Looking for a spot to sit, relax in Beaufort? Check out these locally painted benches
If you’re walking around downtown Beaufort looking for a spot to sit, you’ll discover some colorful new additions appeared last week.
Six benches painted by local artists, were placed throughout the city offering both new seating and a lesson in history.
The project was born about a year-and-a-half ago when local organizations received feedback that Beaufort’s visitors said the city did not offer enough seating downtown for them to “sit and take it all in,” a news release from the city said.
“The (groups) wanted to create a solution that would foster collaboration, offers local artists visibility, and provide the seating that people said they wanted,” Rhonda Carey, downtown events coordinator for the city and a member of the Cultural Arts District Board, said in the release.
Carpenters with the LowCountry Habitat for Humanity built the 4-foot-long benchs and six partner organizations worked with artists to create designs that reflect each organization’s mission, identity, and place in the community, Carey said.
It took Omar Patterson about three weeks to paint the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce’s bench, which features Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Beaufort’s own Robert Smalls.
He said he wanted the bench to have “images that were significant to Beaufort’s African-Americans.”
“It took me about three weeks to paint the bench,” he said. “I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s such a blessing to be part of something so great and historic, and to capture the spirit of the Low Country.”
Linda Silk Sviland, who painted LowCountry Habitat for Humanity’s bench, said this project was a “wonderful way to make art.”
“Other cities have done beautiful sculptures, but there is no function other than beauty,” she said. “This is functional art – it’s a terrific way to have the public see art that is useful.”
The project was funded by the Cultural Arts District Board and the sponsoring organizations.
Where can you find the benches?
▪ Corner of Carteret and North streets
Sponsor: Beaufort Digital Corridor
Artists: Jess O’Brien, Aaron Miller, Shawn Hill, Shelley Barratt, Brian Canada
Theme: Plug in
▪ Corner of Bladen and Duke streets
Sponsor: Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce
Artist: Omar Patterson
Theme: Low Country Dreaming
▪ Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park
Sponsor: Lowcountry Habitat for Humanity
Artist: Linda Silk Sviland
Theme: Seeking to put God’s love into action
▪ Corner of Craven and Scott streets
Sponsor: National Reconstruction Era National Park
Artist: Ginger Noah Wareham
Theme: United when the impossible suddenly became possible
▪ Courtyard at Bay and Bladen streets
Sponsor: Santa Elena History Center
Artists: Frank Anson, Tom Van Steenbergh, Sandy Dimke, Lynne Darling
Theme: Beaufort’s earliest history and heritage
▪ Entrance to Center for the Arts
Sponsor: University of South Carolina Beaufort
Artists: Mary Ann Ford and John Rodriguez; master builder Greg Rawls
Theme: Beaufort College – Rich Heritage of Education
