MEET OUR ARTISTS

David Yaghjian

Columbia, S.C., native and resident David Yaghjian has exhibited across the Carolinas, including Blue Spiral I Gallery in Asheville, N.C., the Florence (S.C.) Museum of Art, Gallery 80808 and Morris Gallery in Columbia and Hampton III Gallery in Greenville, S.C. In Atlanta, where he used to live, Yaghjian has shown in the Spruill Center Gallery, the Right Brain Gallery and other venues. He also painted two murals in the Georgia capital. Yaghjian holds a BA from Massachussetts’ Amherst College and studied in New York City at the Art Students League and the School of Visual Art. Among his instructors were Fairfield Porter, Leonard Baskin, Will Barnett and Chaim Koppelman.

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EILEEN BLYTH

Eileen Blyth is a Columbia artist known for her paintings, sculptures and installations of found objects. Originally from Charleston, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of Charleston and studied graphic design at The University of South Carolina. Eileen's work is represented by The Camilla Art Gallery in Hilton Head, Carol Saunders Gallery in Columbia and Art & Light Gallery in Greenville, South Carolina.

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GERARD ERLEY

With over a hundred awards to his name at the regional and national levels, Gerard Erley has had over four dozen solo exhibits throughout the United States and exhibited in over 300 juried shows. The artist’s work has hung in museums and galleries from New York to California, and can be found in museum, corporate and private collections both in the United States and abroad. Recent awards of note: eighth grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission; Best of Show at the SC State Fair Professional Exhibition; First Place in the portrait competition at ArtFields in Lake City, SC; two First Place awards in the Oil Painters of America Plein Air Paint Out in Winnsboro, SC.

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HEIDI DARR-HOPE

Having worked as a professional artist and teacher for over 40 years, her approach to art-making and teaching are well honed. Both are influenced by her enthusiastic passion for travel, her quest to understand her nighttime dreams and her longing to find the quiet in the roar. Her art and her teaching are intuitive expressions of the universal search for meaning. This quest has taken her across the world studying spiritual rituals in India and Bali, Mexican death traditions, Jungian Dream psychology, Tibetan mandalas, and expressive writing.

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KIRKLAND SMITH

For a decade, Kirkland Smith has been creating contemporary assemblages using everyday disposable materials as an evocative way to drive home the message of the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. Through her work she challenges viewers to consider their consumer habits and believes “what we throw away says a lot about who we are, but what we choose to cherish and protect says even more.”

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MICHEL MCNINCH

Michel specializes in portraits, landscapes, and works in series. She enjoys painting realistically with an interpretive style. In her portraits, she strives to create figures that are realistic and uses symbolism to reflect the personality of her model. Constantly inspired by the life and beauty found in everyday surroundings, McNinch conveys that inspiration onto the canvas and seeks to connect with her viewers in the resulting images.

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Pat Gilmartin

In Pat’s early years and through her teens she grew up in Atlanta, GA, and West Palm Beach, FL. Next it was off to college for several years at Georgia State University and the University of Kansas, where she eventually earned a Ph.D. in geography and cartography. She then moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where she accepted her first teaching position in cartography at the University of Victoria, B.C. After teaching there for four years, she joined the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina where she continued to teach cartography. Finally she retired and turned her full attention to art, a lifelong interest of hers. She continues to find great satisfaction in her work in ceramic sculpture and, occasionally, other media.

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QUINCY PUGH

Quincy Pugh received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Augusta University and a Master of Librarianship from the University of South Carolina. Pugh served as the Film and Sound Manager at Richland Library until his retirement in 2018. In that capacity, he coordinated exhibitions and worked closely with local, regional and nationally recognized artists and illustrators. Since his retirement, he has dedicated his time to developing a body of work that celebrates his community while also showcasing his love of nature, photography and abstract expressionism.

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STEPHEN CHESLEY

Recognized in 1981 by the Columbia Museum of Art as an emerging talent he went on to win top 100 in the first National Parks competition of 1987,exhibiting at the Smithsonian, and in 1996 a National Endowment for the Arts, Southeast Regional Fellowship, Southeast Center for Contemporary Art. Chesley has continued his work, characterized as poetic realism, along with welded and carved sculptural pieces in addition to joint works illustrating Archibald Rutledge short stories and WS Merwin’s poem,”Palm” for the Thomas Cooper Society’s Thomas Cooper Medal for WS Merwin in 2012. Stephen Chesley continues his creative journey with an art spirit in Columbia, South Carolina.

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SVAD STUDIO

The School of Visual Art and Design at the University of South Carolina occupies an off-campus studio space inside of Stormwater Studios. We’ve designed our studio to be an ideal working environment for artists to test new ideas and experiment with materials. The SVAD Studio provides essential space for students and faculty, both emerging and established artists, and community members to develop new work, lead workshops, give educational talks, and host exhibitions. Our studio space joins the flexibility of a workspace with the simplicity of a gallery to also meet our exhibition needs. The SVAD Studio is also where bright thoughts and ideas are communicated to listeners and visitors during workshops, seminars, and lectures.

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