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Designers & Artisans
Made in the Lowcountry
October 24, 2020 - April 25, 2021 | Textile Gallery
What does it mean to be a maker? This exhibit explores the designers and artisans working in the Lowcountry from the 18th century to the present day, and how creativity and identity go hand-in-hand.
Designers and artisans play an important role in the Lowcountry, as makers of both goods that serve a purpose and artistic creations that inspire the community. With objects ranging from 1788 to 2019 and grouped by craft, this exhibition displays some of the finest textile artistry from the Museum’s collection, and examines what it means to be a maker, both amateur and professional.
During the coronavirus pandemic, many people have turned to the creative arts, either to rediscover a forgotten area of expertise or to learn a new set of skills from online tutorials.
Handmade work in the digital age continues to make these practices part of the physical reality in an uncertain world of the intangible, proving the value of pieces made by hand is not just in the prestige of the creator, but also in the joy of the process and the quality of the result.
Selections on display include needlework, basketry, woven textiles, and quilts, as well as homemade and designer garments and accessories. The span of 200 plus years makes it possible to track broader creative practices from historical objects to their contemporary counterparts, as well as highlight individual artists, including Tobias Scott, Anna Heyward Taylor, and Madame Pauline Seba.
In the Museum’s Armory, see excellent examples of historic weaponry, dating from 1750 to the twentieth century, with uses that ranged from military to more personal applications such as hunting and dueling.
In the Historic Textiles Gallery, the Museum features regularly rotating exhibits from its rich historic textiles and clothing collection, one of the finest in the southeastern United States.
In The Charleston Museum: The Early Days gallery, see exotic collections from around the world, representative of the Museum’s nineteenth century cosmopolitan collecting focus.
In the Lowcountry History Hall, see materials relating to the Native Americans who first inhabited the Lowcountry and the African American and European settlers who transformed the region into an agricultural empire.
In the Natural History gallery you will see an extraordinary array of birds, reptiles and mammals that have called the South Carolina Lowcountry home since prehistory, including contributions from noted naturalists.
The Charleston Museum is pleased to present Kidstory, a fun and exciting, hands-on exhibit for children, where the fascinating history of Charleston and the Lowcountry comes alive.
In the Loeblein Gallery of Charleston Silver discover the impressive work of the South’s finest craftsmen and women, from the colonial era through the Victorian Age.
