Bluffton’s Maye River Gallery leaving landmark pink home. Where it’s moving
If you’ve driven through Old Town Bluffton, you’ve likely noticed a bright pink and lime, green-trimmed cottage with a pink bicycle moored by ivy in the front yard.
The building has been the home of Maye River Gallery, a co-op of female artists, for the last 15 years. Now, the group is making plans to move into a new space just up the road from its current location into a new development called The Bridge at Calhoun.
“We never really intended to rent at Calhoun Street, and we never really intended to leave it,” artist Judy McElynn said.
The “Maye River Gals,” as the artists call themselves, stumbled upon the space at 37 Calhoun St. in 2007.
Six artists, sad about being displaced after a local exhibit space closed, were having lunch together in Old Town when one of them noticed a for-rent sign next door on a trip to the restroom. The women recruited other artists to join them and soon turned the rented cottage into their own gallery.
A news release from the Maye River Gallery called it a “serendipitous” beginning, and McElynn emphasized that the next chapter in the gallery’s life is no less so.
Some may be tempted to mourn because the gallery’s landlord sold the building, and the new owner has different plans for the space.
“I don’t want to hear anyone thinking of Maye River Gallery sadly,” McElynn said, explaining that the move is not a loss for the gallery or Old Town but, instead, should be seen as an evolution.
The Bridge at Calhoun
The last day the Maye River Gallery will be open in its current space is Monday, Feb. 21.
Its new home is still under construction in The Bridge at the corner of Calhoun Street and Bridge Street in Old Town. McElynn said it likely will be 4-5 months before the new gallery is ready to open.
The new gallery space is about the same size but will be configured differently. McElynn said the change will be from an eclectic cottage visual to a more chic, cleaner style. Most of the artists involved will be the same, and there may be a few new ones who join the ranks as well.
The members of the Maye River Gallery, who have made giving back to the community a priority via fundraisers for local charities such as Bluffton Self Help, Deep Well and Hopeful Horizons, among others, were drawn to The Bridge developer’s plans to be community-oriented and recruit minority and female entrepreneurs.
Matt Cunningham of Bluffton navigated a 10-month review process for The Bridge before construction started late last year. The development includes three 2 1/2-story buildings with businesses on the lower floors and apartments on the top.
In addition to the women of Maye River Gallery, his tenants will be a bakery, a gourmet butcher, a restaurant and a clothing store.
“Artists are the truth-tellers of the community,” Cunningham said. “There are conversations we can have through art that we cannot have any other way.”
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This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 1:58 PM.
