Spartanburg Art Museum
200 East St. John St., Spartanburg, SC 29306
Phone: 864.582.7616
www.spartanburgartmuseum.org
Spartanburg Art Museum
200 East St. John St., Spartanburg, SC 29306
Phone: 864.582.7616
www.spartanburgartmuseum.org
Some public art programs are like heat lightning - unexpected, exciting and impressive - but brief. They flash into existence, momentarily astounding anyone nearby, then just as quickly disappear due to flagging interest, lack of maintenance, or infrequent or non-existent communication with the public. But this isn't the case with Spartanburg Art Museum's "Lighten Up Spartanburg," the project which has brought 28 giant lightbulbs created by local artists to Spartanburg's downtown area. Far from waning, public interest only seems to increase the longer the bulbs remain in and on Spartanburg's public parks and squares, street corners and bike paths. At a time when most art organizations would be wrapping up a successful public art program, the Spartanburg Art Museum (SAM) seems to just be getting started.
The Museum first showed its dedication to the project in its response to an unfortunate act of vandalism. On July 6th one of the giant light bulbs, "Night Light" by Aimee Wise, was knocked off of its pedestal and punctured in several places with a paving stone. Once the damage was reported, Museum staff arrived within minutes and removed the artwork to a secure location. Then, over a period of seven weeks, SAM commissioned a team of experts, including professional painter and Museum staff member Kathleen Digney and Spartanburg's City Engineer Tim Carter, to rebuild the bulb's fiberglass structure and painstakingly restore the areas of chipped or removed paint. Today, the fully restored bulb was re-installed in its original location. But in addition to maintaining existing parts of the light bulb project, SAM has also expanded its scope and created new opportunities for locals to engage with it.
"When I saw the repairs Kathleen Digney [museum staff] made to 'Night Light' I was blown away. She obviously has an incredible eye for detail. I was glad she was able lend me her hands, because it was painful for me to not be able to be present to do it myself. Everybody coming together to do these repairs was such an expression of teamwork and community pride, and I am so appreciative of all of those who were involved." - Aimee Wise, Artist, Creator of "Night Light"
On July 20th, the Museum hosted a free public art workshop in its Main Gallery during ArtWalk, where participants could work with Spartanburg artist Kara Bender to create a new giant light bulb. Known variously as the "community bulb," or "big bulb build," this collaborative work of art - which incorporates the work of over 180 people from all over Spartanburg - has fittingly been installed at Drayton Mills, a recently re-developed historic landmark.
The three months that have passed since most of the #artbulbs have been installed could have been quiet and uneventful, but arguably, they've been the most dynamic of the entire project. And more new Lighten Up Spartanburg content is just around the corner: only three weeks ago, the Museum announced a huge public red-carpet event where it will announce the results of a public poll it's been collecting responses to over a period of eight weeks. The event, know as "The Artbulbs Choice Awards" - which the Museum has tapped local TV personality Jamarcus Gaston to host - will reveal which giant light bulbs Spartanburg voted as its favorites. The winning artists will receive special awards in front of a live audience, while members of the public who attend will enjoy specialty cocktails, musical entertainment, and a little of the star treatment themselves - professional photographer Jimmy Gibson will be taking red carpet photos throughout the night. For Lighten Up Spartanburg and the Spartanburg Art Museum, the best is clearly yet to come.
Lighten Up Spartanburg! is a large-scale public art program created by Spartanburg Art Museum, on view in downtown Spartanburg from 03.01.2017-03.01.2018. The interactive tour app can be found at artbulbs.oncell.com. Visitors share their photos and thoughts about the project on facebook, twitter, and instagram using the hashtag #artbulbs. See the full list of artists and sponsors in the app or at spartanburgartmuseum.org/lighten-up-spartanburg.
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The Spartanburg Art Museum was founded in 1907 by artists Margaret Law and Josephine Sibley Couper, with the view that "art should not just be the luxury of a few, but the luxury of all." Today, it is one of only a handful of Contemporary Art Museums operating in the Southeastern United States, supporting the creative capacities of the region through an international exhibitions program, youth outreach programs, an art school, a large permanent collection, and an extensive public art program and calendar of community events.
The Spartanburg Art Museum is a regional museum promoting contemporary visual arts by inspiring and engaging people of all ages through exhibitions and education.
Please feel free to contact our Community Development Coordinator and Curator of Collections, Mat Duncan, for more information.
Name: Mat Duncan
Phone: 864.582.7616 ext. 211
Email: mduncan@spartanarts.org
Museum's Social Media Handles: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram