy line of the sidewalk trees. We're located in the middle of a growing arts scene, with the Community Performance Center, Gallery Up, the Gettys Art Center and the Center for the Arts all a short walk from us. We also have views of Winthrop University, the historic Textile Corridor, the City Hall Rotunda dome, and the rest of downtown.

There is plenty for us to do before we're completely settled in. We have furniture to find, floors to clean and a darkroom to build. And we are so excited to get started.

Women Who Go Beyond

Photographs © Zan Maddox

This month we partnered with ONE to bring Women Who Go Beyond: Success Stories from Africa to our Basement Gallery at the Gettys Art Center in Rock Hill.

This exhibition featured photographs by Morgana Wingard of women who have been empowered to help bring their communities out of poverty and transform the lives of those around them.

You can view a selection of the photographs here.

Countenance One

Each Monday night, a small group of friends meets to share a bottle of wine, conversation, and the attempt to capture something of the person seated before us. We have found great value, artistically and otherwise, in the ritual of meeting weekly to draw a face. On March 11 we present the first collection of drawings we have made during our two-hour sessions together.

The exhibition, Countenance One, opens at the Gettys Art Center Basement Gallery in Old Town Rock Hill, SC.

Featuring work by:

Stephen Crotts

Christopher Doehling

Lucy Elliott

Jon Jennings

Carlee Lingerfelt

Rachel McAndrews

Brandon Oxendine

Jake Page

Special thanks to the Arts Council of York County and Gallery Up.