Enjoy these upcoming performances and art gallery shows around Beaufort County
Our possibilities in the cultural arts continue to grow toward pre-pandemic conditions. I have recently joined crowds of arts enthusiasts as we weave our way through welcoming gallery spaces or are seated in concert and theater venues. Many consider an upturn in arts and entertainment to be a kind of bellwether to the way things were or the way we choose to remember them.
Here are a few arts and culture updates:
Artist Louanne LaRoche
Famed Lowcountry artist Louanne LaRoche has brought her own distinctive vision to the Lowcountry. Known as a colorist for more than 30 years, she has combined her freedom of expression with her strength of representation.
LaRoche continues to experiment, exploring the relationships of color and texture. Her work has included Lowcountry settings or personal glimpses of times well-spent in Belize. Swimming and water references have been at the top of her past work, and her renderings of oystermen and shrimp boats in charcoal have captured everyone’s imagination.
LaRoche’s new work is a brilliant piece. The completely captivating, large-scale “Bird Land” is on view at Camellia Art, Fine Art Gallery and Framing, on Hilton Head’s south end. Her work may also be viewed locally at Camellia Art inside Banks Design mid-island and also on Calhoun Street in Bluffton. A dramatic departure from her earlier work, this 48-inch by 48-inch mixed-media piece in charcoal on canvas and crayon is breathtaking. In surprisingly brilliant greens, yellows and blues, it will stop you in your tracks.
“I think of birds and bird cages a bit like notes on a musical scale,” she shared, “or even a little like the improvisation I associate with jazz.”
LaRoche was born and raised in Pittsburgh and has been living in the South Carolina Lowcountry since the late 70s. Many associate her as the owner and director of The Red Piano Gallery on Hilton Head from 1980 until 1995. She founded the Red Piano, Too Gallery on St. Helena Island in 1991 and served as a board member of Penn Community Center on St. Helena.
Fripp Island Friends of Music
“Fripp Island Friends of Music may be one of the longest running charitable institutions in Northern Beaufort County … that no one’s heard of,” commented Rick Stein, president of the Fripp Island Friends of Music. ”Prior to last season, canceled due to Covid-19, we were up to 36 seasons!”
The Fripp Island Friends of Music offers concerts of high-quality, world-acclaimed artists in a wide variety of genres. Their nonprofit status is due to their main mission of bringing high-quality music to students in the area. After a Sunday performance in the chapel of the Fripp Island Community Center, the artists present a mini-concert at an area school on Monday morning. The organization also supports the Beaufort Youth Symphony Orchestra financially and by offering musical trios or quartets to open some of their performances.
The upcoming season will feature: Hotlanta Dixieland Jazz, Oct. 17; Tom Knific Trio, Nov. 14; pianist John Sawoski with vocalist Michele Patzakis, Jan. 30; Appalatin, Feb. 27; Kyshona Trio, March 27; and singer/songwriter Rebecca Folsom, April 24.
More info: www.frippfriendsofmusic.com
‘Crazy for You’
I’m looking forward to the Gershwin musical comedy “Crazy for You” by the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute. The all-new production, seen to by Joe Barrros, will feature performers who were auditioned in by SSTI professional staff as performing artists or as members of the crew. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. July 30-31 and Aug. 6-7; and 1 p.m. Aug. 1 and Aug. 8 at Seahawk Cultural Center, 70 Wilborn Road, Hilton Head.
Tickets: www.hhisummermusicals.com or 866-749-2228
‘Mamma Mia!’
“Mamma Mia!” continues through Aug. 22 at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina.
Tickets: www.artshhi.com or 843-842-2287
The Main Stage Community Theatre
Leadership at the Main Stage Community Theatre (formerly Main Street Youth Theatre), which had a completely successful run of “Seussical the Musical” earlier this summer, shared that they are beyond excited to be back with not only a new name but a new vision, purpose and commitment to the community.
Gullah Inspired Art of Lisa Rivers
“Legacy Gullah Homecoming” showcases St. Helena artist Lisa Rivers’ in a bright and colorful homage to life in the South at Hilton Head’s Art League Gallery inside the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina at 14 Shelter Cove Lane.
The exhibit is Aug. 3-28. An artist’s reception is from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11. An artist demo is at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7. RSVP for the reception and demonstration at gallery@artleaguehhi.org.
Organ recital
Organist JooSoo Son will present an American Guild of Organists recital at noon Aug. 13 at Providence Presbyterian Church, 171 Cordillo Parkway on Hilton Head. She has been the traditional music director and organist at the church since 2012.