Events Calendar

Spring Break Camps
Mon., April 10 – Fri., April 14
The museum is excited to offer a line of Spring Break Camps for children aged 6 – 11 years old. Each day will focus on a different subject matter from science to history and art. Sign up for one day or the whole week! Registration is now open!

Choose Your Camp Experience(s)

Each day campers will be divided into groups by age. One group for those aged 6 – 8 years and one for those aged 9 – 11 years. Please note: this webpage is updated periodically and availability of these camps is not guaranteed until registration is confirmed.

Important Information

DROP-OFF & PICK UP

Please stay tuned for information on Drop-Off and Pick-Up locations.

· Special Camp Phone Number! The museum is closed on Mondays and before 10am Tues-Fri. If you need to contact the SCSM Camp Team please text or call (803)239-9380. For all inquiries regarding membership, adding extended day or a day of camp, or other payment inquiries, please call Group Visits at (803)898-4999.

· Every day we will ask you to verify your camper’s security information for the day. Please give yourself a little extra time on your camper’s first day so that we can make sure your camper is totally safe and secure with us here at the South Carolina State Museum.

· Late drop-off may cause your camper to miss activities. We’ll do our best to get them caught up but we may not be able to adjust our schedule every time. We are also unable to repeat activities missed due to absenteeism. We’ll do our best to send materials home so that you can still complete the activities!

· At 3:31 p.m. campers will be considered part of the Extended Day Camp and charged the extended day camp fee.

· Please avoid picking up campers between 2:30-3:00 p.m. as we are in the middle of activities at that time. If you arrive between 2:30-3:00 p.m. we will ask you if pick-up is immediate or if they have time to finish up their current activity.

EXTENDED DAY

SCSM knows caregivers are very busy and sometimes picking up your camper right at 3pm can be difficult. We are happy to offer a fun and entertaining Extended Day Camp where students can continue to explore the museum and participate in activities until 5:30pm. Extended Day is an additional cost.

Included with admission

Embark on a scenic journey across George Vanderbilt’s Italy with a large-scale outdoor display that combines brilliant botanical designs with authentic messages written by Vanderbilt himself.

Beautifully handcrafted of natural elements, each sculptural postcard depicts a location or landmark Vanderbilt visited more than a century ago. This captivating complement to Biltmore’s Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition reveals Vanderbilt’s passions for travel, culture, architecture, and art as well as his personal experience of such renowned Italian cities as Milan, Florence, Venice, Pisa, and Vatican City.

Adding to the charm and visual appeal of Ciao! From Italy—sure to be a hit among kids of all ages—is the G-scale model train that travels in and out of each postcard in this enlightening display!

The opening week of our Spring Plant Sale begins Thursday, April 13th thru Saturday, April 15th! Stop by our *NEW nursery from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon April 13-15 to shop for beautiful trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses for your home garden.

After the first week, the Plant Sale will be held from 9 am-12 noon every Tuesday through Friday.

Many of the plants have been propagated and nurtured here at Hatcher Garden. Please visit our Facebook page or check here for more information.

*See the progress of our new nursery beside our office at 832 John B. White Sr. Blvd. The nursery will be completed by the Plant Sale. THANK YOU to all donors, volunteers, and staff for making this more accessible nursery possible.

Proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale provide essential funding for the continual beautification and creation of colorful garden venues along the paths of Hatcher Garden.

Enjoy 10% off your plant purchase when you become a member during the sale. Members always enjoy 10% off their purchases as well as other benefits.

Can’t get to Hatcher Garden’s plant sale during normal business hours?

A great selection of plants is available for purchase at the Jess Taylor Pavilion, at the main entrance of the garden. Plants can be purchased with the honor system by placing money in the slot next to the door or scanning the PayPal QR code.

Come help out our neighbors.  Food insecurities are more abundant then most think.  Our pantry is volunteer ran.

Fullfilling food and household assistance orders for our neighbors. Processing donations as they come in. Keeping the pantry stocked and clean.

Better Business Bureau® of the Upstate & AARP® South Carolina are partnering together to host Secure Your ID “Shred Day,” a national event created to promote awareness about identity theft and fraud protection. Individuals and businesses can take advantage of FREE on-site document shredding and take home practical tips to prevent identity theft online and off.

Maximum number of banker “10” x 12″ x 15″ size” boxes or kitchen “13 gallon size” plastic bags per consumer, business and vehicle is 3 total. Cardboard boxes will be emptied and returned to consumers. Please, DO NOT bring the following items: desktop computers, monitors, laptops, printers, or external hard drives.

In an effort to shred your sensitive documents in a timely manner, there is no need to remove binders, binder clips, paper clips, staples, rubber bands, or CDs/DVDs prior to shredding. Due to safety concerns and to ensure that we are able to serve as many vehicles as possible, we are unable to accept attendees on foot or allow consumers to get out of their vehicle to watch their paper shredded.

The complimentary shred event is first come, first serve or until the shred trucks fill up, so coming early is advised. For more information about Shred Day, contact the Better Business Bureau of the Upstate at (864) 242-5052.

The opening week of Hatcher Garden Spring Plant Sale begins Thursday, April
13th through Saturday, April 15th! Stop by our NEW nursery from 9:00 am to
12:00 noon each day of the sale to shop for beautiful trees, shrubs,
perennials, and grasses for your home garden.

After the first week, the Plant Sale will be held from 9am-12noon every
Tuesday through Friday.

Many of the plants have been propagated and nurtured at Hatcher Garden.

Open Art Studios

Holidays The Museum is closed.

Explore Biltmore House with an Audio Guide that introduces you to the Vanderbilt family and their magnificent home’s history, architecture, and collections of fine art and furnishings.

PLUS: Immersive, multi-sensory Italian Renaissance Alive exhibition created by Grande Experiences

PLUS: FREE next-day access to Biltmore’s Gardens and Grounds

This visit includes access to:

• Italian Renaissance Alive at Amherst at Deerpark®
• 8,000 Acres of Gardens and Grounds for two consecutive days
• Antler Hill Village & Winery
• Complimentary Wine Tastings at the Winery
• Tastings require a Day-of-Visit Reservation, which can be made by:
  • Scanning the QR Code found in your Estate Guide
  • Visiting any Guest Services location
• Complimentary parking

Art Exhibition: Italian Renaissance Alive

This fascinating experience takes you on a spellbinding tour of Italy, fully immersing you in the beauty and brilliance of iconic masterworks from the greatest artistic period in history

“Hats and headdresses are a unique and powerful lens through which one can view the human experience.”

The Global Language of Headwear: Cultural Identity, Rites of Passage, and Spirituality, a national traveling exhibition, organized by International Arts and Artists, Washington, DC, will make its only Southeastern United States stop in Greenville, SC, at the Upcountry History Museum.

Developed by independent ethnographic curator Stacey W. Miller, the exhibition explores the vital role of ceremonial headwear throughout diverse cultural customs, beliefs, and rituals.  The exhibition features approximately 89 hats and headdresses from 43 different countries spanning Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America.

Organized in five distinct categories – Cultural Identity; Power, Prestige, and Status; Ceremonies and Celebrations; Spiritual Beliefs; and Protection – the exhibition showcases these mutual themes amid a range of traditions.

The exhibition pays tribute to the stunning diversity of the world’s cultures.  The hats and headdresses are part of a private collection of 1300 extraordinary pieces of international headwear that date from the mid to late 20^th century.

From headdresses and helmets to turbans and crowns, visitors will explore the vital role of ceremonial headwear throughout diverse cultural customs, beliefs and rituals.  Transcending utilitarian purposes, each head covering is a work of art – not merely because of the skill required to make it, but also as a singular expression of creativity and cultural meaning.  The profusion of shapes, styles, and materials, as well as the ingenious use of embellishments to decorate the hats, are limited only by imagination.

The beliefs and rituals of these many cultures, and the ceremonial objects that accompany them, ultimately unite an international community.  Comparatively, both the Plains Indian feathered war bonnet and the Congolese Misango MaPende crown, both featured in the exhibition, though from vastly different regions and civilizations, represent a position of leadership and status, and only those who have earned the right to wear one may do so.

The Global Language of Headwear exhibition colorfully demonstrates that each distinct society can be viewed through a similar lens of rites of passage, heritage, and identity.

“The idea is not to live forever; it is to create something that will.”

Andy Warhol

One of the 20^th century’s best-known artists, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) made his name in the early 1960s with paintings and prints of brand celebrities and foods ranging from Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor to Coca-Cola and Campbell’s Soup.  These brash, innovative works are considered icons of Pop Art, a movement that both critiqued and celebrated postwar American consumer culture.  By the end of the decade, Warhol had become a celebrity in his own right, equally famous for his platinum wig and the star-studded parties he threw in his studio, the Factory, as he was for his paintings, drawings, sculpture, and films.

Before spearheading the Pop Art movement, in the 1950s Warhol achieved success on Madison Avenue as one of New York’s most popular advertising artists.  A skilled and inventive illustrator, Warhol won several Art Director’s Club awards for his work on Columbia records LP cover designs, I. Miller shoe drawings, and additional advertising work for Martini & Rossi, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue magazines.

Once his Pop art career exploded in 1962, Warhol focused on silkscreen painting and filmmaking.  He based his paintings on imagery he found in the American mass media: news photos, celebrity head shots, film stills, comics, logos, and advertisements. To convert his source images into paintings, Warhol made them into photo silkscreens and printed them on canvas.  Smudges, misalignments, and inconsistencies were accepted, giving the paintings a handmade appearance.  Sometimes the paintings included a single image, as in John Wayne (1986) and the Endangered Species series (1983).  These became larger-than-life iconic portraits, while those printed in grids, suggested the way that repetition can simultaneously embed an image in one’s memory and deaden its effect.

Works by Warhol, at the Upcountry History Museum, on loan from The Cochran Collection, LaGrange, GA, will feature 36 iconic masterworks by Warhol, dating from 1968 through his last series done in 1986. This once-in-a- lifetime exhibition includes a broad cross-section of examples from Warhol’s storied career.

The exhibit explores Warhol’s responses to major moments in U.S. history, including the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong’s moon landing, and the perception of Native Americans in the aftermath of the bicentennial of the United States. Also included is Warhol’s entire series of “Myths”.  This body of work was completed in 1981 and showcases Warhol’s lifetime fascination with Hollywood imagery.  “Myths” marks a return to Warhol’s formative encounters with figures such as Howdy Doody, the Wicked Witch of the West, Superman, Mickey Mouse and many more.

March 16 – May 31 2023 | tues wed fri 10am – 5pm thurs 10am – 7pm sat 11am – 4pm sun + mon closed

The world of textiles is vast. Every day, we touch dozens of types of fabrics, from our car interiors, to our office chairs, our couches, and our own clothing. Through construction, deconstruction, and exaggeration, these artists explore textiles as a departure point to reach new levels of understanding of fabric, garments, and our relationships with them.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by Davis + Walker Barnes, Michele + Halsey Cook, Gibbs International Inc, Misti + Kevin Hudson, Susu + George Dean Johnson, Jr., Tina + David Lyon, Vicki + Tom Nederostek, and Margaret + George Nixon.

opening reception 3.16.2023 | 5-8PM

Included with admission

Back by popular demand, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition offers guests:

• An opportunity to view rarely-seen treasures from the Biltmore collection
• A first-hand look at the Vanderbilts’ lifestyle
• Deeper insights into George, Edith, and Cornelia’s personalities, both at home and on their extensive travels

Access to exhibitions at The Biltmore Legacy is included with Biltmore daytime admission.

steamWORKS

Become a part of the advanced manufacturing workforce in the Upstate. The Open House event at the Greenville Technical College Center for Manufacturing Innovation (CMI) will provide a tour of this state-of-the-art learning environment along with information about the academic and training programs offered at CMI, including machine tool technology, CNC machining, CAD design and mechatronics.