MAIN GALLERY EXHIBITIONS

Aiken County Public Schools – The District Fine Arts Festival
Friday, May 3, 5:00-7:00pm & Saturday, May 4, 10:00am – 2:00pm, No cost

Aiken County Public Schools The District Fine Arts Festival
Join us for this festival which highlights visual art students’ work from across the school district alongside performances in the areas of music, theatre, chorus, and dance.

Aiken Artist Guild Member Show

The Aiken Artist Guild (AAG) is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 for those practicing the visual arts in the Aiken area. The goals of AAG are to stimulate an appreciation of original visual arts in the region and create opportunities for local artists to participate in exhibits that will expose the citizens of Aiken County to the wealth of artistic talent in our community.

The highlight of the AAG year is the Member Show here at Aiken Center for the Arts which invites each member to submit two works, which are eligible for awards and available for sale. (Image: “Of Lasting Value” Best in Show 2023 by Lisa Anne Tindal)

Aiken Center for the Arts Summer Art Camp and Student / Member Show

This exhibition will showcase the broad range of talent found at the arts center. Open to 2023-24 students and members of Aiken Center for the Arts. Art drop off: Monday, June 3 – Friday, June 7, 2024 from 10am–4pm. Click below for the application and rules.

Bailey Mennetti

I am a passionate artist who wields graphite on 100% cotton paper as my chosen medium. I began enduring my passion through art classes at a very young age to further my skill. I was accepted into Rollings Middle School of the Arts where I focused heavily on art as my core class. During high school, I completed advanced placement art courses, which fueled my desire to pursue my passion. My artistic journey continued at the renowned Savannah College of Art and Design, where I honed my skills and cultivated a deep appreciation for the power of visual storytelling. I graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts with a major in illustration. My artistic focus is brought to life through the delicate strokes of graphite creating an artistic dance between light and shadow. I have found an endless passion where I have discovered comfort, joy, and purpose. Bailey was born and raised in South Carolina, currently living in Denver, Colorado.

Join us for an Artist Talk with Bailey on Friday, August 2nd at 1:00pm in the main gallery.

Sunny Mullarkey McGowan

Sunny Mullarkey McGowan is a fine artist residing in Greenville, South Carolina. Growing up in the sea islands of the Lowcountry in Beaufort, South Carolina, Sunny was accepted into the Governor’s School for the Arts for Visual Art in high school. She later attended Anderson College and the University of South Carolina. She now resides in the Greenville, SC with her husband and three children, where she is active in the local artists community. Sunny’s body of work includes the mediums of printmaking, painting, mixed media, and mural painting. She creates fine art pieces in her studio located in the arts district of the Village of West Greenville, and has completed several murals around the city of Greenville, expanding into Spartanburg and Anderson. Her work has been displayed in exhibits in Georgia, Florida, and both North and South Carolina, and locally exhibited in events in partnership with the Metropolitan Arts Council and Artisphere. In the summer of 2020, Sunny was selected to paint a mural in Nashville by the The Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC), to celebrate the 19th Amendment’s 100 year anniversary. The mural was painted live in Nashville, Tennessee in Centennial Park, then displayed at the Hermitage Hotel, and then installed permanently in the WorkHouse Arts Center as a permanent  feature at the historical site.

“Constant curiosity helps me discover and create fanciful, abstract worlds, and gives a passion to my work to experimentally recreate a sense of purposeful chaos seen from unexpected perspectives. I create boldly colored and textured designs that flow playfully through movement and invite you to explore the vibrant layers within each piece. I cultivate art that ignites your imagination and moves you to feel the spark of curiosity and life within you.”