Top Lowcountry artists will show skills at Penn Center. You can watch them work
Penn Center is inviting the public to experience the artistry, history and cultural significance of handmade crafts during a special weekend exhibition featuring Lowcountry artists Torreah “Cookie” Washington, Amiri Farris, Bruce Ingram, Monique de La Tour and Teniqua Pope.
You can see examples of Gullah rag quilting and indigo dyeing. One artist turns ocean trash into art.
Workshops will be from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the York W. Bailey Museum on the Penn Center campus as part of the inaugural National Craft Open Studios Weekend. The nationwide event brings together artists from across the country to welcome visitors into their creative spaces while celebrating the enduring traditions of American craft, Penn Center said.
The St. Helena Island event was spearheaded by Washington, Penn Center’s 2026 Artist-in-Residence, in partnership with the University of Georgia’s Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, with support from the Mellon Foundation.
“The National Craft Open Studios Weekend provides a unique opportunity to showcase the artistic traditions of the Gullah-Geechee community while welcoming visitors to Penn Center,” Dr. Robert Adams, executive director of Penn Center, said in a news release.
Visitors will have the opportunity to meet a diverse group of artists whose work reflects the history, culture and creative traditions of the Lowcountry.
De La Tour, Penn Center’s Interpretive and Exhibitions Lead, curated the current Bruce Ingram exhibition at the York W. Bailey Museum. She also shares her knowledge of traditional Lowcountry arts through indigo dyeing workshops and guided medicinal plant walks exploring the connections between culture, history and the natural landscape.
Pope is an artist, abolitionist and healing arts practitioner with deep ancestral roots in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. She transforms ocean debris and natural materials into works that explore resilience, displacement and heritage.
Her projects include Selah Sound, which combines art, agriculture and activism to support Gullah-Geechee cultural and land preservation, and Sojourner’s Staff, a collection of hand-carved walking sticks inspired by personal stories of the Great Migration.
Farris, Penn Center’s 2023-24 Artist-in-Residence, is a Bluffton-based interdisciplinary artist whose work has been featured in more than 50 solo and museum exhibitions nationally and internationally. During his residency, themed “Land and Justice,” Farris explored Gullah-Geechee culture, land conservation, heirs’ property and the history of Penn Center through photography, painting and other media.
As the 2026-2027 Artist-in-Residence, Washington has engaged community members and students through workshops, collaborative quilting projects and intergenerational programming exploring Gullah-Geechee history through textile arts.
Ensuring traditions thrive
Washington said her vision is to ensure these traditions continue to thrive, not only as artistic practices but also as living records of family, place and identity.
“This residency at Penn Center allows me to root that work in place, history and community, connecting past to present through hands-on making and a practice of craftivism,” she said. “For me, Gullah Rag Quilting is a language of memory, an act of honoring the lives, labor and creativity of those whose stories were rarely recorded but deeply felt.
“Every stitch carries history forward and reminds us that craft is not only an art form but also an act of cultural preservation,” Washington said.
The community is encouraged to experience Gullah Rag Quilting, indigo dyeing, artist demonstrations and other hands-on craft activities during National Craft Open Studios Weekend at Penn Center on July 18 and 19, from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free, and all are welcome.
RSVP for Crafting Workshops at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hands-on-heritage-craft-workshops-at-penn-center-tickets-1993708543924
Bruce Ingram exhibition
As part of the weekend’s festivities, visitors are also invited to an opening reception for Bruce Ingram’s exhibition at the York W. Bailey Museum at 6 p.m. Friday. The reception offers an opportunity to meet the artist and celebrate the exhibition in advance of the weekend’s public programming.
RSVP for Bruce Ingram Opening Reception: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bruce-ingram-folk-art-exhibit-opening-tickets-1993352433789
