Gullah Art
The utilitarian craft of sweetgrass basket making, a skill handed down from generation to generation with roots in Africa, has been raised to an art by local artisans who continue to push the boundaries of beautiful ornamentation. Other artists, both Gullah-born and non-native, have been inspired by Gullah culture, perhaps because of it's rich history, colorful culture and the beautiful lowcountry itself. In a way, the Gullah people represent an ideal: Because they were in large part isolated from not only the influence of white America, but also its discrimination, the Gullah people kept a strong sense of wholeness of identity and enjoyed a simplicity of life.
Painting
Amiri Farris, of Bluffton, SC. is the Artist-in-Residence of the Gullah Museum of Hilton Head. He has won major awards and attention for his art. Along with being a working artist, he is a professor of art at SCAD and USCB.
Jonathan Green of Charleston, was raised in the Gullah low country and has won national and international acclaim and numerous awards for his depictions of Gullah life. John W. Jones, of Charleston, is known for his series "Confederate Currency: The Color of Money" and recently created a series of paintings based on Gullah life. These are just a few of the many artists who's work has been inspired by the Gullah people.
Jonathan Green of Charleston, was raised in the Gullah low country and has won national and international acclaim and numerous awards for his depictions of Gullah life. John W. Jones, of Charleston, is known for his series "Confederate Currency: The Color of Money" and recently created a series of paintings based on Gullah life. These are just a few of the many artists who's work has been inspired by the Gullah people.
Sweetgrass Baskets
Sweetgrass baskets are made of native sweetgrass and pine needles sewn with strips of palmetto leaf. This craft, handed down in certain families since the 1700s, originally was used on plantations in rice production. Unique to the lowcountry, it represents one of the oldest West African art forms in America. Daurus Niles and Michael Smalls were taught the skill by their grandmother and great grandmother at an early age and are the seventh generation of basket weavers who came from descendants of Laurel Hill Plantation of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Development of rural areas of the lowcountry is threatening the supply sweetgrass, so gathering of sweetgrass is now regulated via licensing. See more at Pluff Mudd Art Gallery.
Photography
Pete Marovich is an award-winning photojournalist who once resided on Hilton Head Island. While living in the Lowcountry, he came to understand the importance of recording for posterity, the story of modern Gullah people. In his words, “I wanted to create a snapshot of the current state of the Gullah culture and to provide a body of work that will hopefully serve as a both a historical and educational tool to current and future generations.”
Drawing
A native of Georgetown, SC, Doug Corkern has lived in Hilton Head Island/Bluffton area since 1960. Doug is largely self-taught with no formal art training. He developed his technique of sepia chalk drawing by experimentation and by reading notes and text from Holbein and others.