Explore family friendly events, theatres, galleries, concerts, nightlife, things to do, and more in the Greenville, SC and Upstate areas.

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Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Call for GCCA Member Artists: GCCA’s 8th Annual Showcase
May 31 all-day
online

Become a Member and Save Your Spot by July 21st, 2023

The Annual Showcase is GCCA’s premier event for artists and art lovers of all ages, featuring an exhibition highlighting the talent of over 100 of GCCA’s own Member Artists alongside a special exhibit from the 2022-23 Brandon Fellows, a display of youth artwork created during Summer Art Camps, live artist demos, the launch of our fall schedule of classes, visits with 23 studio artists, a kids’ craft activity provided by ReCraft, and more!

Become a Member of GCCA for a minimum donation of $50 and you can exhibit your artwork in our Annual Showcase! To be eligible to participate, your membership donation is due by July 21 at 11:59 PM. Your online submission and membership reserve one artwork for inclusion in the 8th Annual Showcase exhibition opening on Friday, August 4 from 6 – 9 PM.

Click the button below to learn more about GCCA’s 8th Annual Showcase, entry requirements, and access the submission webform.

Greenville Center for Creative Arts Summer Art Camps Registration Open
May 31 all-day
Greenville Center for Creative Arts

Camps that run from 9 AM – 12 PM, Monday – Friday, beginning June 5 – August 4.

Weekly art camps at GCCA are designed to let kids ages 5-12 explore their creativity through a range of materials and concepts. Each week features a different artistic medium and includes professional guest artists who demonstrate technique and discuss what makes their work unique.

WEEK 1:

Printmaking Camp

JUNE 5 – JUNE 9

Printmaking is a form of art-making that allows the artist to reproduce a design, drawing, or image multiple times onto various surfaces, though most often on paper. This means that prints can come in all different shapes, sizes, designs, and media. Printmaking campers will explore multiple techniques and learn how to create prints using different methods like mono printing and collograph printing. Projects will include monotype self-portraits, stamps, relief prints and more.

WEEK 2:

Bookmaking & Paper Art Camp

JUNE 12 – JUNE 16

Draw, paint, and collage to create sketchbooks and storybooks in Bookmaking and Paper Art Camp! Campers will create their very own artist sketchbook that can be taken anywhere and everywhere to record travel, thoughts, drawings, and ideas. This week of bookmaking includes the creation of cover designs, sewn and bound edges, folded paper inserts, and drawings and paintings that illustrate the artistic vision of the artist.  Campers will learn to combine imagery and text while working to understand scale, balance, and color.

WEEK 3:

Clay Camp

JUNE 19 – JUNE 23

Explore the world of artmaking with clay! Campers will learn hand-building fundamentals to create everything from clay sculpture to pinch pots, tiles, and more! Hand-building techniques like coil building and slab rolling will teach campers to make objects with clay, while glazing, stamping, and stenciling will introduce them to design and color theory.

WEEK 4:

Painting Camp

JUNE 26 – JUNE 30

Basic painting skills, including color theory and color mixing, provide a solid foundation that is useful in understanding all areas of the visual arts. Campers will learn to use value, perspective, and gesture to create self-portraits, animal paintings, abstract collages, and more in Painting Camp! Exploration will include an introduction to painting movements and techniques—from abstraction and collage to landscape and still life.

WEEK 5:

Fiber and Textile Arts Camp

JULY 10 – JULY 14

Greenville’s rich textile history will serve as the inspiration for Fiber and Textile Arts Camp. Campers will learn to weave, sew, and batik using both traditional and unconventional materials to create their own designs—all against the backdrop of a historic textile mill. Projects like wall-hanging batiks and useable totes will introduce campers to design basics including color, composition, and form.

WEEK 6:

Drawing and Collage Camp

JULY 17 – JULY 21

Experience the art of paper, from paper making to surface design with stamps and textiles. Campers will combine images and layer materials while learning color theory, composition, and form. Taking inspiration from famous artists they will develop a range of ideas and projects.  Campers will learn to use line, value, and composition to create abstract collages, self-portraits, sketches, and more.

WEEK 7:

Wearable Art Camp

JULY 24 – JULY 28

Express yourself with artwork you can wear! Using traditional and non-traditional materials, campers will explore sculptural techniques while learning to manipulate and transform materials in new and creative ways. Altered clothes, hats made out of paper, and unique accessories are just some of the fun projects campers will create to showcase their very own style and make an artistic statement.

WEEK 8:

Sculpture Camp

JULY 31 – AUGUST 4

Sculpture Camp will introduce campers to what sculpture is and why it differs from other art forms. Using a variety of materials, including wire, paper mache, and recycled bottles, campers will create everything from animals to abstraction and move from drawings to three-dimensional forms to understand how an artist must think about viewing a sculpture from every angle. Campers will also learn to consider the top, bottom, and sides of piece while learning about the importance of scale and composition to make finished sculptures.

Spring Photo Contest: “Spring Trails”
May 31 all-day
Chimney Rock State Park

NC State Parks’ Year of the Trail continues with a celebration of how our trails transform each spring. Bring your camera on your next excursion in the park and capture budding wildflowers, spring hikers, or whatever you encounter along the way. You may even win a prize for your efforts!

GREAT PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED TO 3 WINNING ENTRIES

1st Prize: The winning photo will be our Facebook cover photo for two weeks, and the photographer will receive two annual passes to Chimney Rock State Park and lunch for four at the Old Rock Café.

2nd Prize: After the first place photo, the second place photo will be our Facebook cover photo for one week. The photographer will receive one annual pass to Chimney Rock State Park and lunch for two at the Old Rock Café.

3rd Prize: The third place photographer will receive two adult day passes (or one family pack of day passes) to Chimney Rock State Park and lunch for two at the Old Rock Café.

Addam Duncan: Following Air
May 31 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Artists Collective | Spartanburg

Spartanburg artist Addam Duncan likes water, and you can see how much in his upcoming exhibition, “Following Air,” May 9 through June 3 in Gallery III of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg.

An ArtWalk Spartanburg reception is planned for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 18.

“Although typically an artist focused on realism and human form, this show is a study about the nature of water,” says Duncan, a native of Spartanburg who has been an artist for more than 40 years. “From its fluid properties to stillness. From transparency to vibrant color. Vastness to microscopic qualities and the fact that water can kill you but is also the most essential element ‘following air.’”

Bryan Hiott: Through An Ancient Lens
May 31 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Artists Collective | Spartanburg

Upstate photographer and artist Bryan Hiott says his upcoming exhibition, “Through an Ancient Lens: Photographs and Abstractions from the Wet Plate Collodion Process,” is a “dialogue” between the rendered photographic images and the materials of the medium he uses. The exhibition will be May 2 through June 24 in the Solomon Gallery of the Artist Collective | Spartanburg.

 

A reception will be held Thursday, May 18, as part of ArtWalk Spartanburg and an artist’s talk will be held Thursday, June 15.

 

“The images in this exhibition explore the beautiful tonality of wet plate collodion photography as well as the accidents that may occur with this chemical process,” says Hiott, a graduate of Wofford College in Spartanburg who also received an MFA in photography and digital media from Parsons School of Design. “Certain images display surface imperfections that nonetheless become interesting aspects of the collodion aesthetic. These images, bearing evidence of physical handling, are unique and cannot be repeated.”

The Global Language of Headwear: Cultural Identity, Rites of Passage, and Spirituality
May 31 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Upstate History Museum

“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 20th 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.

Very Eric Carle: A Very Hungry, Quiet, Lonely, Clumsy, Busy Exhibit
May 31 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Upstate History Museum

The Very Hungry Caterpillar story is about hope.  You, like the little caterpillar, will grow up, unfold your wings and fly off into the future.”

                                                                                                                                                                    –Eric Carle

 

Colorful adventures in literacy and STEAM learning await in the special exhibition, “Very Eric Carle: A Very Hungry, Quiet, Lonely, Clumsy, Busy Exhibit,” making its Southeastern United States debut at the Upcountry History Museum, Greenville, SC.

At this play-and-learn exhibit, co-organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, Massachusetts, and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, visitors step into the pages of author and illustrator Eric Carle’s colorful picture books and experience them as artist and reader, while discovering and playing with five special insects from his well-known children’s books.

Carle’s classic “Very” book series, is reimagined in the 2,500 square foot exhibition. Utilizing Carle’s hand-painted tissue paper collage technique, the exhibit presents the five “Very” special insects who invite visitors to join them on their journeys of discovery.

Through interactive experiences, visitors become the “tiny and very hungry Caterpillar,” following along his iconic path. They also weave a web with the “Very Busy Spider;” find their light with the “Very Lonely Firefly;” make the “Very Clumsy Click Beetle” flip and jump; and compose a night symphony with the “Very Quiet Cricket.”

In “The Studio,” a flexible workspace, visitors are connected to the artist and his playful approach of creating illustrated book art through multiple hands-on activities. Children create their own collages using many of Eric Carle’s materials and techniques.

In the “Reading Zone” children and their caregivers explore visual literacy and reading through words, pictures and video.  Visitors are invited to listen to Eric Carle read his stories and talk about his process or read their own favorite Eric Carle story with a friend

Each of the “Very” stories are a testament to Eric Carle’s love of nature, his respect for the emotional lives of children, and his recurring themes of friendship, creativity, and the power of imagination.

The creator of more than seventy books, Eric Carle (1929-2021) combined winsome stories and lively collages that appeal to young readers and adults alike.  While Carle’s stories are charming, they’re layered with information too.  As children read his books about animals, families, nature, and fables, they also learn their colors, numbers, and letters.  Eric Carle focused on making learning accessible and fun – and in the process, he invited children to fall in love with books and reading.

Thursday, June 1, 2023
Call for GCCA Member Artists: GCCA’s 8th Annual Showcase
Jun 1 all-day
online

Become a Member and Save Your Spot by July 21st, 2023

The Annual Showcase is GCCA’s premier event for artists and art lovers of all ages, featuring an exhibition highlighting the talent of over 100 of GCCA’s own Member Artists alongside a special exhibit from the 2022-23 Brandon Fellows, a display of youth artwork created during Summer Art Camps, live artist demos, the launch of our fall schedule of classes, visits with 23 studio artists, a kids’ craft activity provided by ReCraft, and more!

Become a Member of GCCA for a minimum donation of $50 and you can exhibit your artwork in our Annual Showcase! To be eligible to participate, your membership donation is due by July 21 at 11:59 PM. Your online submission and membership reserve one artwork for inclusion in the 8th Annual Showcase exhibition opening on Friday, August 4 from 6 – 9 PM.

Click the button below to learn more about GCCA’s 8th Annual Showcase, entry requirements, and access the submission webform.

Biltmore Estate: Ciao! From Italy Sculptural Postcard Display
Jun 1 @ 8:30 am
Biltmore Estate

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!

Addam Duncan: Following Air
Jun 1 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Artists Collective | Spartanburg

Spartanburg artist Addam Duncan likes water, and you can see how much in his upcoming exhibition, “Following Air,” May 9 through June 3 in Gallery III of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg.

An ArtWalk Spartanburg reception is planned for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 18.

“Although typically an artist focused on realism and human form, this show is a study about the nature of water,” says Duncan, a native of Spartanburg who has been an artist for more than 40 years. “From its fluid properties to stillness. From transparency to vibrant color. Vastness to microscopic qualities and the fact that water can kill you but is also the most essential element ‘following air.’”

Bryan Hiott: Through An Ancient Lens
Jun 1 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Artists Collective | Spartanburg

Upstate photographer and artist Bryan Hiott says his upcoming exhibition, “Through an Ancient Lens: Photographs and Abstractions from the Wet Plate Collodion Process,” is a “dialogue” between the rendered photographic images and the materials of the medium he uses. The exhibition will be May 2 through June 24 in the Solomon Gallery of the Artist Collective | Spartanburg.

 

A reception will be held Thursday, May 18, as part of ArtWalk Spartanburg and an artist’s talk will be held Thursday, June 15.

 

“The images in this exhibition explore the beautiful tonality of wet plate collodion photography as well as the accidents that may occur with this chemical process,” says Hiott, a graduate of Wofford College in Spartanburg who also received an MFA in photography and digital media from Parsons School of Design. “Certain images display surface imperfections that nonetheless become interesting aspects of the collodion aesthetic. These images, bearing evidence of physical handling, are unique and cannot be repeated.”

Italian Renaissance Alive
Jun 1 @ 10:00 am
Biltmore Estate

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

Sit + Sew
Jun 1 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Anderson County Museum
Would you love to learn how to start making quilts?

Join Tommy & friends at the Anderson County Museum for our weekly meet up!
During this fellowship we learn & share quilting and sewing knowledge.
Bring a sewing machine & share your projects or ask questions!
This program is free, but donations are accepted.


Email to get onto the schedule for class!
[email protected]

The Global Language of Headwear: Cultural Identity, Rites of Passage, and Spirituality
Jun 1 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Upstate History Museum

“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 20th 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.

Very Eric Carle: A Very Hungry, Quiet, Lonely, Clumsy, Busy Exhibit
Jun 1 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Upstate History Museum

The Very Hungry Caterpillar story is about hope.  You, like the little caterpillar, will grow up, unfold your wings and fly off into the future.”

                                                                                                                                                                    –Eric Carle

 

Colorful adventures in literacy and STEAM learning await in the special exhibition, “Very Eric Carle: A Very Hungry, Quiet, Lonely, Clumsy, Busy Exhibit,” making its Southeastern United States debut at the Upcountry History Museum, Greenville, SC.

At this play-and-learn exhibit, co-organized by The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, Massachusetts, and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, visitors step into the pages of author and illustrator Eric Carle’s colorful picture books and experience them as artist and reader, while discovering and playing with five special insects from his well-known children’s books.

Carle’s classic “Very” book series, is reimagined in the 2,500 square foot exhibition. Utilizing Carle’s hand-painted tissue paper collage technique, the exhibit presents the five “Very” special insects who invite visitors to join them on their journeys of discovery.

Through interactive experiences, visitors become the “tiny and very hungry Caterpillar,” following along his iconic path. They also weave a web with the “Very Busy Spider;” find their light with the “Very Lonely Firefly;” make the “Very Clumsy Click Beetle” flip and jump; and compose a night symphony with the “Very Quiet Cricket.”

In “The Studio,” a flexible workspace, visitors are connected to the artist and his playful approach of creating illustrated book art through multiple hands-on activities. Children create their own collages using many of Eric Carle’s materials and techniques.

In the “Reading Zone” children and their caregivers explore visual literacy and reading through words, pictures and video.  Visitors are invited to listen to Eric Carle read his stories and talk about his process or read their own favorite Eric Carle story with a friend

Each of the “Very” stories are a testament to Eric Carle’s love of nature, his respect for the emotional lives of children, and his recurring themes of friendship, creativity, and the power of imagination.

The creator of more than seventy books, Eric Carle (1929-2021) combined winsome stories and lively collages that appeal to young readers and adults alike.  While Carle’s stories are charming, they’re layered with information too.  As children read his books about animals, families, nature, and fables, they also learn their colors, numbers, and letters.  Eric Carle focused on making learning accessible and fun – and in the process, he invited children to fall in love with books and reading.

Spartanburg ArtWalk
Jun 1 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Downtown Spartanburg

Occurs on
the third Thursday of each month.

Participating museums and galleries are open from 5 – 8pm.

Light refreshments are usually served. Please check each venue’s website for more details.

VENUES

True Home Open Mic at Flood Gallery
Jun 1 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Flood Gallery

Uncensored expression: anyone is invited to step up to share song, music, poetry, comedy, rants & raves!

The most eclectic open mic around, in a welcoming gallery setting! 6 pm signup, perform 6:30-8:30 pm.

Friday, June 2, 2023
Call for GCCA Member Artists: GCCA’s 8th Annual Showcase
Jun 2 all-day
online

Become a Member and Save Your Spot by July 21st, 2023

The Annual Showcase is GCCA’s premier event for artists and art lovers of all ages, featuring an exhibition highlighting the talent of over 100 of GCCA’s own Member Artists alongside a special exhibit from the 2022-23 Brandon Fellows, a display of youth artwork created during Summer Art Camps, live artist demos, the launch of our fall schedule of classes, visits with 23 studio artists, a kids’ craft activity provided by ReCraft, and more!

Become a Member of GCCA for a minimum donation of $50 and you can exhibit your artwork in our Annual Showcase! To be eligible to participate, your membership donation is due by July 21 at 11:59 PM. Your online submission and membership reserve one artwork for inclusion in the 8th Annual Showcase exhibition opening on Friday, August 4 from 6 – 9 PM.

Click the button below to learn more about GCCA’s 8th Annual Showcase, entry requirements, and access the submission webform.

Biltmore Estate: Ciao! From Italy Sculptural Postcard Display
Jun 2 @ 8:30 am
Biltmore Estate

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!

Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention
Jun 2 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Greenville Convention Center

Join us June 2-3, 2023 for all the best scrapbooking, paper crafting, and creative inspiration at CKC Greenville

Enjoy Shopping, Classes, Cropping, and more!

For class registration, admissions, and coupons, visit www.ckscrapbookevents.com

Shop for your favorite products at great deals!

The CKC Vendor Faire offers shopping at a variety of booths where you’ll find everything from the latest products to savings on items you need to stock up on. Instead of searching through one tiny aisle of a big box store for something to create with, this event is like a mall for all things scrapbooking and papercrafting! Visit “store” after “store” as you shop through the exhibitor booths for all the paper, stamps, dies, laser cuts, page kits, bling, ribbon, stickers, embellishments, to make your scrapbooks, cards, home decor, and other crafty projects come to life! Plus enjoy classes from all your favorite vendors showcasing their awesome products and giving you ideas for creating all kinds of projects!

Friday: 10 am to 5 pm (9:00 am exclusive Early Entrance for Show Special attendees or purchase an Early Entrance ticket add on)
Saturday: 9 am to 5 pm