Date: June 7th, 2010
From: Mark Sloan, Director of Halsey Gallery, College of Charleston
To: College of Charleston

Next fall, the College will be privileged to host three important artists whose work is both provocative and engaging. Each of these artists create artwork that pertains to sustainability and the environment.

• Chris Jordan of Seattle, Wash., a photographer: https://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/epu/#e-pluribus-unum
  • Jordan is an environmental lawyer who creates large-scale digital images envisioning jarring statistics related to American consumption; giving visitors a visual understanding of abstracted statistics, such as :320,000 light bulbs, equal to the number of kilowatt hours of electricity wasted in the United States every minute from inefficient residential electricity usage (inefficient wiring, computers in sleep mode, etc.).
  • His exhibit--Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait, Digital Images --will be in the Halsey Gallery, Oct 22-Dec 10, 2010, exhibit opening, 5-7 Oct 22nd.
• Bryant Holsenbeck of North Carolina, a sculptor: https://www.bryantholsenbeck.com/
  • Holsenbeck creates large scale elaborate, 3-dimensional, temporary floor mandalas from collected recyclable materials like mayonnaise jar lids, soda bottle caps and bread ties (this will be shown in the ).
  • His exibit --Bottle Cap Mandala-- will be in the Addlestone Library’s Sanders Rotunda Oct 22-Nov 19
• Brazilian photographer Pedro Lobo: https://www.lobofoto.com/
  • The City of Charleston’s City Gallery at Waterfront Park will feature the photographs of Pedro Lobo, which depict the favelas or shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro.  Lobo’s show is guest curated by CofC Political Science professor Mark Long, a political geographer
  • His exhibit --Favelas: Architecture of Survival, Photographs-- will be in the City Gallery at Waterfront Park, Oct 21-Nov 23

Also in town:

• Butch Anthony: https://www.museumofwonder.com/
  • Eye Level Art will offer an exhibit of the recycled sculpture and paintings of Alabama native, Butch Anthony.   

These concurrent exhibitions, which open mid October here on campus will take place as part of a larger, city wide project — Bluesphere: Earth Art Expo — that involves several other partners in the Charleston area including the City of Charleston, the Art Institute of Charleston, the Charleston County School District,  and Eye Level Art Gallery. With our committed and interested partners, Bluesphere will host a multi-venue series of lectures, films, and art exhibitions.  

I mention this because these works, both individually and collectively, present important opportunities to further the discussion regarding sustainability, environmental stewardship and social justice. Planning is under way to educate every sector of our city’s population through school outreach, public lectures, and a film screening. Should you want to incorporate these exhibits into your course curricula in some way, we encourage that and would welcome your students at all Bluesphere events. Please be advised that the Halsey is not sufficiently staffed to assist with any programming you might have in mind, but we would be happy to provide information about the artists and their work, open the gallery to your classes outside of normal gallery hours, as well as provide additional details regarding Bluesphere, including any ancillary activities and programs.