Lucas: ‘ArtPop’ exhibit graces billboards around Beaufort County and other parts of the Lowcountry

Hard to believe but a new outdoor public art exhibit, now appearing in the Lowcountry, may soon have visitors talking about something other than the area’s breathtaking scenery.

The work of local artists from Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton and Colleton counties is now on display on ten billboards throughout the four-county area.

It’s all part of the new “ArtPop” exhibit, launched by the Beaufort Arts Council last fall.

A national program, ArtPop is the brainchild of founder Wendy Hickey who first introduced the concept in Charlotte.

The program — now in a number of cities across the country, including Las Vegas and Tampa — works by partnering local arts groups with outdoor advertising companies.

Artists submit their work as part of a juried competition. Work is then judged and selected on the basis of several factors including what might work best on a grand scale.

The Beaufort Arts Council got the idea to bring the program to the area after hearing about Hickey’s project and its success in the Meckelenburg County area, said executive director Kim Sullivan.

What better way to make use of empty billboard space, while promoting local artists and building on the area’s brand as an arts destination, she said.

“We are a destination nationally so to see them up there in the sky ... it just serves as a reminder of why you came here and why you want to come back,” Sullivan said.

After the council teamed up with Adams Outdoor Advertising last fall for its own competition, the council received nearly 80 submissions.

Ten images were selected and while, originally, the idea was to rotate out the artists’ work five boards at a time, Adams Outdoor Advertising was able to feature all ten of the massive 25-foot wide images on pre-existing boards throughout the four-county area at the same time, Sullivan said.

The project has been “unifying,” she said, in that any artist working in any variety of medium was invited to submit images of their work. The Lowcountry exhibit, for example, features everything from a paintings to photography and even glasswork.

The council already has plans to offer the competition again in the fall. These and other initiatives the council has introduced recently, Sullivan said, is part of the group’s mission to continue promoting arts and culture in the area.

“What it does is, it marks Beaufort (County) as a place where we see art exploding in positive ways,” she said. “I hope ...people will see that we have embraced local arts here.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Lucas: ‘ArtPop’ exhibit graces billboards around Beaufort County and other parts of the Lowcountry."