Looking to buy some local art? Or do you just want to learn to paint? If your Right-Brain is seeking additional stimulus Aiken has some great places to find your creativity and your style.
Aiken Art Annex on Park Ave. offers beginner adult studio classes in their “no judgement zone”. Aiken Art Annex will open it 2018 season with trunk shows featuring equine artists and lifestyle authors.
Aiken Center for the Arts on Laurens St. has a comprehensive art curriculum for all skill levels.
The Art Nook at 601 Silver Bluff features themed art workshops for all ages.
Art & Soul in The Alley is a gallery and studio where art meets spirituality.
Studio 143, upstairs over 3 Monkeys on Laurens Street, offers classes taught by Julie Adams as well art for sale from a number of other painter studios in this shared space.
Van Gogh To Go, on Hayne Avenue, specializes in group painting sessions that are great for team building, birthdays, or girls nights out.
My Studio and Atelier owner Carolyn Bohn, also #downonPark, offers a mix of classes and art for sale.
Oh Schmidt Productions, Park Avenue Photography, and Southside Gallery offer photographic art for sale and for custom commission.
Many local shops like Equine Divine and reFresh offer local and national artists’ works for sale.
Several local artists have studio galleries where you can purchase their paintings and sculptures: Georgianna “Girl” Conger-Wolcott, Betsy Wilson Mahoney and Leslie Hutto can all be found on Facebook.
Pop-up art shows at Folly, The Aiken Center for the Arts and in various homes and storefronts around town showcase artists works for sale. And if you are feeling artsy and are hungry, check-out the art on the walls at New Moon Cafe, The Willcox, What’s Cookin’ and Red Pepper Cafe. Even Aiken’s Antique malls feature local artists like Elaine Yarosh, Judith Adamick, Mary Alice Lockhart, Betsy Wilson Mahoney, Carol Sue Roberts and Sharon Taylor Padgett.
Aiken is an inspiring place so naturally art is everywhere- in the local banks, businesses and in our public spaces. You can find inspiration along the Aiken Through Art walk, a Leadership Aiken County project, which features artists and partnering locations in Downtown Aiken. Graphic designer and fine artist Gretchen Hash-Heffner at AECOM; sculptor David Cianni at Savannah River Site Museum; metal artist Mike “Bull” Higby at Aiken Chamber of Commerce; muralist Betsy Wilson-Mahoney at Farmers Market; mosaic artist Kim Roberts at the Aiken Train Depot and Visitors Center and Gyles Park; metal dye-cut collage from Jane Page Thompson at Carriage House Inn; ceramic artist Ashley Gray at Center for African American History; and South Company Creative Director Ron Turner at Rose Hill Estate.
Keep your eyes open for local and nationally known artists whose paintings, sculptures, photography and drawings surround us as we go about our daily lives. Many more Aiken Artists’ works can be purchased through the Aiken Artist Guild and their exhibits at Aiken Center for the Arts on Laurens St. or on their website. Finding art in and around Aiken is as easy as opening your eyes and feeling your heart.