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Posted on January 23, 2005 The art of history By Linda
Conley | Staff Writer The Spartanburg County Museum of Art is celebrating history and heritage this month with the artwork of area artists featured in three exhibitions. Paintings, photographs and sculptures created by almost a dozen artists are included in the showings. The Arts Center is holding an opening reception on Thursday for the exhibitions. History is celebrated in a series of photographs showing the remains of the Spartan and Glendale mills. Both textile mills were landmark figures in the county for more than 100 years. Heritage is honored through two collections of artwork on display. One features the work of a Simpsonville artist reflecting on his family. The other is an exhibition showing the artwork of several artists from Landrum and the Tryon and Saluda areas in North Carolina. "Southern Passion Fruit and other Selected Works" is on display through Feb. 20 in the Milliken Gallery. John Pendarvis of Simpsonville has more than 20 pieces in the exhibition. He created portraits of children, adults and a few pieces featuring the watermelon. One of the most interesting pieces is of an elderly black couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. The second is a piece with a grandfather holding two grandsons on his lap. "The couple represents my parents when they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary several years ago," Pendarvis said. "My mother died shortly after that, so that is what I was thinking about." Pendarvis spends his time working in the computer science field and on his art. He is known for his work depicting the music of Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. He also depicts African masks and kente cloth. His work has been recognized in national shows, winning best graphics in two Spring Art Shows and a first place in the Southeast Black Art Competition in North Carolina. His work is included in collections at the Spartanburg Arts Council, South Carolina State University and in several area companies. Since both of his parents have died over the past several years, Pendarvis said his new work draws from their deaths. "The new works draw on the loss and the need to capture some of what they gave me," he said. "I am still on that journey to find a way through my art to celebrate their life and share that with others." Spartanburg photographer Carroll Foster photographed Spartan and Glendale mills in an exhibition called "Spartan & Glendale Mills: A New Found Beauty." The show runs through Feb. 27 in the Burwell Gallery. Photographs of the aging Spartan Mill give a glimpse of its former prominence. Viewers get the chance to see photographs of the mill as layers of brick are peeled away. Foster said he wanted to photograph the mill before it was torn down. The Spartan Mill operated from 1890-2001. "I've always thought it was an interesting structure, but when they started peeling back the layers it became something else," Foster said. "It seemed to become vulnerable and no longer the backbone of Spartanburg it once was." The photographs of the Glendale Mill were taken at night. The Glendale Mill was built in the 1830s and operated until the 1960s. The mill was destroyed by a fire last summer. Foster said photographing it in the sunset seemed to tell only part of the story. He said photographing the mill in the moonlight told the other half. He said capturing the mill at night seemed to convey the darkness that had fallen over it. "I'm always on the lookout for something new and different in the landscape," Foster said. "The old world structures, like the cotton mills of the South, have always caught my eye. With a camera, I have tried to express both the beauty and the hardship in the last days of these two mills." Artists living in the northern portion of the county and in the foothills of North Carolina are featured in the exhibition "Up The Hill." The show runs through Feb. 27 in the Parsons Gallery. A variety of paintings, sculptures and other artwork created by such artists as Joan Elford Stone of Tryon, ceramics artist Sharon Tesche of Saluda and others are included. Scott Cunningham, exhibits coordinator for the Spartanburg County Museum of Art, said artists from surrounding counties in North Carolina have always been a part of the local arts community. The history dates back to more than 100 years ago when the Tryon Artists Colony was formed. Many of those artists were from Northern cities but several were Spartanburg artists. Two of those artists, Josephine Sibley Couper and Margaret Law, organized Spartanburg's first major art exhibition in 1907. Cunningham said the link between the two art communities continues today because many of the North Carolina artists are members of the local artists guild. Linda Conley
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